These were the 13 biggest car stories of 2018 (TSLA, F, GM, FCA, RACE)

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2018 was possibly the wildest year in the history of the auto industry — and it wasn't all because of Tesla and Elon Musk!
Auto sales continued to boom in the US, gas prices stayed relatively low, self-driving car companies moved closer to commercialization, electric cars arrived in force, and Uber and Lyft announced IPO intentions.
The industry also lost one of its greats in FCA and Ferrari CEO Sergio Marchionne, who died at 66.

Every year, I like to look back of the highs and lows of the auto industry and pick out the biggest stories.

For 2018, I had so many that the choosing wasn't easy. I've zeroed in on 13 here, but I think I could have listed twice that many.

Looking ahead, it's hard to imagine that 2019 will be as wild. But then again, Tesla and CEO Elon Musk aren't going anywhere, auto sales in the US continue to boom, and nobody knows what will happen to jailed former Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn.

But for now, let's review that year that's passed:

Elon Musk, Elon Musk, and yet more Elon Musk.

The already incredibly interesting Mr. Musk pushed it right over the edge in 2018. And then he pushed it some more.

He all but took over personal oversight of Tesla's troubled Model 3 sedan rollout. He slept at his factories, possibly sometimes with the assistance of Ambien. He started dating musician Grimes. He flipped out on Wall Street analysts on an earnings call. He later apologized the analysts for flipping on their earnings call. He made a weak pot joke when he decided to float a Tesla go-private scheme on Twitter ($420? Dude!). The was investigated by the SEC for said tweet and had to pay a fine and resign as chairman of Tesla. He wept in an interview with the New York Times. He talked tough in an interview with "60 Minutes." He accused a rescue diver during the Thai cave crisis of being a pedophile (and later apologized).

There were many, many, many tweets. I've probably missed a few choice Muskisms. He was seemingly everywhere. And by the end of it all ... Tesla was the most valuable US carmaker, by market capitalization, surpassing GM.

The Tesla Model 3 arrives in force.

The Model 3 was officially launched in July of 2017, but building and delivering the 400,000 pre-ordered vehicles to customers proved to be a titanic challenge for Tesla. By the end of the year, just a few thousand had left the factory.

The situation didn't improve much in the first half of 2018, as Tesla struggled through an intense version of what Musk called "production hell."

But by mid-2018, the situation was under control. Sort of. An innovative Model 3 automated production line wasn't working properly, leading the carmaker to erect a temporary assembly line in its parking lot — under a tent! The $35,000 mass-market Model 3 also didn't materialize, as Tesla concentrated on upscale trim levels, including the almost $80,000 Performance version.

As the year closed out, Model 3 production was relatively robust, and Tesla was on track to produce twice as many vehicles — 200,000 or more — as it did in 2017.

Near-record US auto sales hold up.

The record sales year of 2015 — when 17.5 million new cars, trucks, and SUVs were sold in the US — was followed by a new record in 2016 (17.55 million) and a near-record in 2017 (17.2 million).

A US market above 17 million is considered robust, so for the past few years, forecasts of a downturn have been common.

It hasn't yet arrived, although sales have been slipping, in a month-by-month basis. And although the final 2018 numbers haven't come in, it looks as though another 17-million-plus year will be in the books.

See the rest of the story at Business Insider