In today's issue:

Filtered from 4,247 items published across 314 sources in the last 24 hours.

Cox Automotive's Stephanie Valdez Streaty called it "a market finding its footing again" and pointed to gas prices above $4 a gallon, per Kelley Blue Book. It is one quarter of sequential growth, at a share still more than a third below last fall's. The cars that grew are mostly new or refreshed: the bZ, the Rivian R2 and Subaru's Uncharted and Trailseeker.

Stellantis Plans a Hellcat V8 Dodge Charger for 2028, a Planning Document Shows: A planning document reviewed by Automotive News has production of a 6.2-liter supercharged Charger starting at the end of 2027, and Stellantis has told suppliers it intends to build about 12,000 a year. A Stellantis spokesperson called the details "purely speculation/rumor." The gas Charger Sixpack uses the 3.0-liter twin-turbo Hurricane inline-six that was meant to replace the V8 Charger, which ended production in 2023. Automotive News describes sales of the 670-hp electric Charger Daytona as sluggish; Dodge has sold fewer than 800 Charger Daytonas this year. #enthusiast

China's Car Sales Fall 28% in September, the Twelfth Monthly Decline in a Row: Retail sales of passenger vehicles fell to 1.603 million in September from 2.241 million a year earlier, the twelfth consecutive monthly decline, according to China Passenger Car Association data reported by Just Auto. Sales of new-energy vehicles fell 17% and everything else fell 43%. Exports rose 74% to 917,000 in the month and are up more than 76% through nine months, to 7.015 million. A mid-month count had China's retail sales down 22% through Sept. 20. GlobalData forecasts a 19% decline in China's light-vehicle sales this year, to 21.8 million. #market

Jeep Is on Pace for a 13-Year Low After Asking Dealers to Build Standalone Stores: Following up on Ram outselling Jeep in the third quarter, Automotive News reports Jeep is on pace for about 550,000 U.S. sales this year, after approaching 1 million at its 2018 peak. Third-quarter sales fell 20%, with the Grand Cherokee down 30% and the Compass down 62%. Five years ago Jeep said about 600 dealers had committed to dedicated showrooms or standalone stores. "I just added more expenses and sales have decreased," said Brandon Moreland, whose Colorado group opened Fort Collins Jeep in 2019. #analyst

BMW's Concept 7 Protection Is an Armored 7 Series for Buyers Who Don't Need a Head of State's Car: The concept is based on the M760e xDrive plug-in hybrid, with 603 hp, and adds bulletproof glass, ballistic steel and fiber-reinforced composites, per Paul Tan. BMW says it meets the new BayB standard and protects against common handgun rounds such as 9x19 mm and .44 Magnum, a lower level than its 7 Series Protection and X5 Protection VR6. The panoramic roof stays but no longer opens.

Renault Says a Production Espace Minivan "Is Not a Concrete Project as of Now": Following up on the E-Space concept, Renault boss Fabrice Cambolive told Autocar the priorities are the Trafic E-Tech electric van, then new versions of the Scenic and Rafale, and only then a decision on the next Espace. The next Scenic will keep its SUV shape.

Formula 1 Signs a 10-Year Deal to Race in Rwanda: The race will run on a new purpose-built circuit about 40 km south of Kigali, starting "early" next decade with no date set, per The Race. It would be Formula 1's first race in Africa since the 1993 South African Grand Prix at Kyalami. Amnesty International has called Rwanda's sports sponsorship an effort to deflect attention from its human rights record.

Honda Will Put Its Next Hybrid System in 15 Models by March 2030: The system is called Honda Hybrid, the first cars arrive next year, most are coming to North America and some get electric all-wheel drive, per InsideEVs.

A Fire Destroyed Six EVs at a Texas Cadillac Dealership and Took Nearly 18 Hours to Put Out: The fire at Frank Kent Cadillac in Fort Worth began around 5 p.m. on Oct. 9, destroyed six electric vehicles and injured no one, per Automotive News, which says photos show all or most of the vehicles were Escalade IQs. The cause is under investigation.

Twelve Drag Strips Are Up for Sealed-Bid Auction After the IHRA's Collapse: The list includes Rockingham Speedway in North Carolina and Heartland Motorsports Park in Topeka, per The Drive. The International Hot Rod Association canceled the rest of its Nitro Drag Racing Series season in July.

U.S. Fast-Charging Ports Pass 80,000 as New Installations Slow: The U.S. added 4,106 public fast-charging ports in the third quarter, 12% fewer than a year earlier, according to Paren data reported by InsideEVs.

More Than 50,000 People Have Asked Jaguar to Keep Them Posted on Its Electric Reboot: Managing director Rawdon Glover told Australia's Drive that about 80% of them are new to the brand, per Motor1. Glover estimated last year that as many as 85% of existing Jaguar buyers would look elsewhere. Registering interest is not an order for the 1,016-hp Type 01.

Car and Driver's 2027 Corvette Stingray Test Car Hit 60 MPH in 2.7 Seconds: The base Corvette ran the quarter-mile in 11.0 seconds with its new 535-hp 6.7-liter V8, per Car and Driver, which says the Z51 package's shorter gearing helps acceleration and limits top speed. Chevrolet's 200-mph claim for the Stingray led this newsletter in July.

Toyota Recalls About 31,000 RAV4 Plug-In Hybrids That Can Lose Power While Driving: The hybrid system in the redesigned 2026 RAV4 Plug-in Hybrid can shut down because of a defect in an electronic control unit, and the fix is a software update, per Autoblog. Toyota will start notifying U.S. owners by early December, and about 7,846 more are affected in Canada.

Yesterday's picks

NHTSA Weighs a Probe Into Claims Tesla's Robotaxis Speed Through School Zones: NHTSA opened file DP26010 on Oct. 9 on a defect petition, which reached the agency Sept. 23, covering what NHTSA estimates is about 1,000 Model Y and Cybercab robotaxis, per Electrek. The evidence is three social media videos and four incidents in NHTSA's own tally, with no crashes or injuries. The agency has 120 days from the Sept. 23 receipt to grant or deny, which runs to about Jan. 21, 2027, and a grant means a formal investigation that can end in a recall. Electrek counts it as the third federal action on Tesla's driverless fleet in about five weeks, after an audit query and a Special Order, the latter over how the Cybercab was certified.

Volkswagen's Deliveries Fall 14.3%, the Steepest Drop Since 2022, as China Sales Slide 38.5%: Volkswagen Group delivered 1.89 million vehicles in the third quarter, its steepest quarterly decline since a 22.4% drop in the second quarter of 2022, per CBT News. China deliveries fell 38.5% in the quarter, to 405,800 from 660,300 a year earlier, and 30.2% over nine months, per ChinaEVHome; North America fell 5.8% and Western Europe 2.8%. CBT News says global battery-electric deliveries fell about 5% even as European EV deliveries rose nearly 20%, and Martin Sander, a member of Volkswagen's extended executive committee, said the decline in China's overall market "remains an industry-wide challenge."

The EU Hybrid Cap Is Pushing BYD and Leapmotor Toward Building in Europe: Following last week's EU-China hybrid understanding, Automotive News reports analysts expect the import cap to slow Chinese sales growth in the short term but speed local production. Chinese brands held about 26% of Western Europe's plug-in-hybrid market in the second quarter, up from 2.2% two years earlier, per Schmidt Automotive Research. Bernstein estimates Chinese hybrid sales in the EU will reach 435,000 this year, above a reported 350,000-unit cap, though it is unclear whether the two sides agreed a hard limit or a tariff trigger and no figures have been officially published. Leapmotor, the Stellantis partner from yesterday's lead, is due to start shipping cars from a Stellantis plant in Spain this month and BYD plans mass production in Hungary in the fourth quarter.

Worth a listen

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

060 | Cars & Coffee at a Winery: JDM Finds & Why Nissan Should Bring Back the 240SX (Cool Cars with Chris: Car Talk, Driving Tips & Auto Life, also at YouTube): A walk through a Cars & Coffee meetup at Oak Mountain Winery in Temecula, with a red S15 and a black Supra among the finds, ends in a case for Nissan to bring back the 240SX.

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