Industry News

Just when you thought the world had recovered from the Great Chip Shortage of 2021–2023, here we go again. The auto industry’s nerves are fried once more, thanks to another global spat over... yep, semiconductors! Welcome to the 2025 chip shortage. This time, it’s not a pandemic or a boat stuck in a canal causing chaos. It’s politics. Because of course it is.

If you’ve been watching the headlines, you know the Federal Reserve finally cut rates this year. After more than a year of wallet-squeezing, the Fed dropped its benchmark rate by a quarter point in September, bringing the federal funds rate down to 4.00–4.25%. It's the first rate cut since last December. So naturally, you’d expect auto loan rates to fall too - right? Yeah, not so much. Auto loan rates in 2025 are still painfully high—and in some cases, they’re still climbi

There’s been so much politically-charged noise flying around about the recent immigration raid at Hyundai’s Georgia battery plant that you’d think half the internet had been deputized as ICE agents overnight. As with just about everything these days, the memes and hot takes are drowning out the actual facts. So I decided to cut through the bullsh*ttery and tell you what really happened — straight from deep inside the auto industry, where people actually know the score...

Remember when hybrids were considered the “boring” cars? You know, the choice for practical people who brought reusable shopping bags before it was cool. Well, buckle up. Thanks to disappearing EV tax credits, sky-high tariffs, and automakers rediscovering common sense, hybrids are back in the spotlight.

Yes, the EV credit is ending—courtesy of the new tax overhaul known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill” (insert eyeroll), signed into law on July 4, 2025. Your window for snagging that sweet government cash closes on September 30, 2025. After that? Poof. Gone. Like your neighbor’s EV range estimate when the temperature drops below 40.

The U.S. automotive industry has been in a tariff-induced tailspin for months, thanks to a wave of import duties that have already cost automakers nearly $12 billion. Now, President Donald Trump has added a new twist: a proposed 100% tariff on imported semiconductors—the tiny but critical microchips that control everything from your power windows to your advanced driver assistance systems...

Signed into law on July 4, 2025, the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB) isn’t just a flashy name. It’s a seismic shift in how the U.S. government approaches electric vehicle incentives, car financing, and trade relationships. And if that wasn’t enough, the week wrapped up with a surprise: steep new tariffs on Japanese and Korean vehicle parts and components, adding fuel to an already volatile market. Here’s what it all means for car buyers, automakers, and the dealerships caug

Welcome to the wild world of autonomous driving — where cars claim they can drive themselves, tech companies overpromise like bad Tinder dates, and the rest of us are still stuck behind the wheel with our overpriced lattes and Spotify playlists. So what’s the holdup? And more importantly, where are we on the road to truly self-driving cars? In this post, we’re going to decode the mystery of the 6 levels of vehicle autonomy...

If it feels like your favorite car brands are recycling last year’s models with new headlights and calling them “all-new,” you’re not wrong. The automotive industry is quietly pulling back on launching new and redesigned vehicles—and it’s not just a temporary blip. According to Kelley Blue Book, only 159 new or fully redesigned models are expected between 2025 and 2029, compared to well over 200 during the mid-2010s. So what’s driving this slowdown in new car model launches?

There’s a moment every sci-fi nerd dreams about — when the wild technology from our favorite futuristic shows finally becomes real. And if you’re anything like me, raised on Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, and the original Star Wars (yes, I stood in line with my dad for hours to see it in theaters as a five-year-old), the rise of autonomous vehicles feels like we’re finally catching up to our childhood visions of the future. Kind of. Enter: robotaxis.

Proposed tax bill could save you a few hundred bucks - maybe. The U.S. House just passed the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” (nope, not a...

Hold onto your lug nuts, folks — the international tariff rollercoaster just took another hairpin turn. After months of economic whiplash, finger-pointing, and price hikes, here’s what’s going down in the latest episode of Trade Wars: Auto Edition.

...In early 2025, Honda and Nissan signed a six-month agreement to enter formal talks about a potential merger. Think of it like dating exclusively before you get engaged. They aim to finalize a plan by June and begin implementation in August, with the full merger potentially completed by the end of the year.

So... we had an election last week, and that means it's time for everyone's favorite game: speculating what the new administration might mean for various industries. In the case of the automotive world, that speculation matters more than you might think. Automakers and their suppliers make up the largest manufacturing sector in the U.S., accounting for a full 3% of our gross domestic product. That may not sound like a lot, but for a single industry, it’s a huge slice of the e

Hurricane Helene—and then her equally unwelcome cousin, Hurricane Milton—came barreling through the Southeast last week, hammering Western North Carolina and parts of Florida. Here in the Charlotte area, we were lucky. Some wind, some rain, but nothing like the devastation in the mountains. So this week, I want to talk about how these hurricanes are going to impact the automotive industry—beyond just the usual flood car warnings.

After years of chaos and confusion, the automotive industry is finally showing signs of recovery in 2024. From empty dealer lots and outrageous markups to a resurgence in inventory and incentives, a lot has changed. If you're in the market for a new or used car—or just trying to make sense of where things stand—this article will break down the current state of the auto industry and what it means for you as a car buyer.