Photo: Ford
In today's issue:
Ford replaced two-thirds of its manufacturing and engineering leadership after the Super Duty disaster
Dodge's GLH hot hatch gets a platform, an engine target and a reason to exist
Lucid recalls nearly its entire Air lineup and tells owners to park outside
GOOD ENOUGH ISN'T
Since the botched 2023 F-Series Super Duty launch, Ford has replaced two-thirds of its leaders across the industrial system, manufacturing, supply chain and engineering, per Carscoops.
CEO Jim Farley told the Detroit Free Press the launch was "a catalyst for change," and that the people with an "it's good enough" mentality were the ones shown the door, per Carscoops.
The cost was deliberate. Ford slowed production and delayed launches rather than pass defects to customers: "We had to take the pain at the company to do that," Farley said.
The backdrop is a record. Ford issued 153 separate recall campaigns in 2025, covering roughly 12.9 million vehicles, per MotorBiscuit.
It has now hired David Hines, for 13 years the director of NHTSA's Office of Crash Avoidance Standards, as chief auto safety officer, while still under a $165 million consent order that keeps an independent monitor on its recall practices, per MotorBiscuit.
Firing two-thirds of a leadership bench is an expensive way to fix a culture, and it tells you what the problem actually was. Not that nobody noticed the defects. That noticing them didn't stop anything.
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Also worth knowing
Nearly Every Lucid Air Ever Built Just Got a Fire Recall: Lucid recalled 27,185 Air sedans spanning model years 2022 to 2026 over an improperly protected circuit that can draw too much power and overheat, and told NHTSA it knows of three fires, four reports of smoke and 33 complaints, per Car and Driver. The remedy is software, delivered over the air with no dealer visit, but until it installs Lucid is telling owners to park away from structures, per Kelley Blue Book. → If you own one: Park away from your house, garage and other vehicles until the over-the-air update lands, and check your VIN on NHTSA.gov. #news
Photo: Car and Driver
Audi's Reliability Is Quietly Beating BMW and Mercedes: The latest J.D. Power Vehicle Dependability Study shows German luxury brands aren't equally reliable despite similar price tags and badges, per CarBuzz. #market
eBay Bans Airbag Sales After Counterfeits Kill Drivers: eBay will stop U.S. listings for airbags and inflators next month after users were caught selling counterfeits, following NHTSA warnings earlier this year tied to fatal ruptures, per Carscoops. #news
Reveals & culture
Dodge Finally Says What the GLH Actually Is: The revived "Goes Like Hell" badge lands on a muscle hatch riding the new STLA One platform, with Stellantis CEO Antonio Filosa pointing to a roughly 300-hp gas engine rather than the EV powertrain the platform also supports, per Car and Driver. Tim Kuniskis, who heads Stellantis’s American brands, calls it "the next generation of Hornet, but the way we should have done it the first time." That is pointed, given that tariffs and weak sales killed the Hornet after three years, and Dodge's US volume has fallen more than 80% since 2013, per Automotive News. #enthusiast
VW Turned the ID. Buzz Into an Electric Camper, and America Is Next: The ID. California Cruise goes on sale in Europe in short and long-wheelbase form, with a two-meter bed platform and a 3.6 kW vehicle-to-load system that runs a coffee pot or the climate control off the traction battery, per InsideEVs. The US gets its own electric camper via the 2027 ID. Buzz Tourer. #news
Photo: Volkswagen
Gunther Werks Calls Its 840-HP Porsche 993 a Daily-Drivable Hypercar: The Huntington Beach shop reworks a classic 911 into something with hypercar output, and founder Peter Nam insists it's built to be driven, not trailered, per Autoblog. #enthusiast
Quick links
Jeep Recon EV Gains 20 HP and Loses Range: Jeep quietly bumped the Recon's output by 20 hp while cutting its range estimate again, from an original 250 miles to 230 and now 222 for the Moab and 240 for the Overland, with the $65,000 starting price unchanged, per Carscoops.
Photo: Jeep
That BYD Battery Test Has a Result: 98.7%: The flash-charging endurance run we mentioned yesterday has numbers. BYD says the Yangwang U7 it drove 18,600 miles in under nine days, in 97-degree heat, finished with 98.7% of its battery capacity after more than 350 flash charges, per Carscoops. It is BYD's own test, not an independent one.
Photo: BYD
Toyota's Global Sales Fell 5% in July: Toyota sold 912,683 vehicles worldwide in July, down 5.2% year on year, with Japan up 6.6% but overseas volume down 8.1% on Middle East conflict and rising competition, per Just Auto.
Yesterday's picks
August Just Set a Record at the Pump, and Hormuz Is Why: The national average for regular sits at $4.09, a cent below last week, but August became the first month ever to stay above $4 every single day, per AAA.
Rivian's CFO exits mid-ramp: Claire McDonough is stepping down October 30 after nearly six years as Rivian's CFO, per TechCrunch and InsideEVs. The exit lands exactly as Rivian races to scale the cheaper R2, which arrived alongside a cut profit target and 300 job cuts.
NHTSA closes its Nissan Rogue tie rod probe with no recall: A two-year investigation into bent tie rods on 250,000 2021 Rogues ended without action, with regulators attributing many incidents to pothole impacts and other abnormal loads rather than a defect, per Autoblog and CarComplaints. Owners with ongoing steering complaints are on their own; the federal file is shut.
Worth a listen
One episode from Car Curious, our sister car-podcast platform, picked out of everything the shows published in the last day.
Being proactive before winter, being mindful of brakes and more! (WCCO's Car Care): Covers pre-winter vehicle checks, diagnosing warning lights and drivability issues.
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