Return of the dodge charger

Stellantis began serial production Dec. 2 on the 2026 Dodge Charger Scat Pack, bringing back the gasoline-powered version of the muscle car while setting the stage for the return of the third shift at the Windsor Assembly Plant. The two-door performance version of the Charger features a Hurricane Sixpack engine that generates 550 hp. The first models are scheduled to arrive at dealers this month. Dodge ceased production on its previous generation of muscle cars, built at the Brampton Assembly Plant, in late 2023, as it prepared to shift the Charger to a multienergy platform.

Source: Automotive News Canada

Ford Motor Co. continues to struggle to obtain rare earth magnet supplies that are essential to car production and have already forced a temporary shutdown of one of its factories. The supply of the critical components has been trickling out of China, which has instituted a new approval process for exports of rare earths that continues to slow supply lines, Ford Chief Executive Officer Jim Farley said. “It’s day to day,” Farley said in an interview Friday with Bloomberg TV. “We have had to shut down factories. It’s hand-to-mouth right now.” Ford idled its Explorer sport utility vehicle factory in Chicago for a week last month due to a shortage of rare earth materials. Farley said he is pleased with the progress he read about from trade talks between the United States and China recently, but he has yet to see an improvement in the flow of magnets.

Source: The Detroit News

Canadian Industry Minister Mélanie Joly said Canada is serving Stellantis a notice of default after the automaker shifted some of its production to the United States. “We will stand firm for the sake of our workers, our industries and our nation because defending these jobs means defending Canada’s economic backbone and the livelihoods of countless families,” Joly told the international trade committee in Ottawa on Dec. 4. Stellantis announced in October it was moving planned production of its Jeep Compass from Brampton, Ont. to Illinois. Stellantis’ production shift breaches federal contracts tied to manufacturing in Brampton and Windsor, Ont., Joly told the committee. The minister has faced tough questions over those federal funding agreements since the automaker announced the shift.

Source: Automotive News Canada

For independent dealers, the view inside the dealership looks like recent business as usual. For franchised dealers, it looks … empty. According to Cox Automotive’s Q4 Dealer Sentiment Index, customer traffic in dealerships overall during the past three months matched its lowest level since the depths of the COVID pandemic in the second quarter of 2020, with dealers rating it at 31 on a 100-point scale. Independents’ score was even lower — 30 — but that was actually unchanged from the previous quarter, down just two points from Q2, and actually above their score of 29 in Q4 of last year. The story for franchises was much different. Their assessment of customer traffic has plummeted 16 points over the past two quarters, from 50, the midway point between strong and weak, to a very weak 34 — again, the lowest since Q2 2020.

Source: Auto Remarketing

The European Union has long sought to ban the sale of new internal combustion powered vehicles starting in 2035, a proposal made years ago, when electric vehicles were seen as the sure-fire future. Trouble is, while EV sales have increased along with market share, they haven't done so as rapidly as needed to meet the stair-step goals the EU put in place to get there. Thus, a number of automakers and countries in the region have asked for the rules to be softened, and now, some want the internal combustion ban to be revamped for added flexibility.

According to Bloomberg, six European leaders - Italy’s Giorgia Meloni, Poland’s Donald Tusk, Slovakia’s Robert Fico, Hungary’s Viktor Orban, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala, and Bulgarian Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov - all signed a letter sent to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen recently, asking for a softening of proposed rules that would nix an outright ICE ban by 2035.

The letter specifically asked for technology such has plug-in hybrids, range extenders, and fuel-cells to be allowed after the ban takes effect in 2035 and beyond. “We are at a turning point both for the EU automotive and car components industry and for the European climate action,” the leaders wrote in that letter. “We can and we must pursue our climatic goal in an effective way, while not killing our competitiveness in the meanwhile since there is nothing green in an industrial desert.” “Fully applying the principle of technological neutrality is key: it is evident that there is no silver bullet on the path to decarbonization, and imposing a single technological solution curbs research, innovation and virtuous competition."

Source: Ford Authority

U.S. automakers urged the Trump administration to restore trade preferences for Canada and Mexico on Thursday, complaining that President Donald Trump’s tariffs and trade agreements have left the North American industry at a disadvantage.

Source: POLITICO Pro

Car buyers worldwide are returning to combustion engines as a result of policy reversals, trade wars and growing skepticism about EV infrastructure and costs, a report by professional services group EY showed on Tuesday. In a push to ease sales of gasoline-powered cars, U.S. President Donald Trump last week proposed slashing fuel economy standards finalised by his predecessor, while the European Union might soon unveil a watered-down version of its 2035 combustion engine phase-out.

Source: Reuters

Chrysler parent Stellantis on Monday announced it will offer an all-electric small “car” called the Fiat Topolino in the U.S. The automaker did not announce timing for the vehicle, but Fiat CEO Olivier François confirmed plans to bring the vehicle to the market, with “more details to come next year.” Fiat’s announcement comes less than a week after President Donald Trump praised small “Kei” cars from Japan during a meeting at the White House with Stellantis CEO Antonio Filosa and other U.S. lawmakers and automotive executives.

Source: CNBC

To Compete Against Low-Price Chinese Cars

Ford is turning to French peer Renault to help reboot its European business, in a fresh sign of the upheaval being caused by Chinese automakers outside the U.S. Renault will make two small electric vehicles for the pioneer of car production, the companies said. The partners are also exploring how they might work together on vans, which form the core of Ford’s European business. The first of the next-generation EVs—to be designed by Ford, co-developed by both companies on a Renault technology platform and built by Renault in northern France—will reach European dealerships in 2028.

Source: Wall Street Journal

Ford Blue Advantage launched as the automaker's new online marketplace for certified used vehicles back in 2021, a time when new vehicle inventory was nearly non-existent due to production and supply chain challenges stemming from the pandemic, and it has only continued to grow. That era was also quite lucrative for used vehicle sellers like Carvana, though as new vehicle inventory improved, the market retracted. However, used vehicles demand is once again skyrocketing, and Carvana is benefitting in a major way.

According to Reuters, Carvana's stock has been on quite the run lately, recently extending a 10-day winning streak before markets opened up on Monday by growing 8.6 percent to $434.35 per share. That performance has resulted in the used vehicle seller being added to the benchmark S&P 500 index, a move that will take place later this month, and it marks a dramatic turnaround for Carvana, in general.

In fact, back in 2022, Carvana stock sunk to record lows amid fears that the company was on the verge of bankruptcy, which coincided with a massive drop in demand for used vehicles. Since then, however, the company's stock has surged 8,000 percent and nearly doubled throughout the course of 2025 alone, a rebound that occurred not only due to rising demand for used vehicles amid soaring prices for new ones, but also, Carvana's improved cost controls.

However, what's particularly notable about this performance is the fact that Carvana's market cap now stands at a whopping $87 billion - more than Ford at $52 billion, and even General Motors at $71 billion. Carvana stock is trading for 57.4 times its forward earnings, compared to single digits for Ford and GM, too. Carvana has risen to fame largely due to the fact that it makes the act of selling and buying cars a bit easier - and certainly more digital - with the Ford F-150 ranking among its top-selling models.

Source: Reuters and Ford Authority

When Christian Meunier took over Nissan’s Americas business at the start of the year, he said the company was lost. “There was no North Star. There was no vision. There was no direction,” Meunier said in an interview. The automaker had been slow to make decisions and was complacent with its sinking status in the U.S., he said. One of Meunier’s first actions was to order corporate employees at Nissan’s Tennessee headquarters back to the office four days a week. Collaboration is “very difficult” from home and problems often go unsolved, he said. 

Source: Wall Street Journal

Nearly 70% of U.S. car buyers view dealerships as trustworthy, up from 44% just two years ago, according to the 2025 Capital One Car Buying Outlook. The survey finds that buyers increasingly combine online research with in-person experiences to feel informed, in control, and excited about their purchases. Familiarity with digital tools boosts dealer trust, with 71% of digitally savvy buyers reporting confidence in dealerships. Buyers who trust dealers are almost twice as likely to return for future purchases. At the same time, dealers recognize the competitive edge digital tools provide, with 86% citing them as an advantage, up more than 25 points since 2021.

Source: CBT News