In today's issue:
Honda's retired executives, led by former CEO Nobuhiko Kawamoto, held secret meetings and privately pushed current CEO Toshihiro Mibe to resign over the $15.7B EV write-down
Trump confirmed he won't renew USMCA; Japan's automakers are already absorbing the hit
Koenigsegg's Jesko Absolut just broke the quarter-mile and half-mile records for any production car, on rear-wheel drive and production tires
THE MUTINY
Honda's retired executives began holding secret meetings late last year to discuss what they saw as leadership failures under CEO Toshihiro Mibe, per Reuters reported by Autoblog.
Former Honda CEO Nobuhiko Kawamoto met with Mibe in April and told him directly to resign; Mibe has refused, per Reuters.
Their central indictment: Mibe lost China, Honda's biggest market by volume, while committing ¥2.5 trillion ($15.7 billion) to an EV program that had to be scrapped entirely, triggering Honda's first operating loss since 1957.
The ex-leaders say Honda's top management lost the company's foundational "genba" culture, being present with customers, dealers, and factory floors, most visibly in China, where Honda's market share has sharply declined.
Honda told Reuters it had no knowledge of the retired executives' discussions, and that management remains focused on "improving competitiveness and controlling costs."
Honda is reporting a $2.55 billion operating loss for the year ended March 2026 as the backdrop for the revolt. In Japanese corporate culture, retired executives pressuring a sitting CEO to step down is unusual enough that Reuters sourced the story to written summaries of the secret meetings, not unnamed officials. Mibe has refused to go. The story isn't that Honda had a bad year; it's whether the board decides he gets another one.
Also worth knowing
Trump Won't Renew USMCA, and the July 1 Deadline Is Three Weeks Away: Trump told reporters on June 10 he is "not looking to renew" USMCA ahead of the agreement's mandatory July 1 review deadline, per CBT News. Without renewal, North American trade reverts to prolonged renegotiation. No immediate tariff cliff, but the uncertainty freezes planning at every automaker and dealer with cross-border supply chains. Automotive News reports Japan's automakers are simultaneously absorbing what it calls a "historic tariff hit" from existing policy. #analyst
2.89M Units on Lots, But Hybrids Are Missing: U.S. new-vehicle inventory reached 2.89 million units at the start of June, a 75-day supply per Autoblog citing Automotive News data, but dealers report acute hybrid shortages driving an inventory imbalance, per Car Dealership Guy. New-vehicle CPI fell 0.3% in May per FRED, so the headline price looks calm while the product-mix squeeze is getting sharper. #market
Ford Is Subsidizing a Trade-Up It Needs Escape and Edge Buyers to Accept: With the Escape and Edge discontinued, Ford is offering private discounts to steer former owners into the Explorer, per Automotive News. The Explorer is a larger and pricier vehicle, so Ford is effectively subsidizing a trade-up it needs buyers to accept voluntarily, at a cost the company didn't budget for when it killed the smaller models. #market
Magna Would Assemble Chinese Cars in Canada: a Direct Tariff Workaround: Magna International CEO Swamy Kotagiri told The Detroit News the global supplier would assemble Chinese-brand vehicles at its Canadian facilities, per Autoblog. Canada avoids U.S. tariffs on Chinese-made vehicles; a Canadian-assembled Chinese brand technically wouldn't be one. The same dynamic that hollowed out Honda in China is now routing Chinese automakers around the tariff wall through North American suppliers. #analyst
Koenigsegg Jesko Absolut Just Broke the Quarter-Mile and Half-Mile Records for Any Production Car: On rear-wheel drive, production tires, and an unprepped runway (no drag slicks, no prepared surface), the Jesko Absolut ran 8.54 seconds at 190 mph through the quarter-mile and 232 mph through the half-mile, both Racelogic VBox verified, per Autoblog. Both are new production-car records, and the 8.54 makes the Jesko the first production car to crack 300 km/h in the quarter-mile, ahead of AWD rivals including the Rimac Nevera and Corvette ZR1X. Koenigsegg is sending the software update that produced the numbers to all existing Jesko Absolut owners over the air. #enthusiast
Recalls & legal action
Ford Recalls 255,404 Focus Models Over a Botched 2018 Repair: Up to 255,404 2012-2018 Ford Focus models are recalled because a canister purge valve was installed incorrectly during a previous 2018 recall repair, leaving the underlying stall risk unresolved for eight years, per autoevolution. → If you own one: Contact your Ford dealer to verify whether your vehicle received the 2018 service and, if so, schedule the corrected repair now. #news
Rental Company Probed for Renting Recalled Expedition and Palisade: Federal investigators are probing a rental company for continuing to rent Ford Expedition and Hyundai Palisade vehicles that carried open recalls, per Autoblog. The Safe Rental Car Act prohibits renting vehicles under open recall; this probe is the first real test of whether that law has teeth or just warnings. #news
Quick links
FTC's Dealership Ad Crackdown: Two of Three Enforcement Paths Are Neutralized, for Now: Three months after the FTC warned 97 dealership groups that six ad practices were "illegal," Automotive News reports the FTC has three ways to impose fines of $53,000+ per violation, and two of those avenues have been neutralized, for now, for the 97 named groups. One enforcement path remains live.
Yesterday's picks
880,514 Honda and Acura SUVs and Trucks Recalled for Rear Subframe Corrosion That Can Cause Loss of Control: Safety recall affecting nearly 900K vehicles over suspension failure risk.
New-Car Average Cools to $49,220 in May; Used Cars Top $30K for First Time Since 2023: Used car prices cross $30K as new vehicle transaction prices moderate.
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