In today's issue:

Jim Farley spent years insisting Ford was done chasing cheap cars. A 10.2% sales drop apparently changes the math faster than any strategy memo.

Toyota gives two different answers about Chinese brands depending on the market: Earlier this year Toyota executives said cheap Chinese cars were no threat to a reputation built on quality and resale. In South Africa the company says the opposite: "We cannot compete with the emerging Chinese brands directly on an entry-level price point," local PR boss Riaan Esterhuysen said at the new RAV4 launch, explaining a deliberate price increase meant to push the RAV4 upmarket instead, per Autoblog citing Bizcommunity. He credits Chinese brands with pulling South African used-car shoppers into new cars entirely. Tariffs keep those brands out of U.S. showrooms, so this is a preview rather than a forecast. #analyst

A record share of buyers is signing seven-year car loans: A record 24% of borrowers took out auto loans spanning seven years or longer in Q2, per Edmunds data cited by Automotive News, which also notes the average new-vehicle transaction price topped $50,000 for the first time last year. Automotive News is candid that national repossession statistics "across lenders, states and outcomes are scant," so the loan term is the measurable number here, not the repo rate. #market

American EV prices are going up while the rest of the world's come down: Global average EV prices have fallen 9% since 2020 to about $37,000 before subsidies, while hybrids rose 16% to about $39,000, per a Mobility Global study reported by Nikkei Asia and cited by Autoblog. Chinese manufacturing scale and a 37% drop in lithium-ion prices did most of that. America went the other way this year. (Disclosure: our editor is one of the drivers quoted in the piece that follows.) With the $7,500 federal credit expired, average EV lease payments climbed from a July 2025 low of $538 to $707 as of June, against $607 for a non-EV, per Edmunds data cited by the Wall Street Journal. Second-quarter EV sales fell 20.5%, per Kelley Blue Book, and in California hybrids outsold EVs 22.1% to 15.9% in the first half, reversing four straight years. The gap is policy, not battery cost. #market

First Brands pushes a fraud settlement through bankruptcy court: The collapsed parts maker is urging a court to approve a plan that would fund lawsuits pursuing billions of dollars in claims tied to an alleged fraud scheme, per the Financial Times. #analyst

Monterey Car Week runs through the weekend, and the auction lots are doing more talking than the reveals.

A Koenigsegg Jesko reaches a public auction for the first time: One of the 125 Jeskos built goes to Mecum Monterey on August 15, which The Supercar Blog reports is the first time the model has been offered at auction rather than traded privately. What it makes is a public price, on a car whose value has so far only been guessed at.

One of five Corvette Grand Sports ever built crosses the block Saturday: Grand Sport number 003, from the run of five lightweight racers Chevrolet built for the 1963 season, goes to RM Sotheby's in downtown Monterey on August 15, per Hemmings, which expects it to challenge the record books.

A 1969 Subaru Sambar 360 Van is up for grabs: The microcar that introduced Subaru to American buyers is listed on Bring a Trailer, per Car and Driver.

GM has recalled its electric trucks twice in five days: GM Authority reports an unsecured battery component on the Chevrolet Silverado EV and GMC Sierra EV, affecting very few vehicles. It lands five days after the same two trucks were recalled over spare wheels that can crack at the disc vent holes, GM campaign N262556920, per Autoblog, which noted that campaign had not yet reached NHTSA's database, so no federal number or population was available for it. → If you own one: Check NHTSA.gov by VIN, and don't fit the spare until a dealer has inspected it.

Dodge and Alfa Romeo recall 48,777 SUVs over twisting seat belts: The recall covers 40,386 Dodge Hornets and 8,391 Alfa Romeo Tonales whose rear seat belts can twist in the retractor and fail to hold an occupant in a crash, with no warning light to signal it, per Autoblog, which traces the finding to FCA US flagging the retractor to Stellantis Europe in April 2026. It is the company's second seat-belt recall in eight days, after 1.5 million Ram 1500s over rear buckle anchors. → If you own one: Check NHTSA.gov for your VIN status and have the belt webbing inspected at your next dealer visit.

Mercedes-AMG owners sue over a seat badge that allegedly burns skin: Two drivers filed a federal class action in the Central District of California alleging the raised metal AMG logo on the seat heats up in the sun, with one plaintiff describing an AMG-shaped burn mark on their skin, per Autoblog and MotorBiscuit. Mercedes hasn't issued a recall, so for now the badge's fate rides on the lawsuit alone.

The Cadillac CT5 has five federal stars and three Poor insurance-industry ratings: IIHS published the results on July 9, and they still sit awkwardly next to the sedan's 5-star overall score from NHTSA. The 2026 CT5 drew Poor on the updated moderate overlap front test, Poor on the updated side-impact test and Poor on vehicle-to-vehicle front crash prevention, with headlights rated Marginal or Poor depending on trim, which drops it out of Top Safety Pick contention entirely, per Autoblog and AutoGuide. In the side test a roughly 4,200-pound barrier shaped like an SUV struck the driver's side at 37 mph and the dummy's head slid below the side curtain airbag into the window sill at 161 G. Two rating systems, one car, opposite verdicts. IIHS grades Good through Poor and awards no stars at all, which is worth knowing before you read a window sticker.

The 80-Series Land Cruiser has become a Monterey auction car: Unmodified examples are scarce enough that a 1990s Toyota SUV now shares a catalog with the collector cars, a placement that would have been hard to imagine a few years ago, per The Drive.

BMW's 3 Series passes 2 million sales in China: The sedan hit the cumulative milestone even as overall China demand slumps, per BMWBLOG.

Subaru is getting into the car loan business: Riding a sales surge led by the Forester and Crosstrek, Subaru is launching its own lending arm, per Autoblog.

A prototype engineer's tell for which cars get recalled: John Gravelyn ran prototype engineering at Ford and then Rivian, and told the To All The Cars I've Loved Before podcast that the programs which gave his shop trouble before launch were the ones that produced recalls after it. This week's recap from Car Curious, our sister car-podcast platform, also covers why average repair costs climbing from about $3,100 in 2019 to nearly $4,800 in 2025 now means a moderate crash totals the car.

Yesterday's picks

Toyota recalls Tacoma TRD Off-Road trucks over shocks that can drop parts on the road: Corrosion can cause shock absorber oil reservoirs to detach at speed on 2024-2025 Tacoma TRD Off-Road trucks. Counts differ by outlet: Autoblog reports approximately 48,000 US trucks, while CarComplaints puts it above 51,000 plus about 3,500 in Canada. The campaign had not yet appeared in NHTSA's database at publication. → If you own one: Because it is not in NHTSA's system yet, run your VIN through Toyota's own lookup at toyota.com/recall or call your dealer, and hold off on off-road driving until the shocks are inspected. Owner letters go out in October.

Tesla extends Cybertruck warranty to 8 years over a defect it won't recall: Tesla is addressing widespread power conversion system failures on the Cybertruck by stretching warranty coverage rather than filing a recall, per AutoGuide. Owners get more coverage; NHTSA gets no paper trail.

Wholesale used-vehicle values cooled in July: Black Book and Cox Automotive's Manheim index both show seasonal depreciation setting in after a spring peak, per Auto Remarketing, even as the average new monthly payment hit a record $808 in July, per CBT News. Wholesale is loosening while retail keeps tightening.

The week in attention

How many separate outlets ran a headline naming each company over the last 7 days, across the 560+ sources we monitor. Press releases and Reddit are excluded, so this counts what got written about, not what got announced. A few brands whose names double as ordinary English words are not counted yet.

Hennessey: 41 outlets this week, about 2 in a median week.

Zoox: 14 outlets this week, about 1 in a median week.

EVgo: 12 outlets this week, against none in a median week over the previous 9.

Bugatti: 34 outlets this week, about 8 in a median week.

Quieter than usual: McLaren (17 outlets against about 26), JLR (24 outlets against about 33).

Most covered overall: Volkswagen Group, Ford Motor, Stellantis.

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