Toyota Closes In, Detroit Slips and a 90-Minute Sellout

Policy · United States

The New Fuel-Economy Rule Goes to Court

20 states, Washington, D.C., and 4 cities asked a federal appeals court to review the 34.9 mpg target, in the same week gasoline closed out a record September.

BOSTON — A coalition of 20 states, including California, Colorado, Michigan and New York, plus the District of Columbia and 4 cities, filed a petition on October 2 asking the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit to review the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's new fuel-economy rule. The rule, finalized September 28, sets a fleet average of 34.9 mpg for model year 2031, against roughly 50.4 mpg under the 2024 rule, and ends credit trading between automakers from model year 2028.

The petition argues the rule breaks the federal requirement that standards be set at the "maximum feasible" level. The 2 sides count the money differently. The Transportation Department estimates the rule takes about $1,300 off the price of an average new vehicle; the states say drivers lose nearly $220 billion in fuel savings over time. A ruling is likely months away, and the rule stays in force unless the court pauses it.

What the pump says

The case lands while fuel is expensive. Regular averaged $4.33 a gallon in September, a record for the month, and was still $4.41 on October 1, $1.25 above a year earlier. Diesel set records too. The Energy Information Administration's weekly average peaked at $6.529 on September 21 before easing to $6.382 a week later.

Neither the rule nor the lawsuit changes what's on dealer lots this year. A fleet average isn't a per-car number, and Congress cut the penalty for missing a CAFE target to $0 in 2025.

What to watch: the court's schedule, whether any automaker or trade group joins the case, and the EIA's weekly fuel update every Monday.

Electric vehicles · United States and Europe

One Year After the Tax Credit, the EV Market Splits

GM's EV sales fell by more than 60% against last year's rush to beat the credit. Rivian had the best quarter in its history on the cheaper R2, and in Europe, Stellantis can't get enough batteries.

DETROIT — The comparison is unkind by design. In the third quarter of 2025, buyers raced to claim the $7,500 federal EV tax credit before it expired on September 30. A year later, without it, GM sold 25,473 EVs in the US, down 61.7%. The Chevrolet Equinox EV, GM's best-selling EV a year ago, fell 92.4% to 1,905. Cadillac's 4 EVs made up nearly half of GM's total, at 12,358. Hyundai Motor Group's EV sales fell 51%, to 22,311.

Tesla, which doesn't report US sales separately, delivered 486,532 vehicles worldwide, down 2.1% from its record third quarter of 2025 but about 5% more than Wall Street expected. It built 464,391, so it sold more cars than it made. The cleaner test comes next quarter: the fourth quarter of 2025 was the first without the credit, so this year's fourth quarter will be the first like-for-like comparison.

Where EVs are growing

Rivian delivered 19,248 vehicles, the most in its history, as the smaller, cheaper R2 SUV, which began reaching customers in the second quarter, came off the line in volume. It built 19,751 and kept its forecast of 65,000 to 70,000 deliveries for the year. The wider US market fell; the right product still grew.

Europe is the counterargument. EV sales in the EU reached a record 1.64 million from January through August, up 45%, for 22% of the market, according to Transport & Environment, which credits a wave of smaller, cheaper models launched to meet EU emissions targets. Some versions are selling faster than they can be built. Stellantis said it will pause its Sochaux and Rennes plants in France in late October because its battery joint venture, ACC, can't supply enough long-range packs for the electric Peugeot 3008 and 5008 and the Citroën C5 Aircross. Stellantis says demand for those versions, especially from fleets, exceeds what it can supply.

What to watch: Tesla's earnings on October 21, Rivian's on October 29, and the fourth quarter as the first like-for-like test without the credit.

Trucks · United States

A Year of V8 Rumble Bees, Gone in 90 Minutes

Ram's 395-hp short-bed muscle truck starts at $62,790 with destination. Its allocation for the rest of 2026 sold out in an hour and a half.

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — Stellantis put it in a single line of its third-quarter sales release on October 1: orders opened for the 5.7-liter 2027 Ram 1500 Rumble Bee, and the initial allocation for the 2026 calendar year sold out in 90 minutes. Ram hasn't said how many trucks that was.

The Rumble Bee is a Quad Cab with a short bed, widened fenders, a wheelbase shortened by 13 inches and full-time four-wheel drive. The 5.7-liter Hemi V8 version makes 395 hp and starts at $59,995 before $2,795 destination, and reaches dealers this quarter. A 470-hp 6.4-liter Rumble Bee 392 and a 777-hp supercharged Rumble Bee SRT at $94,995 follow in the first half of 2027.

Ram's sales rose 29% in the quarter to 134,072, and Ram 1500 sales jumped 73% to 76,650. The Hemi V8 came back to the Ram 1500 for 2026, a year after Ram dropped it.

What to watch: how many trucks the 2026 allocation was, confirmed pricing for the 392, and first deliveries before year's end.

Electric vehicles · Germany

Volkswagen Trades the ID.4 Name for an Electric Tiguan

The ID. Tiguan will replace both the ID.4 and the ID.5 and sit beside the gasoline and hybrid Tiguans. Volkswagen is betting buyers trust a name they already know.

WOLFSBURG, Germany — Volkswagen said on September 28 that its next electric compact SUV will be called the ID. Tiguan and will replace both the ID.4 and the coupe-styled ID.5. It will be sold alongside the gasoline and hybrid Tiguans. The full reveal is due in October and European sales begin in early 2027. Volkswagen has confirmed a North American version but hasn't said when, and it hasn't published battery, range, charging or pricing details.

The ID.4 and ID.5 have sold more than 950,000 units since 2021. The Tiguan name carries more: Volkswagen says it has built more than 8.3 million of them. The company has already made the same move at the small end of its range with the ID. Polo.

What to watch: the full reveal this month, range and pricing, and where the North American version will be built.

Manufacturing · Alabama

Hyundai Will Build the Tucson Hybrid in Alabama

A $500 million investment brings production home from Korea, adds an extended-range Santa Fe in 2027, and comes with a pickup planned for 2030.

DETROIT — Hyundai Motor's chief executive, José Muñoz, announced a $500 million investment in Hyundai's Montgomery, Alabama, plant on September 30 at the Automotive News Congress. Every Tucson Hybrid sold in the US is now imported from Ulsan, South Korea. The money moves its production to Alabama and pays for next-generation engines, hybrid components and powertrains for extended-range electric vehicles, or EREVs: electric cars that carry a gasoline engine as a generator. The first, a Santa Fe EREV, is due in the first half of 2027. Hyundai didn't give a start date for the Tucson Hybrid.

Hyundai also said it is developing a body-on-frame pickup for 2030, in the segment GM, Ford and Stellantis dominate. Hyundai Motor Group sold 138,112 hybrids in the third quarter, up 53.4%. A vehicle imported from South Korea pays a 15% US tariff; one built in Alabama doesn't.

What to watch: a start date for Alabama-built Tucson Hybrids, Santa Fe EREV pricing, and where the pickup will be built.

Technology · Japan

What If the Road Became the Charger?

Honda has built units that sit under the pavement and charge an electric truck as it drives over them. A test on a Japanese expressway starts in 2027.

TOKYO — Honda said on October 5 that it has developed the core technology to charge electric vehicles wirelessly while they move, including heavy trucks. Units buried in the road send power by magnetic coupling to a receiver under the vehicle, the same principle as a wireless phone charger on a far larger scale. Honda R&D built the road and vehicle units. The construction companies Taisei and Taisei Rotec built the DC power supply and the methods for setting it into pavement.

Testing at a private facility starts late this year and includes a durability run of 1 million wheel passes. A public-road trial on the Tateyama Expressway in Chiba follows from Japan's 2027 fiscal year, which begins in April 2027. Honda is aiming at trucks of about 20,000 kg (44,000 lb) and plans to verify power of up to 150 kW. It still has to prove performance at highway speed, control of stray magnetic fields and long-term reliability, and it hasn't said what the system would cost to install.

Why a charging road matters

A truck that charges as it drives needs to stop less often, can carry a smaller and lighter battery, and draws its power along the highway instead of all at once at a truck stop. Honda says in-motion charging would cut how often EVs have to stop to charge, at home or at a station.

The idea has American roots. In November 2023, Michigan's Transportation Department opened a quarter-mile stretch of 14th Street in Detroit that charges equipped vehicles as they drive, built by the Israeli company Electreon. And in August 1997, researchers buried 92,778 magnets under 7.6 miles of an I-15 carpool lane in San Diego so that 8 modified Buick LeSabres could steer themselves by sensing them. Magnets in the road have already steered cars. Honda wants the road to power them too.

What to watch: Honda's demonstration at Japan Mobility Show Bizweek, October 13 to 16, and the Tateyama Expressway trial from April 2027.