Photo: Honda
In today's issue:
Honda's best-selling EV ever just lost half its sales in six months, and now it's dead
Aston Martin builds a joystick-driven war machine that only exists in a video game
Ford's Explorer carbon monoxide problem resurfaces after three deaths
RETREAT UNDER FIRE
Honda confirmed it will discontinue the Prologue after the 2026 model year, per Automotive News, which first reported the plan in March, a report Honda dismissed at the time as "based purely on speculation," per Electrek.
The Prologue was a genuine hit at launch, with 2025 sales up 19.1% to 39,194 units, but US sales collapsed 48.5% to just 8,407 units in the first half of 2026 after the federal EV tax credit expired, per Carscoops.
That collapse made the Prologue American Honda's second-slowest-selling vehicle, behind only the Prelude, and it was outsold by every Acura still in production, including the soon-to-be-discontinued RDX, per Carscoops.
The Prologue is built on GM's Ultium platform at GM's Ramos Arizpe plant in Mexico, per Just Auto, where even USMCA-compliant vehicles pay a 25% tariff on the value of any non-US content, an added cost pressure on a car whose volume was already collapsing, per Automotive News. The same shared-platform arrangement already ended the Acura ZDX in 2025.
The exit leaves Honda without a single battery-electric model in its US lineup and no BEV pipeline behind it, after the automaker separately cancelled its 0 Series SUV, 0 Series Sedan, and Acura RSX earlier this year and shut down the Sony Honda Mobility joint venture entirely, per Just Auto and Electrek.
Honda told dealers in a video message that hybrids, not EVs, will drive near-term showroom traffic, per CBT News.
The Prologue wasn't a flop Honda finally cut loose. It was Honda's best-selling EV ever, and volume halved in six months the moment the federal tax credit disappeared. Honda's bet now is that hybrids can do what a second attempt at electric wouldn't.
Also worth knowing
Following up: VW Workers Get to Grill Blume Over 140,000 Jobs: The headcount ceiling on Volkswagen's restructuring keeps climbing, from 50,000 cuts to a 100,000 total earlier this week, and now Volkswagen's works council says CEO Oliver Blume's plan threatens up to 140,000 jobs, with staff assemblies set to confront Blume directly on August 25 in Wolfsburg, per Automotive News Europe. #analyst
Volvo's China Problem Shows Up in the Ledger: Volvo posted $8 billion in Q2 revenue but EBIT margin fell to 1.1% from 2.2% in Q1 as China sales slumped 35%, per CBT News. The automaker delivered $518 million in H1 cost savings, hitting its full-year target six months early, on top of roughly $829 million in cuts it already made in 2025, per the same report. #analyst
Foxconn Blinks on Tariffs, Pivots to Poland: Foxconn postponed its US launch of the Model C EV crossover because of tariffs on its would-be American customer, and will instead pursue a separate EV production hub in Poland with state-backed ElectroMobility Poland, per Automotive News Europe. The company is also pitching a taxi variant of its unrelated Model A minivan for Japan. #analyst
Zoox Robotaxi Gets Confused by Wildfire Smoke: Zoox issued a software recall after one of its robotaxis malfunctioned in heavy smoke, landing as NHTSA is already warning AV companies about vehicles interfering with first responders, per TechCrunch. #news
New Cars Get Less Affordable, Again: New-vehicle affordability slipped in June as prices and loan rates outpaced income growth, though it still beat last year thanks to 4.1% income growth, per CBT News. FRED data shows new-vehicle CPI flat in June while total vehicle sales rose 2.7%, meaning buyers are paying steady sticker prices with worse financing terms. #market
Reveals & culture
Aston Martin Builds a War Machine That Only Exists on a Screen: The Dreadnought is a V12, joystick-driven military SUV built for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 in partnership with developer Infinity Ward, a fully digital concept with no production plans, per Hagerty.
Bugatti Builds Its Last W16, Ever: The final Mistral rolled out of Molsheim in a two-tone "Pearl" and "Sparkle" livery, closing a 20-year run for the quad-turbo 8.0-liter W16 as Bugatti pivots to a new V16, per Road & Track.
Recalls & legal action
Carbon Monoxide Found in Ford Explorer After Three Deaths: Testing confirmed carbon monoxide in a 2011-2019 Ford Explorer following the deaths of a grandmother and two children, a defect Ford claimed to have fixed and NHTSA's past investigations had cleared, per Autoblog, citing the Associated Press. → If you own one: Have your exhaust and rear liftgate seals inspected now, and don't idle in enclosed spaces regardless of what past recalls say.
Toyota, Lexus, Subaru Recall 21,000 EVs Over Lost Drive Power: An ECU fault affecting 11,495 2026 Toyota bZ, 4,739 Lexus RZ, and 4,757 Subaru Solterra EVs can cause a sudden loss of drive power, per We Talk Cars. → If you own one: Schedule the dealer software update immediately; the fault can occur while driving.
Quick links
GM Tears Down Pontiac's Old HQ: Demolition of the former Pontiac brand headquarters at 777 Joslyn Ave. is expected to wrap by early 2027, sixteen years after the brand was axed, per Automotive News.
NTSB Says Driver, Not FSD, Caused Fatal Tesla Crash: NTSB preliminary findings confirm the driver, not Tesla's software, caused a fatal June crash in Katy, Texas, with the driver pressing the accelerator to 100% while FSD Supervised was engaged, per Teslarati.
Stellantis Posts 3.8% EU30 Sales Gain in H1: Stellantis registered 1.37 million vehicles in the first half of 2026, up 3.8% year over year, taking a 16.7% EU30 market share, per Stellantis Media.
Toyota May Bring Buttons Back to the RAV4: RAV4 chief engineer Yoshinori Futonagane says Toyota is evaluating whether to reinstate physical switches after customer pushback against the redesigned model's screen-only controls, telling Drive "if necessary, yes, we will," per Motor1.
Yesterday's picks
NHTSA Sets a 2028 Deadline for Robotaxi Rules: Federal robotaxi performance rules targeted for 2028 could end the state-by-state patchwork that has slowed autonomous vehicle deployment.
Hyundai Slashes Ioniq 5 N Price by $6,300: A $6,300 cut brings the 641-hp performance EV under $60K, signaling broader EV price pressure ahead.
GM Dealers Slash $21,000 Off Unsold Electric Trucks: $21K discounts on Silverado EVs reveal mounting inventory pressure on Detroit's electric truck strategy.
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