The Auto Industry Is Competing with AI for Memory Chips — And Losing
As the artificial intelligence boom continues, auto industry companies are competing with tech giants for access to memory chips, a shift that is driving up costs and triggering structural changes to the supply chain just as automakers lean into the software-defined vehicle transition. Spot prices for a type of in-demand memory called DRAM skyrocketed about 450 percent from September 2025 to January 2026, according to a May report from the consulting firm Kearney.DRAM is key to enabling over-the-air updates, advanced driver-assistance systems, autonomy, infotainment and other functions for advanced vehicles that consumers increasingly expect, reports Automotive News. Automakers have already reported millions of dollars in losses tied to the shortage of these important pieces of hardware. Kearney anticipates that the shortage of DRAM and a type of DRAM packaging called high-bandwidth memory will get worse before it gets better, with further constraints coming in 2027.“It is a structural change,” said Kushal Fernandes, a partner at Kearney. “It’s a reallocation of where the memory is going, to buyers who were previously maybe 10 percent, 15 percent of the market to now being half of the market.” Click here for the full story.
Vehicle Affordability Pressures Push Buyers Toward Older Cars and Hybrids, Report Finds
Vehicle affordability challenges are reshaping consumer behavior as new-vehicle prices remain above $50,000 and used-vehicle prices top $30,000, according to a new market analysis from CarGurus. Unlike the pandemic-era pricing surge driven by inventory shortages, today’s market reflects a longer-term shift fueled by higher vehicle costs, tariffs and changing automaker strategies. The average new-vehicle listing price reached $50,900 this spring, up 3.3 percent from December, while the average used-vehicle price surpassed $30,000, reports CBT News. CarGurus found that new-vehicle sales no longer keep pace with population growth, as the U.S. sold 16.3 million new vehicles in 2025, down from 17.3 million in 2000. Adjusted for population growth, the market would have generated roughly 21 million sales at the same per-capita rate seen 25 years ago.As affordability pressures mount, consumers are keeping vehicles longer. The average vehicle on U.S. roads now approaches 13 years old, and the number of vehicles in operation has grown by 76 million since 2000.Automakers have increasingly focused on higher-margin SUVs and trucks, a strategy that rising tariffs have reinforced. Average import duties climbed from about $360 per vehicle in 2024 to roughly $3,700 year to date. Meanwhile, premium SUVs continue to sell quickly. Click here for the full story.
2026 Mazda CX-90 Plug-In Hybrid Review: Finally Ready for Prime Time
The 2026 Mazda CX-90 Plug-In Hybrid delivers the pros (and cons) of the turbocharged inline-six model, but with enough electric driving range to likely avoid using gas to haul the kids to and from school. And thanks to several updates, it no longer feels like it somehow left the factory in prototype form. For the most part, the CX-90 plug-in hybrid is the same model we all know and some love. The 12.3-inch digital gauge cluster is now standard along with the 12.3-inch infotainment system screen, reports The Drive. The trim configurations have been tweaked, with the Preferred model now including ventilated front seats and a heated steering wheel. Oh, and 21-inch wheels are now standard, so I hope you didn’t want those smaller 19s with more sidewall. Minor, though for some, possibly meaningful stuff. Visually, it will still take a keen eye and a close look to tell that the CX-90 you’re looking at is the plug-in hybrid. There’s a secondary fuel-filler door, one per side, covering the charge port on the rear passenger-side fender, a PHEV label in the fender jewelry, and a small badge on the lower right side of the tailgate. Click here for the full story.
Standardized Training Drives F&I Success at Top Dealership Groups
The top dealership groups in finance and insurance revenue are deploying standardized training programs and dedicated platform directors to boost revenue, with some groups seeing gains of more than 80 percent year over year. The 2026 Automotive News list of the top 100 U.S.-based dealership groups ranked by F&I revenue shows which retailers rose and which ones fell. Top groups grew revenue while managing dozens of finance managers across multiple states and brands. Acquisitions complicate this further, as new stores come with different policies and procedures.Bert Ogden Auto Group, of McAllen, Texas, was struggling to manage F&I training and benchmarks last year. The dealership group appointed a platform director for the finance side of its business to address the problem, CEO Natasha del Barrio said.“Investing in your team members always reaps benefits even far beyond what your back-end” profits are, she said.The group now ranks No. 21 on the list, earning about $153 million in 2025. The dealership group moved up 30 spots the previous year.Bert Ogden Auto also grew its F&I revenue the most of groups that made the list: about 86 percent year over year. Click here for the full story.
Bank of America’s Weekly Rates Market Update
BofA US Economics Research revises its Fed call to 75bp of hikes this year (Sep/Oct/Dec), reflecting a more hawkish reaction function and diminished reliance on labor deterioration as a trigger; resilient activity and deteriorating inflation dynamics (core PCE potentially ~3.5%) reinforce that policy is not yet restrictive and support a prolonged hold at elevated levels into next year. The June FOMC/SEP and Warsh signaling reinforce a shift toward an inflation-first framework, with hikes now a question of timing; diffusion indices and Taylor rule signals point to upside risk to the policy path. Cross-asset implications remain skewed toward higher front-end yields and flatter curves, with BofA Global Rates Research emphasizing “stay paid” in 2Y, persistent 2s10s flattening/inversion risk, and relative US rate underperformance on global easing impulses (e.g., oil declines), consistent with stronger US data and lower sensitivity to disinflationary shocks. Click here for the full report.
Around the Web
Toyota’s RAV4 Is Selling So Fast Dealers Are Counting Stock In Hours, Not Days [Carscoops]
The Deadly Rise of Giant Trucks and S.U.V.s [NYT]
America’s Last Sub-$20,000 Sedan Is Almost Gone [Autoblog]
California Files Lawsuit Against EPA over Vehicle Emissions Waivers [CBT News]