Photo: Elise240SX / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
In today's issue:
Ford's gas and hybrid division grew 72% while its commercial engine shrank
Audi's flagship Q9 starts at $89,095 with no US plant behind it
BMW built 50,000 iX3s in nine months and still can't catch up to orders
THE ENGINE SWAP
Ford Blue, the gas and hybrid division, posted Q2 EBIT of $1.14 billion, up $474 million or 72% year over year, on revenue of $26.1 billion, with off-road trims accounting for nearly a quarter of Ford US sales, per Ford's Q2 release.
Ford Pro, the commercial unit that has carried company profits for two years, posted EBIT of $1.72 billion, down $600 million or 26%, which Ford attributes to its continuing recovery from temporary Novelis-related aluminum supply constraints.
The headline $1.3 billion net loss is a $4.2 billion special-item charge, $3.6 billion of it the BlueOval SK disposition Ford announced in December 2025. Adjusted EBIT rose 17% to $2.5 billion and first-half net income was positive at $1.2 billion.
Ford raised Ford Blue's full-year guidance to $5.0 to $5.5 billion from $4.5 to $5.0 billion, and company adjusted EBIT guidance to $10 to $11 billion from $8.5 to $10.5 billion, the second raise this year. The outlook assumes a US selling rate of 16.0 to 16.5 million units.
Model e lost $919 million, a third consecutive quarter of year-over-year improvement, per Ford's release. Ford is also moving the F-150 Lightning to an extended-range setup that pairs the battery with a gas generator, per CBT News.
The Kentucky battery site Ford just took full ownership of is being repurposed to build batteries for energy storage rather than vehicles, per Automotive News. Put that next to the rest of the quarter and the direction is hard to miss: the electric truck is getting a gas generator, the EV battery plant is becoming a storage plant, and the division selling gas and hybrids is the one whose guidance went up.
Also worth knowing
Japan's earthquake found the weak link, and it isn't the assembly plants: A 7.1-magnitude earthquake killed at least 13 people in southwestern Japan and forced Toyota to extend a Lexus shutdown at its Miyata plant through July 31, risking up to 5,000 lost units, per Automotive News. Nissan's two plants in the region are running as scheduled. The pressure is upstream: Aisin Kyushu, which supplies engine parts and doors, paused output with no timeline to resume, and Honda halted a motorcycle plant. #news
BMW built 50,000 iX3s in nine months. It has orders for double that: BMW's Debrecen, Hungary plant hit the milestone on its first Neue Klasse model, prompting an early second shift, with orders approaching 100,000, per InsideEVs and Carscoops. #market
Photo: BMW
BMW is cutting 8,000 jobs the same week it added a shift for the iX3: A voluntary severance program negotiated with the works council over six weeks targets German administrative and R&D staff, with offers going out in October and running through the end of 2027, per Politico. That is roughly 5% of a 154,540-person workforce, and factory jobs are untouched. The driver is China, where BMW and MINI deliveries fell 20.4% to 261,773 in the first half, per BMW Blog. Neue Klasse demand is real; the market that used to take one in four BMWs is not. #market
Nissan and Honda are trying software cooperation again after their merger collapsed: The two are in talks to jointly build an operating system for software-defined vehicles, aimed at catching Tesla and Chinese rivals, per Automotive News. The merger talks collapsed in part over who would control what; an operating system is a narrower thing to share, and also the piece both companies are furthest behind on. #analyst
Reveals & culture
Audi's biggest SUV ever starts at $89,095, and it's too big for London: The 2027 Q9 stretches past 209 inches, nearly 10 inches longer than the redesigned Q7, with the SQ9's twin-turbo V8 topping out at $119,395, per Kelley Blue Book. Top Gear called it "officially too large for London," per Top Gear. Audi builds none of it in the US, leaving the flagship exposed to the same tariffs it's meant to outrun, per CBT News.
Photo: Audi
Dodge teases a Super Bee return with a turbocharged inline-six: A video of bees swarming a drag strip Christmas tree points to the Charger Sixpack's most powerful variant yet, debuting August 7 ahead of Roadkill Nights, per Car and Driver.
A Bugatti Mistral just became a $9.5 million road-trip receipt: One of just 99 built, driven 321 miles from new, could fetch $7.5 to $9.5 million at auction against a $6.055 million original window sticker, per Carscoops.
Recalls & legal action
Ford recalls the Explorer and Aviator again, this time for a seat that reclines itself: The driver's seat back can recline unexpectedly, risking injury to rear passengers, marking the second Explorer/Aviator recall this July, per Autoblog. → If you own one: Check NHTSA.gov with your VIN and get the dealer fix before carrying rear passengers on the highway.
Quick links
Used car prices are finally flattening: US used car prices rose about $50 in July, the smallest monthly increase in months, according to CARFAX data, per Digital Dealer.
A Zeekr owner drove into Kazakhstan and got locked out of his own SUV: The Zeekr 9X's security system cut access entirely once the vehicle left China, per Autoblog. The incident lands as Zeekr expands the same SUV into Europe with 897 horsepower, per Carscoops.
IndyCar's first new car in 16 years is faster by design: The IR-28 chassis, debuting for the 2028 season, promises to be the fastest IndyCar ever built and starts on-track testing August 1, per Autoweek.
Stellantis hands its China strategy to a Chinese executive: COO Xin Tianshu takes a new global role over China and Asia-Pacific starting August 3, reporting directly to CEO Antonio Filosa, per Automotive News.
Yesterday's picks
Ford Wants the Army's Next Truck. GM Already Has a Head Start.: Ford is back in the running for defense work after 36 years, joining GM Defense and BC Customs on the Army's Infantry Squad Vehicle Heavy prototype program. GM's prototype has already been bought by military officials for field testing.
Porsche's workers bought a job guarantee with deferred pay: Porsche secures employment through 2035 as workers accept deferred raises and trimmed bonuses amid collapsing China demand.
JLR retires Discovery Sport as EU crash rules bite: EU GSR2 safety standards force Land Rover to kill the Discovery Sport after twelve years, while the Evoque and Velar survive.
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