In today's issue:
EV sales set records in 50 countries while America sits at 5.8%
Nissan posts its first profit in two years on a cut sales forecast
Mercedes admits it went too far killing buttons, but the screens are staying
THE 5.8 PERCENT PROBLEM
EV sales set records in 50 countries in the second quarter, including Australia, India, Brazil, South Korea and Vietnam, with more than 90 countries reporting year-over-year growth, per the IEA report cited by Kelley Blue Book and CBT News.
The IEA projects EVs will reach 29% of new-vehicle sales worldwide this year, and credits fuel-price volatility from the war in Iran for pushing shoppers off gasoline, per Kelley Blue Book and CBT News.
U.S. EVs took just 5.8% of new-car sales in the same quarter, per Cox Automotive. EV sales volume rose more than 14% from the prior quarter, and 5.8% is a full-quarter measure that single-month readings move around, but the share stayed well off the 10.6% record set in Q3 2025 as buyers rushed the expiring $7,500 federal credit, per Kelley Blue Book.
The Tesla Model Y and Model 3 still account for more than half of the U.S. EV volume that exists, per Kelley Blue Book and CBT News.
China is headed for a record 60% EV share even as domestic demand stalls for the first time in a decade. It exported nearly as many EVs in the first half of 2026 as in all of 2025, a third of them unsold, leaving more than a million Chinese EVs looking for a buyer worldwide, per Kelley Blue Book and CBT News.
The gap is the story: 29% of the world's new cars going electric against 5.8% here, with America still below the share it reached in 2025 when a tax credit was about to expire. The part worth watching is the inventory behind the headline. More than a million unsold Chinese EVs are already built and looking for a buyer, and the U.S. is the one large market effectively closed to them. Not by tariffs alone: duties of roughly 100% are the visible half, and Commerce Department rules banning Chinese software from model year 2027 and Chinese hardware from model year 2030 are the half that survives any tariff negotiation, per Automotive News Europe. Those cars will find other markets instead, which is how a domestic share number turns into somebody else's pricing problem.
Also worth knowing
Nissan Held Its Profit Forecast and Cut Its Sales Forecast: Nissan swung to a ¥77.9 billion ($482.3 million) operating profit in its fiscal first quarter, its first profit in two years, per Automotive News and CBT News. It left full-year guidance untouched at ¥13 trillion of revenue and ¥20 billion of net profit while cutting the volume outlook to 3.15 million vehicles from 3.30 million, per CBT News. The Re:Nissan cost programme delivered about ¥60 billion of savings in the quarter, and Nissan also credited one-off gains tied to FY2025 U.S. tariffs, per Just Auto. Cost programmes finish. The volume plan is what has to replace them. #analyst
Volvo Kills the EX40, Already Has Its Replacement Queued: Volvo will end US sales of the EX40 in 2027, per autoevolution, handing off to the incoming EX50 compact crossover priced in the high $40,000s, per Automotive News. Global sales fell 4% as China weakness offset US gains, per CBT News, and Volvo will lift South Carolina XC60 output by more than two-thirds starting in January to fix chronic underutilization, per Automotive News. #analyst
Photo: Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes Admits It Went Too Far Killing Buttons: Mercedes-Benz says the industry overcorrected by ripping out physical controls for touchscreens, per Autoblog and Carscoops. The reversal stops short of shrinking the screens themselves, which Mercedes says customers still love, per Motor1. #analyst
Ram Is Pulling the Mild Hybrid Out of the Hemi: Ram will drop its eTorque 48-volt mild-hybrid system, and the automatic stop-start that came with it, from Hemi-powered 1500 pickups during the 2027 model year, leaving the 5.7-liter V8 at its familiar 395 hp and 410 lb-ft, per Carscoops and Motor Illustrated. Early 2027 trucks still carry the outgoing mild-hybrid setup. #market
Lucid Pushes Its First Mass-Market EV to 2027 After a $1 Billion Quarter: Lucid delayed the Cosmos crossover, priced around $50,000 before shipping and previously due late this year, after a second-quarter net loss of $1 billion and a restructuring plan to conserve cash, per Automotive News. CEO Silvio Napoli, on his first earnings call since taking the role in June, tied the delay to avoiding the quality problems that marred the Air and Gravity launches: "My objective is to launch the car when it is ready with top quality." #market
Toyota Raises Profit Outlook, Preps Battery Blitz: Toyota raised its fiscal-year earnings outlook, citing favorable exchange rates and logistics workarounds keeping deliveries moving to the Middle East despite Strait of Hormuz disruption, and plans a next-generation hybrid battery covering 600,000 Japan-market vehicles, per Automotive News. #market
Reveals & culture
Photo: Lamborghini
Lamborghini's Revuelto Miura 60° Homage, Limited to 99 Units: Lamborghini is building 99 special-edition Revueltos with Miura-inspired two-tone liveries and retro seats to mark the Miura's 60th anniversary, riding on the plug-in hybrid V12 flagship, per Carscoops and Car and Driver.
Photo: Hennessey
Hennessey's $2.5M Hypercar Has No Turbos and No Screens: The Blackbird pairs a naturally aspirated V8 that revs past 9,000 rpm with a gated manual, a physical key, and zero screens in the cabin, per Carscoops. Hennessey will build 71 units at $2.5 million each, with production starting 2029 or 2030, per Jalopnik.
Photo: Audi
Audi's A2 Comeback Chases Efficiency, Not Speed: The revived A2 e-tron prototype targets 12.8 kWh per 100 km on WLTP testing with its optional efficiency package, which Audi calls the most efficient production car it has ever built, per Audi. European sales are expected to begin later this year, per Autocar India.
Recalls & legal action
Ford's EcoBoost Timing Belt Probe Just Got Bigger: NHTSA upgraded its preliminary evaluation of Ford's 1.0-liter EcoBoost inline-three to a full engineering analysis covering 135,000 vehicles, citing sudden engine failure risk, per CBT News and Ford Authority. The engine has already been through a recall, a customer service program, and lawsuits, per Ford Authority. → If you own one: Check your VIN on NHTSA.gov and get the wet timing belt inspected before it strands you with a dead engine.
Photo: Tesla
France Refuses to Back Tesla's FSD in the EU: France's transport minister said Tesla's Full Self-Driving "does not justify authorization" in its current form, citing speeding and driver inattention, per GoodCarBadCar. GoodCarBadCar reports it as the first public break from the Dutch-led push for an EU-wide FSD approval.
Quick links
Chery Buys Into Korea's KG Mobility: Chery agreed to invest $75 million in KG Mobility via convertible bonds, taking roughly a 10% stake as it eyes the Korean and US markets, per Automotive News and Just Auto.
Repossessions Climb as the Payment Math Breaks: A record 24% of borrowers took out auto loans of seven years or longer in the second quarter, per Edmunds, while March default rates hit their highest level since 2010 and first-quarter defaults ran 9% above a year earlier, per Cox Automotive. Repossession volumes are rising alongside them, per Automotive News.
An Electric Mercedes Set a Nurburgring Record With No One to Beat: The dual-motor CLA45 4MATIC+ EV, making up to 500 kW and weighing 2,280 kg, lapped the 20.832 km Nordschleife in 7:32.070. The class record largely stands because it is the only car in its class to have set a time, making it the first compact EV to officially lap the circuit, per Torque Cafe. It is still not expected to reach the U.S. market, per Road & Track.
BYD Notches a Third Straight Month of Growth: BYD delivered 419,211 NEVs in July, up 21.7% year over year and a third straight month of growth, of which 411,072 were passenger vehicles, split 233,105 battery-electric and 177,967 plug-in hybrid, with 8,139 commercial vehicles making up the rest, per Just Auto.
Last time
Hyundai and Kia Set July Records. Hybrids Did All the Work.: Both brands hit July volume records on hybrid strength while their EVs fell, Hyundai's core EVs by 35% or more, a clear signal of where consumer demand has shifted.
1.5 Million Ram Trucks Recalled Over Rear Seat Belt Anchors: Stellantis recalled 1.5 million Ram 1500s over rear buckle anchors that could fail, the positions where most child seats are installed.
Nearly 1.2 Million Teslas Face a Federal Suspension Investigation: NHTSA opened a probe covering roughly 1.2 million Teslas over reported suspension failures, with no recall issued yet.
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