In today's issue:

Following up on Hyundai's run at Ford's No. 3 spot: Hyundai (246,896) and Kia (236,659) sold 483,555 combined. Whether the group passed Ford for No. 3 depends on Genesis's total and Ford's.

Tesla Opens $30 Billion in Credit It Plans Not to Touch in 2026: Tesla's 8-K shows three unsecured facilities signed Sept. 29: a $20 billion three-year delayed-draw term loan administered by Citi, an $8 billion five-year revolver and a $2 billion 364-day revolver, both administered by Wells Fargo. Nothing is drawn, and Tesla does not currently plan to draw on them in 2026. They replace a $5 billion revolver that ran to January 2028. Electrek ties the move to shrinking profits and higher guided spending. #analyst

Mexico Says a 15% Car Tariff Is Close: Multiple Mexican officials say a deal cutting the U.S. tariff on light vehicles to 15% from 25% is within reach, though nothing is final, per Automotive News and Transport Topics. Track the rest in our US Auto Tariff Tracker. #analyst

VinFast Tries a U.S. Comeback While North Carolina Sues for Its Factory Site: The Vietnamese EV maker is adding a freshened 2027 VF 8 crossover and three new franchised dealerships to a shrinking U.S. retail footprint as sales slide, per Automotive News. Its certified pre-owned program launched July 1, per VinFast. North Carolina's attorney general sued in May to reclaim the Chatham County site where VinFast agreed to build a factory, and VinFast's September court response calls the suit premature and blames the state for financing delays, per WRAL. #market

Michael Jordan's Ferrari 550 Sells for $2.7 Million: The 1997 Maranello blew past auction house Joopiter's $800,000 to $1.3 million estimate, per Motor1. It is the most expensive 550 ever sold publicly, and The Supercar Blog counts 43 bids over two weeks.

2027 Honda Civic Type R Gets Heated Seats and Sharper Dampers: Honda's release lists a new front fascia, retuned +R damping and a more direct brake pedal. The 2.0-liter four still makes 315 hp, per Carscoops, which also reports Europe's version gets the axe.

Aston Martin's DBX GT Is the Soft One, With the Same 727 PS V8: It keeps the DBX S's 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8, rated 727 PS (717 hp), per Paul Tan. It adds a compliance-focused chassis and a quieter exhaust tune. Carscoops puts torque at 664 lb-ft.

2027 Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk Starts at $44,625: It adds a two-speed transfer case and a locking rear axle, per Motor1.

BMW X3 M50 Gets 437 HP and a Black Package: The extra output comes from recalibrated software, not hardware, per Motor1.

Tesla Registrations Rise Across Europe: September registrations rose 61.9% in France, 38.4% in Sweden and 24.8% in Spain, per Automotive News.

Rivian Plans a Teen Mode for Its 1,025-HP Trucks in Early 2027: Parents will be able to cap output, keep stability control on and lock out off-road drive modes, per Autoblog, citing Rivian software chief Wassym Bensaid in The Drive.

873 Range Rover Sports Recalled for Cracking Rear Subframes: Autoblog says the recall covers 873 U.S. 2024 to 2026 models built at Solihull from Oct. 3, 2023, to May 22, 2026, after a forging defect left cracks in some rear subframes. No accidents, injuries or fires have been reported, and more vehicles may be affected because some lack imaging records.

Yesterday's picks

GM's Revived Bolt Is on Pace for 35,000 Units, Not 150,000: The plant that builds the Bolt is on pace to make about 35,000 before production ends in the first quarter of next year, UAW local president Dontay Wilson told Reuters. He said it had been on track for around 150,000, which Reuters calls a cut of about 75% and which is 77% by our math. His estimate comes from daily production at the plant, not from GM, and GM declined to comment on production, saying only "We continuously evaluate market dynamics and customer demand." GM sold 4,224 Bolts through August, per Reuters, and 62,000 in 2023 alone, per InsideEVs, so the whole run would be about 56% of that one year by our math.

BMW Reveals the Gas 3 Series and Prices the Electric i3 at $61,500: The electric i3, revealed earlier this year, and a new gas 3 Series that shares its Neue Klasse styling now make up one eighth-generation lineup, per Motor1 and BMW's press release. They look nearly identical but are not the same car: the i3 has a 17 mm longer wheelbase and 30 fewer liters of trunk, per BMW Blog, and the gas models use 48V mild-hybrid technology.

CarMax Gave Up $111 a Car and Sold 13.8% More: CarMax sold 227,391 retail used cars in the quarter to Aug. 31, against 199,729 a year earlier, while gross profit per car fell $111 to $2,105 and the average selling price rose 6.3% to $27,623, per GoodCarBadCar. The year-ago quarter was weak, with retail units down 5.4%. EPS rose to $1.16 from $0.64, and revenue rose 19.5% to $7.9 billion, per CBT News. Gross profit from used sales grew for the first time in five quarters, per Transport Topics.

Worth a listen

One episode from Car Curious, our sister car-podcast platform, picked out of everything the shows published in the last day.

“Is it Real?” (Pt. 2) (Bring a Trailer Podcast, also at bringatrailer.com): Bring a Trailer staffers trade stories about the scariest noise their cars have made, then argue that extreme auction results are real, saying about 10% of auctions end with a post-sale issue and only 1% to 2% of sales fall apart.

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