Drew Dowdell

Wishful thinking. I'll have an update later, but Toyota announced two new GR models for NY.

We picked April 15th because President Trump’s tariffs amount to one of the largest single increases in taxes on the American People in history. The tariffs which, if fully implemented, will raise $1.4 trillion in revenue, an increase per household of $1,900 to $7,600 per year. Trump's tariff policies change daily, sometimes hourly, so as always, this information is correct for at least 15 minutes after publication. Each Tuesday we will cover how these tariffs will impact the auto industry in specific ways and review the tariff news from the past week. Prediction: Affordable Sports Cars are Dead Sports cars, coupes, and convertibles, are already suffering from low sales as the market continues its shift towards SUV. Light and nimble, and full of fun, sports cars don’t fit into the aging American populace’s lifestyle. There have been no two-seaters built in the U.S. since the Pontiac Solstice and Saturn Sky went out of production in 2010. The Mazda Miata, Nissan Z, Subaru BRZ, Toyota 86 all have 1% domestic parts content, meaning that if the car is not yet in the country, there will be an additional 25% tax added to the price. For the Mazda Miata, the lowest price of the group, that brings the base price from $29,530 to approximately $36,912, a more than $7,000 increase. Mazda only sold 8,103 Miatas in 2024, already a decline of more than 1,000 units from 2023. Adding $7,000 to the price is not going to positively affect those sales numbers. The scene is similarly bleak for the other models mentioned. The Toyota 86 / Subaru BRZ sell roughly 15,000 units a year combined, but will also see a $7,000+ price increase going forward. At roughly the same price point, Toyota sells 18,000 U.S.-built Toyota RAV-4s every 2 weeks. The Nissan Z, which struggled to grow last year, has finally gained momentum, catching up to the Miata in number, but with a $44,000 base price it could see a jump of $11,000, a tough pill to swallow for a car that is largely sold as a spare, fun car. Even the Ford Mustang with its 80% domestic parts content is not immune. Until the tariff drama started, the term “domestic content” included parts sourced from Canada and Mexico as part of the North American Free Trade Agreement. Even if all of the 80% domestic content is produced in the United States, the remaining content could see at least a $1600 increase in price. However, Ford doesn't fully break down which parts of the domestic content are actually built in Canada or Mexico, so additional costs could be imposed above the $1,600 increase. Ford Mustang sales cratered in Q4 of 2024, falling over 43% from the same quarter in 2023. For the full year 2024, Mustang sales fell 9% year over year and for the first time, the Mustang Mach-E EV crossover outsold its namesake. This happened all while the Mustang’s main competitors, the Chevrolet Camaro and Dodge Challenger, ended production and sales dwindled out. At the higher end of the market, Porsche and Lamborghini have warned that they will have to add massive price increase to their products to remain in the U.S. market. With sales already struggling for affordable sports cars, we think it is unlikely that many will survive, leaving only high-end sports cars available to consumers. View full article

Pretty sure no pickup for this show, but there’s several other shows this year

The New York Auto Show happens opens each year during the week prior to Easter. We'll be there on Wednesday the 18th to check out the new releases. Here's a list of what we expect to see. Hyundai Hyundai will be hosting the North American debut of the next-generation Palisade crossover. The 2026 Palisade was shown in South Korea back in December, but it is coming to New York to show off any changes that might be in place for the North American market. It adopts the Pixel theme already applied to the Hyundai Santa Fe and Ioniq 5. Powertrain changes are expected to include a turbo 4-cylinder to replace the V6 and the addition of a hybrid model. KIA Kia has three reveals planned which Kia says will include "two fully electric powertrains, and one offers a sporty and versatile approach in the compact car segment". That "versatile approach to a compact car" is likely the wagon version of the Kia K4. The EVs are expected to be the EV4 sedan and EV3 compact crossover that will bring more entries to the entry level EV market. Genesis Genesis has an off-site event where they may show the G90 Grand Coupe and Convertible concepts. However, while we've seen the refreshed Genesis GV60 in other markets, it hasn't officially made its North American debut, so we think there's a good chance we will see that too. The 2026 GV60 will sport a bigger battery, more range, faster charging speeds, and more power. The GV60 also upgrades the luxury with new shock-absorber designs and a new Active Sound Design with sound proofing to give occupants a smoother and quieter ride. Subaru Subaru has two press conferences scheduled. We're expect a new SUV version of the legendary Subaru Outback, replacing the original wagon silhouette. Wagon buyers are a dwindling but fervent breed, so we expect a lot of buzz and gnashing of teeth over this one. There could also be a new Wilderness trim, a higher spec package that Subaru offers on many models that increases off-road capabilities. The second reveal will be an all-new model called the Trailseeker. All we know about the Subaru Trailseeker is that it will be an SUV and it will be fully battery powered. On the EV front, we may also see a freshened version of the Soltara. The Soltara's platform-mate, the Toyota bZ4x received some updated styling and a bigger battery a few months ago, so it may be time for the Subaru Sister to get hers. Volkswagen Volkswagen has a late-in-the-day press conference with very few details known just yet. Rumors are circulating that it could be the U.S. version of the Tayron X Coupe currently sold only in China, a fastback "Crossover-Coupe" version of the Volkswagen Tiguan. But with nothing at all coming from VW PR as of this writing, it is still anyone's guess. Toyota and Maserati also have conferences scheduled, but they will only be discussing current product and business updates. None of the U.S. domestic brands or European brands other than Volkswagen have press conferences scheduled, but there could be some off-site surprises. We will have more for you as we cover the show on Wednesday. View full article

Which someone shopping at a G90 price point would never look at.

Since 1923.... with a short pause in the mid-1940s. Ooof... I was looking at the Wiki page for the BMW motorcycle engines and I think I need to sign up and make some corrections. There's a bunch of inaccuracies and unclear statements.

BMW Boxer engines are the diesels of the motorcycle world. Properly maintained, 200k+ isn't unheard of. It's one of the reasons I went with these.

The BYD Han interior does look really good. Shame the outside looks like a 2-generations-ago Civic.

No one cares about that amount of horsepower in this class. These are chauffeur driven vehicles. Up until electrics came around, most were trundling around with 2.0T 4-cylinders or diesels. While Genesis is still relatively new to us in the the U.S., they've made such strides on interior quality that I'd put them up against MB dollar for dollar. The nicest of the Chinese EVs sedans, the NIO ET7 is a pretty good looking car though I kinda think it looks like a Model-3 had it's way with a Buick Envista. It would do really well in the US up against the Teslas, but it is still not playing in the luxury ballpark with Genesis (or Benz or Audi) when it comes to design and materials. Low end EQE Sedan rival? Sure. G90 rival? No.

You’re thinking in purely North American terms. China and Middle East still have decent sedan sales. It costs Genesis next to nothing to put a couple of these on a boat to the US with some GV80s. The boat is already headed that direction anyway. As for coupes and convertibles, these are just concepts for now, but as platform flexibility increases with the move to EV, I think we will see he return of lower volume body styles like these.

Well kids, today's lesson is: Just buy the effing tool you need. Last weekend I took the R1100RS out on the longest ride I've been on with it. A total of 5 hours of wandering. Even with 109k miles on it, this bike just loves to chew up highway. The engine runs superbly. I was really trying to burn off gas that's been in the tank a little long for comfort, but even with 5 hours of riding, I have more than half a tank left! No issues on the trip except I noticed that the right fork was leaking oil. These are telelever forks that don't actually have any suspension components in them. The shock and spring are mounted on a cantilever platform between the forks. Essentially, all the forks do is slide up and down and keep the wheel aligned. When I got back from the trip, I ordered a set of fork seals and picked up fork oil. Watched a few videos on the process and decided I was set. ALL of the videos suggested that I could get the oil seal out with a flat head screwdriver. Both my Haynes manual and the BMW service manual I have said to use an oil seal remover tool. You can see where this is going. I effed with that oil seal for a good hour with a flat head, some long needle nose pliers, even some plastic bodywork tools I have before I gave up and drove to Harbor Freight. Harbor Freight has an Oil Seal Removal tool for $7.99. I got that and a few other things that I decided I might need to try also. Got home and with the tool I had the oil seal out in 15 seconds. . I replaced the seals, topped it off with some fresh fork oil, and had it back together faster than the time I spent just trying to get the damn seal out. So, moral of the story is: Just buy the damn tool.

My main question is if they improved the center console. I really like the Ioniq 6, but the center console of the interior was such a huge miss in terms of material quality and construction that it killed the car for me. It was odd that given the level of quality in the rest of the interior that one of the most touched items in the car outside of the steering wheel was an obvious afterthought to the design team.

Genesis wants soooo bad to be seen as European.... but yes, these are incredibly sexy.

April 1st. The 1 day each year that we are reminded of what we are the other 364.