In today's issue:

Ford spent July warning staff about Chinese rivals while building cars with one in Europe. That Valencia deal is now in a cabinet secretary's letter next to the battery plant Ford describes as Ford-owned and Ford-operated with licensed know-how. The test other automakers with Chinese licensing deals should watch: does Washington define dependence by equity, or by patent.

Alfa Romeo Drops Its All-Electric Plan and Bets on Two US Crossovers: Alfa has canceled its plan to go all-electric by the end of the decade and will add two compact crossovers to its three-nameplate US lineup, one arriving in 2027, per Automotive News. US deliveries fell 45% in the first half, on pace for a sixth straight year of decline, and the Tonale that was meant to fix that in 2023 is already due for replacement in 2027, per Automotive News. Alfa is also looking for partners to develop electrified successors to the Giulia and Stelvio. #enthusiast

Ram Targets 825,000 Sales by Entering Three New Segments: Stellantis wants Ram's North America volume at 825,000 units by 2030, roughly 60% growth, via new compact and midsize pickups plus a three-row SUV, per Automotive News. #analyst

Franchised Dealer Sentiment Slips Back Below Neutral: The franchised-dealer market index in Cox Automotive's Q3 Dealer Sentiment Index fell to 49, from 53 in Q2 and 53 a year earlier, crossing under the neutral 50 line, while the overall current-market reading was 41 and customer traffic 34, per CBT News. Used-vehicle sales sentiment dropped to 43 against a long-term Q3 score of 51. Black Book's Used Vehicle Retention Index slid to 144.3 in August, down 1.2% from July and 1.5% year-over-year, per Auto Remarketing. #market

Salon Privé Crowns Two Best of Show Winners for the First Time in 21 Years: A Lamborghini Miura P400S and a McLaren F1 shared top honors at the UK concours, the first double crowning in the event's 21-year history, per Old Cars Weekly. The second trophy is now a permanent fixture aimed at supercar-generation collectors, per Autoweek.

Jeep Recalls 328,381 Grand Cherokees for a Third Time Over the Same Spring: The recall covers 2021-2023 Grand Cherokee, Grand Cherokee L and 4xe models whose rear coil springs can detach while driving, even in units already "fixed" under June 2023 and January 2026 recalls, per Car and Driver. Stellantis estimates only 0.1% of the population has the misinstalled spring and reports no crashes or injuries, per Car and Driver, but warranty claims on previously repaired vehicles had grown from 70 to 406 by Aug. 6, which is what triggered the new recall, per Carscoops. → If you own one: Check your VIN at NHTSA.gov even if a prior spring recall was already completed; the new fix replaces both isolators. Background on the earlier Grand Cherokee spring recall is in Sunday's issue.

Ram Recalls 239,131 Ram 1500s Because Reverse Kills the Camera: A software glitch in 2025-2026 Ram 1500 (DT) infotainment can wipe the rearview camera feed the moment the truck shifts into reverse, per MoparInsiders. → If you own one: Don't rely on the camera until the software update lands; use mirrors and a spotter in reverse.

JLR Puts a Number on Break-Even: 300,000 Vehicles, With Five Launches in 12 Months: Behind the up-to-4,000 JLR job cuts we covered Sunday, JLR says the £1.7 billion plan is meant to lower its break-even volume to 300,000 vehicles, and CEO PB Balaji has committed to five new products over the next 12 months, per CBT News.

NHTSA Reviews a Defect Petition on 500,000 Ford Edge SUVs: The agency's Office of Defects Investigation opened a review into 2.0-liter EcoBoost coolant intrusion complaints across nearly 500,000 Edge crossovers, per Autoblog and AutoGuide.

BYD's Fang Cheng Bao Sub-Brand Reveals a Cheaper Defender Rival: The Tai 6 is the fourth model in the Titanium lineup, positioned as a smaller, lower-priced sibling to the Tai 7, per Electrek.

Toyota Wants Non-Auto Profit Up 40% by Fiscal 2030: The target pushes Toyota further into financial services and other non-vehicle income streams, per Nikkei Asia.

Yesterday's picks

Plug-In Hybrids Emit Six Times Their Official Rating, and Carmakers Want the Fix Scrapped: Onboard fuel monitors in 220,000 EU plug-in hybrids registered in 2024 averaged 145 g/km of CO2 against an official 24 g/km, per a Transport & Environment analysis reported by InsideEVs. Real emissions rose 5% from the 2023 cohort while official ratings fell 15%, leaving PHEVs just 14% below the 169 g/km of conventional cars. ACEA wants the 2027 utility-factor correction cancelled; the Council debates it Oct. 12 with a parliamentary vote in November.

Canada's Retaliatory Tariffs Take Effect, With the 50% US Auto Tariff Still Set for Jan. 1: Duties of 15% to 50% on about $20 billion of US goods began just after midnight Tuesday with no ministerial talks scheduled, per CBT News. The threatened 50% US tariff on Canadian cars, trucks and parts remains scheduled for Jan. 1, 2027, and Canada has shipped nearly 68% of its exports to the US this year, roughly 80% of them duty-free under USMCA, per CBT News.

Audi's New A2 Is 12 cm Too Long for the EU's Small-EV Rule. The VW That Qualifies Costs $15,000 Less.: The Audi A2 e-tron starts at €38,200 (about $44,400) in Germany, tops out at 646 km (401 miles) WLTP, and is built in Ingolstadt with orders opening Sept. 10 and deliveries in December, per InsideEVs and The Next Web.

Worth a listen

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

How to Start a Career in Auto Repair [E253] (Automotive Field Theory): A shop owner explains why throwing inexperienced technicians straight onto the lube rack sabotages both their skill development and a shop's ability to retain talent.

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