Analysis · Jeep
Jeep's Independent-Front Wrangler Is a Concession to the Bronco
Jeep's first independent-front Wrangler arrives wrapped in SRT desert hardware. Read the sales numbers and it looks less like a stunt than a concession to the Bronco.
Topic
Strategy
Analysis · Honda
Honda's Hotter Civic Type R Says the Gas Hot Hatch Isn't Dying — It's Thinning Out
Honda is developing a hotter Civic Type R for America as rivals retreat. The last gas hot hatches are gaining pricing power, and the hybrid-heavy Civic pays for the halo.
Analysis · Pricing
Dodge Is Quietly Pricing the Electric Charger Out of Existence
A 40% residual, a 12.5% lease rate and a $12,500 price hike are not accidents. Dodge is winding down the electric Charger without announcing it.
Analysis · EVs
Rivian's R2 Is a Hit. Its Car Business Still Loses Money
The R2 became Rivian's best-seller, yet the automotive gross loss more than doubled from the prior quarter, even with credits. Volkswagen-funded services carried the profit.
Analysis · Tech
Toyota Just Became Waymo's Factory — and America Isn't First in Line
Toyota isn't racing Tesla on self-driving. It's becoming the body shop for whoever owns the driver, and America waits only until Waymo's Chinese van runs into Washington's rules.
Analysis · Industry
Volkswagen Says EVs Earn Less. In America, It Already Stopped Betting on Them
VW's CFO now admits EVs earn less than gas cars. In America, the group acted on that months ago, and tariffs, not batteries, will shape what it sells here.
Analysis · Industry
GM Wants to Be a Tech Stock. Its Real Bet Is on Hybrids
GM is pitching itself to Nasdaq as a technology company. The same day, it put $1.25 billion into hybrids at Lansing. Only one of those tells you where it's headed.
Analysis · Tesla
Tesla Is Running the Cybertruck for Margin, Not Volume. Australia Paid First
Right-hand drive is the excuse. Raising prices into falling US demand while refunding seven-year-old deposits says Tesla now manages the Cybertruck for cash, not growth.
Analysis · Volvo
Volvo Lost China on Price. Washington Took Apart Its American Plan
China cost Volvo its sales. Washington cost it the plan: a CAFE credit write-down, lost EV incentives, tariffs and an underused US plant that now has to carry the fix.
Analysis · Pricing
GM Promises an Affordable C9 Corvette. The C8 Already Delivered One
Adjusted for inflation, the 2027 Stingray costs about 7% less than the C8 did in 2020. GM's real C9 promise is to keep that floor while the ladder climbs.
Analysis · EVs
Rivian Is America's No. 2 EV Brand. Delivery Vans Did Most of the Work
Rivian's jump to second place is a fleet story: vans supplied 97% of its growth, while sales of its consumer models rose just 2%.
Analysis · Tesla
Tesla's Q3 Numbers Are the Real Case for a SpaceX Merger
Tesla's cars won back their margin in the third quarter. The company spent it on AI, and the merger vote Musk described counts his own shares.
Analysis · Industry
GM's Profit More Than Doubled. Look Closer: Truck Buyers Are Paying
GM's third-quarter profit jump is mostly a missing EV write-off. The real growth came from pickup margins, and the 2027 Silverado's higher prices are what the $20 billion buyback rests on.
Analysis · Tesla
Tesla's Proxy Builds the Plumbing for a SpaceX Deal — Car Buyers Should Notice
Tesla's proxy proposes no merger. But a new auto-vote program and the CEO pay plan now make a SpaceX deal easy to pass, and cars a side bet.
Analysis · Tesla
Tesla's Roadster Is Back With Half the Range and No Promise It Will Ever Ship
Tesla's new Roadster is a different car from the one it sold in 2017, and the reservation contract promises no price, no date and no delivery.
Analysis · Porsche
Porsche's Mission S Isn't Saving the Gas Engine. It's Putting a Price on It
Porsche didn't abandon EVs in New York. It made the electric car its entry ticket and turned the combustion engine into what you pay extra for.
Analysis · Chevrolet
GM Still Promises an Electric Corvette. Its Own Engineer Just Told Us Not to Wait
GM's Corvette chief calls an electric car the end game, just not today. With Corvette sales up and GM's EVs sliding, I don't expect one before 2030.
Analysis · Ford
Ford Gave the Bronco the Raptor's V6. Read the Fine Print Before You Cheer
The 380-hp V6 is real progress, but with record sales, no prices yet, and leather quietly swapped for vinyl, Ford is shifting Bronco buyers upmarket.
News · Spy Shots Revisited
The 2024 Audi A7 Sedan Spy Shots Showed a Car That Became the New A6
In June 2024 the next gas-powered Audi sedan was due to be called A7. Audi changed its naming plan in 2025, and the car arrived as the new A6.
News · Fisker
Fisker Faces Setbacks: Ocean Loses Race to Tesla Model Y
Fisker’s Ocean, despite its horsepower edge, falls short in a series of races against the Tesla Model Y, highlighting challenges for the EV startup.
