Industry
Jeep Avenger Passes 300,000 Orders — Halfway to the Renegade's Record
Jeep's smallest SUV has added 10,000 orders since early September. The brand now measures it against the Renegade's 610,000-unit lifetime total.
TB
News Editor
Tom Beckett
Tom runs the news desk and the embargo calendar. A decade of breaking product news taught him that every 'industry first' deserves a second phone call. Send tips — anonymity guaranteed.
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Industry
Chevy's Breast Cancer Campaign Adds a Pink EV Race Truck and a $1 Million Goal
Chevrolet's 16th Making Strides campaign now spans 30-plus walks, a $5-per-post Instagram pledge, and a pink Silverado EV ZR2 racing at Laughlin with Gray Leadbetter driving.
Pricing
Kia Drops the Cheapest Sorento Plug-in Hybrid, and the 2027 Price Jumps to $53,890
The $48,290 EX is gone, leaving the X-Line SX-Prestige as the only 2027 Sorento PHEV. It gains a head-up display and costs $400 more, $6,300 above the equivalent hybrid.
Pricing
Nissan Pathfinder Adds a $47,390 Anniversary Trim and Holds the Line on 2027 Prices
The burgundy-trimmed anniversary model lands $2,500 under the Platinum, while the rest of the three-row lineup rises by $300 at most. Sales start in November.
Heritage
A Rotting 1978 911 Turbo Just Won Porsche’s Dealer Restoration Contest
Harper Porsche’s neglected Sonderwunsch Turbo beat a factory-correct 993 Turbo and an RS-style 993 build at Luftgekühlt 12. Entries fell from last year’s record 73 to 60.
Trucks
Ford’s Raptor Rally Tripled in Three Years — and Now It Ends at an F1 Race
Nearly 1,000 guests and more than 450 trucks showed up in Lake Havasu, up from about 300 at the first rally in 2024. Daniel Ricciardo’s next stop is Circuit of the Americas.
Industry
Hyundai and Kia Show the Factory Tech That’s Headed for Their Georgia Plants
E-FOREST TECH DAY 2026 opens in Uiwang with about 200 new manufacturing technologies, including an in-house 3D inspection tunnel Hyundai says will go to overseas plants — where humanoid robots are due in 2028.
Pricing
The 2027 Jeep Cherokee Costs $130 More and Adds Two Blacked-Out Trims
Jeep’s hybrid SUV now comes in seven versions, with two gloss black Altitude trims and four new paint colors. Pricing for most of the lineup is still unannounced.
Motorsport
A Solo Drive and a Late Pass Hand Dome Motorsport Its First GT4 America Wins
Laura Hayes won the Am class driving alone after her co-driver fell ill, while Allen Patten’s late pass took Pro-Am. Off-Leash Motorsports scored its first podium a day earlier.
Pricing
The Lexus TX Plug-in Is Gone for 2027 — and Every Other Version Costs More
Lexus has cut the 550h+ from the three-row TX lineup, so the priciest version now tops out $5,500 lower, while every remaining model costs $200 to $400 more.
New Cars
VW’s 268-HP Tiguan Just Won a ‘Best Compact SUV’ Award From a Program You’ve Never Heard Of
The $44,560 range-topper beat the segment in the first season of a New York awards program founded by ex-Good Housekeeping Institute executives — and it’s the one model keeping VW’s U.S. numbers afloat.
Recalls
Hyundai Recalls 94,622 Genesis Sedans for Seat-Motor Fire Risk — and Tells Owners to Park Outside
A jammed power-seat switch can run the motor until it burns, so Hyundai wants 2015–2020 Genesis and G80 sedans parked away from buildings until a fix arrives — nearly five years after the first U.S. fire was reported.
Pricing
Kia Prices the 2027 Sorento Hybrid From $39,090 and Adds a Cheaper X-Line
Every hybrid trim rises by $200, the destination charge climbs by $50, and a new X-Line EX puts the blacked-out look $4,500 below the top trim. The gap to the gas EX is now just $400.
Industry
The Palisade Hybrid Is the Only Three-Row SUV on Wards’ 10 Best Engines List
Wards judges rewarded the 329-hp turbo hybrid for keeping a mechanical all-wheel-drive system in a large SUV. Kia sells the same powertrain in the Telluride for $2,830 more.
Recalls
Honda Is Recalling the Recall: 4,804 CR-V and Accord Hybrids Got the Wrong Tire-Kit Part
Supplier TEK mixed old nozzles in with the new ones, so some owners who already had the June fix left the dealer with the same part Honda was replacing. VIN lookup opens October 17.
Heritage
Luftgekühlt 12 Brings 300 Air-Cooled Porsches — and a Le Mans-Winning 935 — to Atlanta
Porsche’s air-cooled festival made its Georgia debut at Town at Trilith with 300 cars, 8,000 fans, and the Kremer 935 K3 that won Le Mans in 1979 — hours after its owners bought it.
Industry
Toyota’s Kentucky Parts Hub Turns 25 — and Moves 400,000 Parts a Day
The Hebron facility that feeds Toyota and Lexus dealers across North America opened in 2001 with about 60 people. Today it employs 700 and sits at the center of a two-hub network.
Special Editions
LeBron James’ Custom Mercedes-Maybach S 680 Is Heading to Auction
Mercedes built two of LeBron’s Light Ivory Maybachs. One stays with him; the other sells at Retromobile New York in November, with every dollar going to his I PROMISE program.
Industry
Scout Motors Lines Up Seven More Suppliers in South Carolina as Its 2028 Launch Nears
Stamping, mirrors, seals, and brake lines for the Traveler and Terra will come from Spartanburg, Duncan, and Piedmont — but the production clock is what buyers should watch.
Motorsport
Valkyrie Heads to Barcelona Chasing a First WEC Podium — and the Vantage a Title
The road-derived Hypercar has scored in every round this year but hasn’t stood on the podium. Barcelona is new to everyone, and the #27 Vantage is 24 points off the LMGT3 lead.