Photo: InsideEVs
In today's issue:
Subaru showed reporters its first EV built on its own platform, a 510-hp prototype meant to make it less dependent on Toyota
Used EVs made up a record 3.3% of U.S. used-car sales in September while new EV sales fell 40.7% from a year earlier
Toyota wants the EU to count Japan, the U.K. and Turkey as Made in Europe so its imported EVs keep their incentives
Filtered from 3,157 items published across 281 sources in the last 24 hours.
SUBARU GOES IT ALONE
Subaru showed its next-generation EV prototype to reporters for the first time on Oct. 18 at its test course north of Tokyo, per Automotive News. It rides on a new dedicated EV platform with a new battery, new motors and a new control unit, all developed in roughly half the usual time as Subaru tries to match the pace of Chinese competitors.
Every EV Subaru sells today was developed with Toyota, its biggest shareholder: the Solterra, Trailseeker, Uncharted and Getaway. Engineering chief Takatomo Watamori said Subaru must develop its own EVs to keep a brand identity built on all-wheel drive and safety, per Automotive News.
The test car is the new platform under an Outback body, with a longer wheelbase than the Outback's, per Automotive News. A 150-kW front motor and a 230-kW rear motor make 380 kW, about 510 hp, and it reaches 62 mph in under four seconds, per InsideEVs.
It is not built alone. The motors come from Toyota Group supplier Aisin and the 4,000 cylindrical cells from Panasonic Energy, partnerships that date to 2024, per InsideEVs. Subaru says the pack weighs 25% less than its previous battery and the platform targets a 220-pound weight cut.
Subaru would not give range, battery size or charging speed, and says the car is a verification vehicle, not the production spec, per Automotive News. Some of the technology could reach production around 2029, though Subaru has not confirmed a model or launch date, per InsideEVs.
An executive told Japan's Motor Fan, "we'll show you what the final product will look like in a few years," per Autoblog, which reads the mule as an early sign of the Performance-E STI concept. Subaru has not confirmed that.
The bet is expensive for a company Subaru's size. It sold 923,873 vehicles worldwide in 2025, under a tenth of Toyota's 11.3 million, per Automotive News, and plans to reach 1.2 million a year in the early 2030s with 10 new vehicles. Subaru also gave no sign it is ending the Toyota partnership, per InsideEVs, so the Toyota-built EVs stay on sale while the in-house ones are developed. Read Automotive News' full story.
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Also worth knowing
Used EVs Hit a Record 3.3% of U.S. Used-Car Sales as New EV Sales Fall 40.7%: Cox Automotive estimates 47,862 used EVs sold in September, up 21.2% from a year earlier, a record 3.3% of used-vehicle sales, per its September EV Market Monitor. The average used EV listing fell to $36,767, and the premium over a comparable gas car narrowed to $2,137 from $2,692 in August. New EV sales were 86,632, down 40.7% from September 2025, when buyers rushed in before the $7,500 federal credit ended on Sept. 30, as we covered in our Oct. 13 issue. Their share of a shrinking new-car market rose to 6.5% from 6.3% in August. Off-lease EVs are feeding the used supply, per CBT News. #market
Toyota Asks the EU to Count Japan, the U.K. and Turkey as Made in Europe: The EU's pending Industrial Accelerator Act ties EV incentives and public purchasing to EU origin, and all of Toyota's European EVs are imported from Japan except the Urban Cruiser, built in India, per Automotive News. Toyota imported 6.9 billion euros of cars from Japan in 2025, builds the Corolla wagon in England and the C-HR in Turkey, and still has no model or date for the Czech EV it announced last year. "Toyota is not a guest in Europe," Toyota Europe CEO Yoshihiro Nakata said on Oct. 15, the day France and Germany agreed to open the door for Britain to be treated as a trusted partner. Toyota wants that deal widened to Japan and Turkey. #analyst
Mexico Says Its Zero-Tariff Parts Break Is Only for the 11 Carmakers Already Building There: An Oct. 13 decree cut the import duty on assembly kits to zero from 10% for five years, and on Oct. 16 the Economy Ministry said it applies only to the 11 light-vehicle makers with plants in Mexico, per Just Auto. It said the decree "will not in any way facilitate access for vehicles from countries without a treaty with our country." Importers must report the VIN of every vehicle built with exempt parts, and the ministry cited GM's plan, announced in May, to move two production lines from China to Mexico. Tariff status is in our U.S. auto tariff tracker. #analyst
Reveals & culture
Mercedes' CEO Says the Four-Cylinder C63 Did Not Bring "the Whole Tribe" Along: Following up on yesterday's AMG GT SUV, whose V8 is simulated, CEO Ola Källenius told Road & Track that "the good old V8 crowd is a pretty good crowd. So you did not get the whole tribe with you," per Motor1. AMG CEO Stefan Weckbach said the V8 CLE63 arrives next year, but the C63 will not get its V8 back, and asked about a V12, Källenius said only: "Watch this space."
Photo: Tokumeigakarinoaoshima / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Nissan's 40th-Anniversary Pathfinder Brings Back the 1987 Burgundy Interior: The 2027 Pathfinder Special Edition pairs black and burgundy upholstery modeled on the first generation's with 20-inch black wheels, a panoramic roof, second-row captain's chairs and a 6,000-pound towing package, per Car and Driver. It starts at $48,965 with front-wheel drive and $50,965 with AWD, and goes on sale next month. Nissan sold its 2 millionth Pathfinder in September, per AutoGuide.
Photo: Nissan, via Car and Driver
A 106-Mile Ferrari F50 Is Expected to Bring More Than $20 Million: Chassis 107165, the 334th of 349 F50s built, was delivered new in the U.K. and kept stored and unregistered, per Motor1. It headlines Broad Arrow's Las Vegas sale on Oct. 31.
Photo: Motor1
Japan Gets a 15-Car Corvette Convertible With the Old 6.2-Liter V8: Chevrolet Japan's V8 Tourer pairs Red Mist paint and silver stripes with a tan interior and GT2 seats, but keeps the 495-hp 6.2-liter V8 instead of the 6.7-liter the 2027 U.S. Corvette gets, per Autoblog.
Photo: Chevrolet Japan, via Autoblog
Quick links
VW Reportedly Plans a Pay Freeze Until 2030: Süddeutsche Zeitung reported the plan from internal documents, VW called it speculation, and IG Metall is demanding 5% with strikes possible at VW from January, per Auto Motor und Sport. In Chattanooga, the UAW's first contract brings about 20% raises from 2027 to 2030.
The Volvo EX60 Went 352 Miles in Edmunds' Range Test, 40 Past Its EPA Rating: That beat the Mercedes EQE SUV's 349 miles, the Cadillac Lyriq's 319 and the bigger Volvo EX90's 321, per Edmunds. The EX60 was building at about a tenth of its target in Sweden, and U.S. dealers may wait until late 2027, as we reported in our Oct. 15 issue.
Photo: Alexander Migl / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Rivian Opens Its Point to Point Driver Assist to Invited Owners: The supervised system follows a navigation route through turns and merges, needs a paid Autonomy+ subscription and a Gen 2 R1 or R2, and reaches all subscribers in 2027, per Motor1.
GM's Corvette Chief Engineer Says a Manual Would Mean an All-New Gearbox for the Mid-Engine Car: Tony Roma, GM's executive chief engineer for the Corvette, said on The Drive's Drivecast that the C8's transaxle layout means a manual would have to be developed from scratch, which makes the cost the obstacle, per The Drive. "You don't do it just because you can. You do it because it makes the car better," he said.
Global EV Sales Fell 2% in September Even as Europe Set a Monthly Record: Sales were 2.15 million, down 2% from a year earlier and up 17% from August, according to Benchmark Mineral Intelligence figures reported by China EV Home. China fell 18% from a year earlier to about 1.11 million, 51.6% of the global total, and sales for the first nine months were 15.5 million, up 3%.
This Week in Car Podcasts: The Fans Under Tesla's Roadster and a McLaren Stolen on Paper: Car Curious, our sister car-podcast platform, recaps 296 episodes across 191 shows, including McMurtry's managing director explaining what the fans under Tesla's new Roadster do and SwitchCast's host on how a McLaren gets stolen on paper before anyone touches it.
Recalls & legal action
Ford Reaches 80 U.S. Recalls This Year With 2,276 F-150s Whose Front Seats May Be Loose: Ford was at 75 recalls in our Oct. 14 issue. Seat-to-body bolts on some 2025 to 2027 F-150s may not be properly secured, and Ford has 56 warranty reports and no known crashes or injuries, per Autoblog. Stellantis is second this year with 39 recalls.
Yesterday's picks
Mercedes-AMG's First In-House SUV Is a 1,153-HP EV Aimed at the Cayenne, and the Base Model Undercuts Its Own Sedan in Germany: For the first time in its 59-year history, Mercedes-AMG has developed a full-size SUV entirely in-house, per Mercedes-Benz. The electric AMG GT SUV is the second model on the AMG.EA platform after the GT 4-Door Coupe, and it reaches U.S. dealers next summer as a 2028 model, per Automotive News.
VinFast-Affiliated Green SM Put 500 VinFast EVs on Los Angeles Streets: Green SM, a Vietnamese ride-hailing company affiliated with VinFast, launched its all-electric taxi service in Los Angeles on Oct. 13, per Autoblog. The fleet is 500 VinFast VF8s and it is Green SM's first U.S. operation, per Car and Driver. Unlike Uber and Lyft it owns the cars and employs 500 full-time drivers it trained, and riders can book through an app, call a hotline or hail one on the street. The fleet alone outnumbers VinFast's U.S. registrations for the first seven months of the year: Automotive News reported only 389 from January to July, per Car and Driver. VinFast announced the launch itself, per Just Auto.
Worth a listen
One episode from Car Curious, our sister car-podcast platform, picked out of everything the shows published in the last day.
Why you can't seem to find a good Porsche for sale in 2026 (with Nathan Merz) (Porsche Club Insider, also at YouTube): Guest Nathan Merz and the hosts explain why a good used Porsche is harder to find than ever, from wraps that hide a car's real color to resellers and instant online offers that shrink the private-sale market, and why even $80,000 for a later 911 still risks buying a bad one.
Porsche Club Insider
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