Rivian's official story is that the R2 drives a path to profitability, but the company simultaneously abandoned its 2027 EBITDA target and trimmed the exact workforce that turns new customers into retained revenue. The R2 has to both sell in volume and sell at margin for any of this to work, and the lease data suggests the pricing is already pushing buyers toward waiting.

Porsche Gave the 2027 Taycan Eight Fake Gears. Taycan Sales Just Hit a Record Low.: The 2027 Taycan adds E-Shift, a simulated eight-speed gearbox accessed via steering-wheel paddles, alongside a larger standard 105 kWh battery and faster charging, per Carscoops and Car and Driver. Porsche sold just 16,339 Taycans last year, the lowest total since the model launched and down more than half from its 2021 peak of 41,296, per Carscoops, and The Drive notes the feature is borrowed directly from Hyundai's playbook. The price went up for 2027 alongside the fake shifts, per Car and Driver. #enthusiast

Carvana Bought 7 Stellantis Dealerships and Is Now Selling New Cars: Carvana has acquired seven Stellantis franchises and launched a pilot new-car test-drive center at its Chrysler-branded location in Dallas, featuring a 10-by-10-foot "cube" showroom and a vehicle playground with online purchase and delivery options, per Automotive News. The digital-first used-car giant entering new-vehicle retail puts it in direct competition with the traditional dealer network it has long disrupted in used cars, per CBT News. #market

The robotaxi race is turning suppliers into competitors. Two moves this week, one from a self-driving chip vendor and one from a global automaker, put each company head to head with the partners it depends on.

Mobileye Is Now Competing Against Its Own Customers: Mobileye, which sells its self-driving systems to automakers including Volkswagen, announced it will launch its own vertically integrated U.S. robotaxi service in 2027, starting with a fleet of roughly 100 vehicles in one major metropolitan market and targeting 17,000 robotaxis if the pilot succeeds, per Carscoops and Ars Technica. The move puts Mobileye in the same lane as Waymo, Zoox, and Tesla, and directly competing with the OEM customers it supplies chips to, per Automotive News. #analyst

Stellantis, Uber, and Wayve Will Build Level 4 Robotaxis for Worldwide Deployment: Stellantis signed a partnership with Uber and Wayve to develop fully driverless ride-hailing vehicles for worldwide deployment, per Automotive News. Stellantis builds the vehicles, Uber runs the ride-hailing network, and Wayve supplies the self-driving system, leaving the automaker as the hardware partner while the rider relationship and the autonomy stack sit with the other two. #analyst

51 Manual GT3s for 75 Years of Porsche in Britain, at £251,951 Each: Porsche GB built the 911 GT3 Earls Court 51 Edition to mark 75 years of selling cars in the UK: 51 units, six-speed manual, bespoke Earls Court Green metallic paint inspired by a 1951 Porsche 356 shown at the original Earls Court Motor Show, priced at £251,951, its last four digits landing on 1951, per Auto Express UK and Carscoops. Public debut is at Silverstone on June 20-21, per autoevolution.

Ford Re-Recalls 100,000 F-150s Because the First Fix Didn't Take: The latest round of Ford recalls stems from a late-2024 internal audit that found some F-150s may have been marked as repaired when the original remedy wasn't fully applied, per Autoblog. Ford has now issued nearly 50 recalls so far this year and is simultaneously running a daily engine teardown program at every plant to try to catch defects before they ship, per Carscoops and Autoblog. → If you own one: Check NHTSA's recall database at nhtsa.gov with your VIN to confirm whether your F-150 is included and whether the original repair was logged correctly.

Toyota Won't Replace All 270,000 Recalled Tundra V6 Engines, and Owners Are Pushing Back: More than 270,000 vehicles with Toyota's 3.4-liter twin-turbo V35A-FTS V6 have been recalled to date, affecting the Tundra and Lexus LX, with full engine replacement as the only thorough fix, per The Drive. A teardown of one failed unit shows what went wrong internally, per Autoblog, but Toyota is not replacing every affected engine, leaving some owners in a standoff with dealers. → If you own one: Contact your Toyota or Lexus dealer to confirm whether your specific VIN qualifies for an engine replacement or a lesser repair, and document all communications.

Honda Recalls 98,892 Vehicles Over a Seat Sensor That Can Deploy Airbags in a Crash: Honda is recalling 98,892 vehicles, including the Acura TLX and RDX, over a front passenger seat weight sensor that can crack and short-circuit, causing the airbags to deploy unintentionally during a crash, per AutoGuide. Dealers will replace the sensor free of charge. → If you own one: Check nhtsa.gov with your VIN and schedule service; the airbag sensor issue warrants prompt attention.

Ford's $30,000 EV Pickup Is Running Prototype Tests in California: Camouflaged prototypes of Ford's entry-level electric pickup, sized near an old Ranger and potentially called the Ranchero, are now testing near a secretive California facility ahead of a 2027 launch, per Automotive News and Carscoops.

EU Parliament Ratified Its U.S. Trade Deal 440 to 151: The European Parliament voted to approve its trade agreement with the U.S., clearing one of the final hurdles before implementation, per Automotive News Europe.

BMW's $580,000 V8 Shooting Brake Is Nearly Production-Ready: Spy photographers caught the production BMW Speedtop undisguised; it closely follows last year's concept, will be limited to 70 units, and carries a $580,000 price tag, per Carscoops.

Yesterday's picks

The All-New 2027 Chevy Silverado Doubles Down on V8s as the Electric-Truck Push Stalls: Chevy doubles down on V8s as electric truck push stalls; new 5.7L and 6.6L engines.

Used Inventory Up 4%, Prices Still at a Three-Year High: Supply up 4% but prices hit three-year high, signaling an affordability standoff.

Ford Asks Washington for a Waiver to Keep Selling Its China-Built Lincoln: Ford seeks waiver to keep importing China-built Lincoln Nautilus amid new software rules.