Oliver Blume at a Volkswagen Group press conference. Photo: Alexander-93 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
In today's issue:
VW reaffirmed a margin target that excludes any restructuring it decides from here
Ford recalls over half a million Broncos for an engine bay fire risk
Lando Norris denies Hamilton a record pole by twelve thousandths of a second
THE ASTERISK ON THE GUIDANCE
VW made €5.9 billion in operating profit over the first half, down 11.6% from a year ago. That works out to a 3.8% profit margin, and VW is promising investors 4.0% to 5.5% for the full year, so the half came in under its own target, per Volkswagen Group.
There is a second version of that number. Take out one-time costs, mainly the halted ID.4 production in North America and restructuring charges, and profit was €6.9 billion, a 4.3% margin, which clears the target. CFO Arno Antlitz put those one-offs at about €0.9 billion, or half a percentage point of margin. That half point is the entire difference between missing and clearing, per Volkswagen Group and the earnings call.
Here is the part that matters. Pressed on the second half, Antlitz said that 4.0% to 5.5% target assumes no new restructuring at all, and that anything VW decides from here comes on top of it, per the earnings call.
What VW might still decide is not small. Antlitz put the overhead gap to competitors at €10 billion to €11 billion and said closing it "would imply a further workforce reduction of around 50,000 employees in addition to the current program, mostly in the administrative areas of the group worldwide." That current program is itself 50,000 posts across VW's German entities by 2030, about 21,000 of which have already gone. Two days before the results, Porsche's supervisory board signed off on its next restructuring round, with German media putting the additional cuts at about 5,000, roughly doubling that unit's program to about 9,000 positions, per the earnings call and Automotive News.
What did move: the revenue outlook was cut to a range of -3% to 0%, from 0% to +3% previously, on deliveries to customers of 4.13 million, down 6.3%, with China deliveries off about 26%. The BEV order bank runs more than 50% above where it ended 2025, per Volkswagen Group.
VW landed two tenths of a point under its own floor on half a point of one-off charges, so the arithmetic holds up. The catch is the calendar. Blume said VW expects to reach a conclusion with the supervisory board and labor representatives during this year, which puts the restructuring decision and the guidance that excludes it inside the same twelve months. Antlitz was careful that VW is not chasing headcount reductions for their own sake and that labor-cost measures could do some of the work. Whatever form it takes, it lands on top of a band VW has already reaffirmed.
Also worth knowing
A Rivian R2 flip barely clears sticker: One of the first Rivian R2s resold at auction for $63,500 against a $61,485 sticker, a $2,015 markup after four bids, per Carscoops. Six weeks after launch, flipper demand for the 656-hp SUV has already cooled. #market
Waymo crashes 68% less than human drivers, except in one city: Across 50 million driverless miles measured against 222 billion human miles, IIHS found Waymo's fleet posted 68% fewer police-reportable crashes, 85% fewer single-vehicle crashes and 81% fewer injury crashes, per CBT News. The average hides a wide spread by market: 76% fewer in Phoenix and 71% in Los Angeles, but 35% in San Francisco and 4% higher in Austin, where IIHS says the sample is still too small to draw from, per Axios. The same study notes current crash-reporting rules can't yet monitor driverless fleets at scale, meaning the industry's best safety data still lacks a regulator built to check it. #news
Reveals & culture
Kia let a shooting-brake model into its own design video: Kia's Vision Meta Turismo design film shows a long-roof scale model sitting on the studio desk beside the sedan, among hand-drawn sketches. It has not progressed to a full-size prototype and may never leave early ideation, per Carscoops. The sedan is much further along: global design chief Karim Habib has said Kia will build the Stinger successor as a strategic model once the business case holds, with the cost of a high-performance EV the one thing slowing it, per Autocar, via GoAuto. The first body is stuck on economics while the designers are already shaping a second.
Norris denies Hamilton a record pole by 0.012 seconds: Norris left the pit lane last in Q3 and found a new overall best middle sector, enough to deny Hamilton a 10th Hungaroring pole and the chance to extend his own record for most poles at one circuit, set at nine here in 2023, per The Race and Motorsport Week.
GM wants to turn your tailgate into a proper seat: A new patent shows a fold-out bench built into the tailgate itself, a simpler answer to Rivian's since-discontinued Gear Tunnel camp kitchen, per Autoblog.
Recalls & legal action
Ford recalls 565,691 Broncos over engine fire risk: 2021-2026 Bronco and Bronco Raptor SUVs have an engine-bay wiring harness that can wear through and short-circuit, creating a fire risk, per Car and Driver and AutoGuide. → If you own one: Watch for Ford's dealer notice and avoid parking in an attached garage until the harness is replaced.
Rivian sues the US government for a tariff refund: Rivian wants a full refund of tariffs paid under Trump's trade orders, joining a growing line of automakers seeking clawbacks; its CFO said in April she expected tens of millions back, per TechCrunch. This fight is about Rivian's balance sheet rather than a defect, so no owner action applies.
VW engineers charged with insider trading on the Rivian deal: Federal prosecutors indicted two former VW engineers for trading ahead of the automaker's $5 billion Rivian joint-venture announcement, citing what investigators called damning search history, per Automotive News and Autoblog. The case adds a criminal footnote to the deal VW is counting on to prop up its EV push.
Quick links
Hyundai's Boulder off-roader surfaces in an Indian design filing: A design patent Hyundai filed in India in May, approved this month and spotted by RushLane, shows the boxy concept from New York with a reworked front end. Outlets disagree on whether it is a production version, a sibling model or a different powertrain, and Hyundai has confirmed no India launch, per AutoGuide and CarBuzz.
Kia's redesigned Sportage spied in Europe: A heavily disguised prototype appears to follow the more upright, linear look of the Seltos and Telluride, though split lighting units are the only detail Carscoops calls clear, per Carscoops.
Nissan recalls Armada and Infiniti SUVs over a wrong sticker: A mislabeled tire placard, not a mechanical defect, triggers the formal callback, per Autoblog.
Yesterday's picks
Ford Gives Geely a Line Inside Its Spanish Plant: Ford hands Geely an idle Spanish assembly line the same week a Senate committee advances a bill barring automakers more than 15% Chinese-owned from the US market.
50% Tariffs Hit Canadian Autos: Trump's 50% tariffs on Canadian vehicles, effective Aug. 19, reignite the cross-border trade war with parts supply chains in the crossfire.
Tesla's Profit Was Mostly a SpaceX Gain: Record revenue of $28.2B couldn't mask a 57% drop in operating income to $398M, with a $1.0B unrealized SpaceX gain accounting for most of the quarter's $1.1B net profit.
Suspension is the daily email that makes you the most informed car person in the room.