In today's issue:

Ferrari's first EV is a five-seat liftback that lands while every premium EV rival is pausing
New-vehicle monthly payments hit $757 in April even as CPI says prices are falling
Hyundai recalls 421,000 trucks and SUVs whose collision-avoidance software can brake without warning

ELECTRIC HERESY

Ferrari's first EV is a five-seat liftback, and it lands while every premium EV rival is pausing

The 2027 Ferrari Luce was revealed Monday in Maranello — a four-door liftback seating five, with a 193 mph (310 kph) top speed and a price north of €500,000, per Automotive News, Car and Driver, and Road & Track.
It is the first EV and the first five-seater Ferrari has ever built — a combination archrival Porsche has explicitly avoided, keeping the Taycan a four-door sport sedan and the Macan EV a separate model line. Road & Track framed it as a major departure for Ferrari; Automotive News framed it as a strategic bet against the broader retreat from EVs.
The launch lands as Porsche has paused Taycan production for low demand, GM and Samsung paused their $3.5 billion Indiana battery plant, and legacy automakers are cutting EV programs broadly. Ferrari's read is the opposite: an EV is the only powertrain it has not yet sold a five-seat car around.

Ferrari's bet works only if the buyers of a €500,000+ five-seat Ferrari are different from the buyers of a Porsche Taycan Cross Turismo. The badge and the bodystyle have to expand the addressable market rather than cannibalize it. The Macan EV's sales pattern next door is the first real test of that thesis.

Also worth knowing

New-vehicle payments climbed to $757/month in April: Average monthly costs for new vehicles rose again in April, with higher prices, rising rates, and weaker incentives all pulling in the same direction, per CBT News citing Cox Automotive. Average transaction prices hit $49,461, per Kelley Blue Book. New-vehicle CPI was down 0.2% in April per FRED — the gap between the falling index and the rising payment is the cost of financing, which the index does not capture. #market

Stellantis details its $70B FaSTLAne 2030 plan, and Dodge teases a halo coupe: Stellantis committed $70 billion to 60 vehicle launches and 50 refreshes by 2030, alongside compressing product development cycles from 40 months to 24 per the FaSTLAne plan, with Chrysler getting three new SUVs and two starting under $30,000, per Automotive News and CBT News. The Detroit Free Press separately reported that Stellantis privately showed journalists an SRT Hellcat Charger on the current platform, all but confirming the supercharged V8's return, and Dodge teased the Copperhead two-door halo coupe per Robb Report. A supercharged-V8 halo car alongside a sub-$30K affordability push aims at two ends of the market simultaneously. #analyst

Android Auto gets its first major interface refresh: Google announced at I/O that Android Auto will receive a Material 3 redesign with immersive navigation, widget support, and video playback, per Paul Tan's Automotive News. The update also improves screen-fit for wider in-car displays. No rollout date was specified. #news

Daniel Suarez wins the Coca-Cola 600, ending an 82-race drought: Suarez became the first driver born outside the United States to win NASCAR's longest race, holding off Christopher Bell and Denny Hamlin through multiple late restarts before rain ended the event 27 laps short at Charlotte, per Speedsport and Motorsport.com. He dedicated the win to the late Kyle Busch. #enthusiast

What's new

AMG One "routine" maintenance: $44,000 at 115 miles: An example of the 275-unit Mercedes-AMG One being offered through RM Sotheby's carries documentation showing $44,000 in maintenance work completed at just 115 miles, per The Drive. The F1-derived hypercar originally cost around $2.7 million new, and the servicing earns the car a warranty extension. The invoice reframes "routine" in a way most owners will never encounter.

Recalls & legal action

Hyundai recalls 421,078 Santa Cruz and Tucson vehicles for phantom braking risk: Front camera software on 2025-2026 model year Santa Cruz and Tucson vehicles may cause the forward collision-avoidance system to activate without a real obstacle present, per autoevolution and Hagerty. An OTA or dealer software fix is expected.

Honda Prologue and Acura ZDX recalled again for backup camera failures: 60,000 model year 2024-2025 Honda Prologue and 2024 Acura ZDX vehicles face a second recall in two months, this time because backup camera displays may go blank while reversing, per CarComplaints. The same vehicles were recalled in March for a separate issue.

Subaru EyeSight class action targets eight models: A class action lawsuit alleges that EyeSight driver-assistance systems across eight Subaru models have defective pre-collision braking and that Subaru failed to warn customers, per CarComplaints. Specific model years and a remedy timeline were not disclosed in the filing.

Quick links

Kimi Antonelli wins Canadian GP, stretches championship lead: Antonelli took his fourth straight victory as teammate George Russell retired with a power unit failure on lap 30, per Autocar India. Mercedes then acknowledged it may need to turn the internal team fight "down a notch," per Motorsport.com.

George Russell fined by FIA for throwing headrest onto track: After his retirement at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve, Russell threw his car's headrest out of the cockpit, landing it on the racing surface. He was fined and later apologized to marshals, per Motorsport Week and Motorsport.com.

Jacky Ickx, 81, laps Paul Ricard in the Genesis GMR-001 Hypercar: The six-time Le Mans winner tested the Genesis WEC LMDh entry at Circuit Paul Ricard, joking, "I guarantee I won't be on track next year," per Motorsport.com and Motorsport Week.

Ferrari goes electric with a five-seat liftback · The $757 payment ceiling · Hyundai's phantom brakes