🚗 Toyota Is Closing In on GM, and Hybrids Are the Reason
🚙 GM has been America's best-selling automaker every year since 1931, except for 2021. That streak is looking less certain. GM's lead over Toyota has shrunk to fewer than 130,000 vehicles through September, and fewer than 37,000 separated them in the third quarter.
Connected Cars Are Sharing Data With Third-Party Trackers
Researchers at Northeastern University found that 19 of 21 vehicles they tested contacted at least one third party over Wi-Fi, including known advertising and tracking domains, according to their "Automatic Transmission" report.
Toyota Brings Every Stage of Battery Testing to Michigan
The Toyota Battery Center of North America opened Oct. 1 at Toyota's R&D headquarters in Saline, Michigan. Announced in 2023 as a $50 million investment, it lets Toyota's teams evaluate battery technology through the entire development cycle.
Porsche Plans to Sell Fewer Cars and Earn More on Every One
Porsche needs a reset. Its operating income plunged 93% in 2025 to €413 million ($465 million), revenue fell 9.5%, and its profit margin dropped to just 1.1%, far below the high teens it earned when it went public. New CEO Michael Leiters, who took over in January, laid out his plan, called Sportswagenschmiede '35, this week.
🚙 The market gave used buyers a little relief, the car-loan tax break got narrower, the FTC shifted tactics, and even headlight rules are getting a rethink.
The FTC Dropped Its Case Against Asbury, but Not Its Focus on Pricing
"Based on the totality of the circumstances, we have come to the difficult conclusion that the public interest requires that this litigation no longer be continued." FTC order of dismissal
The Car-Loan Interest Deduction Left Out Negative Equity
NADA and the American Financial Services Association asked regulators to include negative equity. The IRS and Treasury declined. That matters: nearly 30% of new-vehicle purchases with a trade-in included negative equity in Q2, with an average of $6,884 owed, according to Edmunds.
Average asking prices for used vehicles at US dealerships fell 2.5% over four weeks, according to the first weekly national snapshot from OAV.io, a data platform that calls itself "The Automotive Answer Engine." The report compared asking prices on roughly 1.43 million vehicles listed on both Sept. 5 and Oct. 3.
🚗 Car Loans Hit Record Lengths as Monthly Payments Keep Climbing
🚙 More buyers are stretching their loans to make a new car fit the budget, and payments are still going up. A record 25.5% of financed new-vehicle purchases in Q3 had terms of 84 months or longer, up from 21.8% a year earlier, according to Edmunds.
Gen Alpha Tells Retailers It Wants Value, Real Experiences, and Less AI
At Shoptalk Fall in Nashville, a panel of teens told retailers exactly what they expect. Gen Alpha, born 2010 to 2024, already influences nearly half of US household spending in families with kids ages 8 to 14 and has an estimated $100 billion a year in direct spending power.
Hyundai and Tesla Are Taking Very Different Roads to a Robot Future
The contrast showed up on the same day. Tesla's Roadster, first shown almost a decade ago and originally expected in 2020, was delayed again. Meanwhile, Hyundai revealed its newest Tucson in New York. Hyundai has also been redesigning vehicles faster than the industry average, helping it gain US market share during what one analyst calls the industry's slowest stretch of new releases since at least the 1970s.
