The Car Curious Weekly for June 28, 2026

The Car Curious Weekly is a look at what the automotive podcast world is talking about, who's saying it, and what patterns emerge when you listen to all of them at once.

June 21 - June 27, 2026 · 237 episodes across 159 podcasts.

The auto industry faced mounting pressures this week as affordability and supply-chain costs squeezed both manufacturers and dealers. Slate confirmed a $24,950 price for its electric pickup just as sub-$25K new cars nearly vanished from the market, while soaring DRAM chip costs threatened to make advanced driver-assistance systems unaffordable to add as standard equipment. Toyota's hybrid-only RAV4 sold out faster than the company could build it, putting GM's U.S. sales crown within reach. Meanwhile, dealer inventory piled up to 88 days of supply, eroding margins as Polestar lost U.S. sales authorization.

Here are the five biggest storylines and where they showed up across the feed.

Slate's $24,950 EV Truck Arrives as Sub-$25K New Cars Fall to 0.2% of Market

Slate confirmed a $24,950 base price for its electric pickup, landing in a new-car market where vehicles under $25,000 have gone from 5.5% of inventory in 2019 to 0.2% today, per CarEdge Live data.

The average new-car transaction now sits near $52,000, which is the context CarEdge Live used to raise the central skepticism: nobody buys base.

CarEdge Live:
These Automakers Can't Lower Prices Fast Enough | Episode 1096

"Nobody buys base."

Batteries Included raised a related structural problem, arguing that charging infrastructure and lifestyle requirements still make EVs effectively a premium-buyer product. Whether Slate's pricing survives contact with option packages is the question the evidence leaves open.

Batteries Included:
156: Slate is America's Cheapest EV Truck: No One Will Buy the Base

"It's 25 dollars per kilowatt hour and then a dollar a minute while you're charging."

Toyota's Hybrid-Only RAV4 Sells Out as a Six-Week Shutdown Puts GM's Sales Crown in Reach

Toyota's redesigned 2026 RAV4 went hybrid-only and immediately outran its own supply. CarEdge Live tied the shortage to a six-week production stoppage during the redesign changeover, which left one dealership with a waiting list topping 800 customers and delivery times running about four months.

CarEdge Live:
Toyota Seriously HAS NO MORE CARS | How Did This Happen? (UPDATE) | Episode 1094

"They didn't make any RAV4s for six weeks, which I assume when they were changing the lines over for the redesign, which contributed to that."

This is not an isolated dealer complaint. Autoline Daily framed the same hybrid demand as a sales-leadership turn: Toyota's first-half U.S. market share is projected to rise to 15.8%, while GM's slips to 16.8%, putting Toyota within a point of a sales crown GM has held for decades.

Autoline Daily:
AD #4326 - Lack of All-New Cars Sends Quality Up; Toyota Could Steal GM's U.S. Sales Crown; Gas Vehicles Losing Market Share Fast

"hybrid is no longer a bridge technology, It's becoming a core volume strategy."

The structural shift underneath is bigger than one model. Gas-only vehicles made up 73% of U.S. new-car sales last year and are projected to fall to 50% by 2030, with hybrids absorbing most of that share, per AlixPartners data cited by Autoline Daily. Hybrids already hit a record 14.1% in the first quarter, up from 11.9% a year earlier, according to Cox Automotive. Car Stuff Podcast reached the same read on the RAV4 independently.

Car Stuff Podcast:
Subaru Uncharted, Jeep Cherokee Deep Dive, New Silverado

"Like the demand is high and the supply is very low."

Whether a six-week changeover outage is a one-time disruption or the first sign of a structural demand-supply gap for hybrid crossovers is the question the week leaves open. The allocation math only sharpens it: CarEdge Live noted Toyota awards fewer future cars to dealers who don't sell to actual customers, so the dealers feeling the squeeze can't simply stockpile their way out.

DRAM Chip Prices Up 450% in Four Months, Putting ADAS Standard-Equipment Status at Risk

DRAM memory chip prices rose 450 percent between September 2025 and January 2026, according to two independent sources this week.

The Automotive News Daily Drive attributed the spike not to automotive demand but to AI infrastructure spending by well-capitalized technology companies in an effective arms race for compute capacity.

Because DRAM enables over-the-air updates, advanced driver assistance, and autonomy features, the cost pressure lands directly on automakers deciding what to include in base trim. The Daily Drive warned that ADAS and autonomy features could migrate from standard equipment to paid add-ons as a result.

Automotive News Daily Drive:
June 23rd, 2026 | Auto Alliance's John Bozzella on China and USMCA; DRAM chip crunch hits automakers

"You may see ADAS and autonomy features less as standard and more as additions to the car that consumers actually need to pay for."

Also covered by: Autoline Daily.

Polestar Banned from U.S. Sales as VW Targets 100,000 Jobs and Industry Redesign Rate Hits Half Its Normal Pace

Polestar can no longer sell vehicles in the United States under the connected-vehicle authorization rule, which bars U.S. automakers from using China-tied technology or hardware in connected vehicles, Autoline Daily reported.

Volkswagen has reportedly expanded its German workforce reduction plan to 100,000 positions and now intends to shutter assembly facilities in several cities, according to Autoline Daily, with one dealer described by Automotive News Daily Drive as absolutely devastated.

Motoring Podcast - News Show:
Mullet Rammstein - 23 June 2026

"If the made in Europe rules come in, and this end of said, they'll have to shut the factory because they cannot afford to export from Sunderland into Europe with the margins they're playing with."

The industry's redesign rate has fallen to 7.1 percent, roughly half its normal pace, pushing the average vehicle age toward a multi-year high, per Automotive News Daily Drive.

Autoline Daily:
AD #4327 - Volkswagen Doubling Job Cuts To 100,000 In Germany; Polestar Denied Permission to Sell Vehicles in U.S.; GMC Debuts Redesigned 20

"Polestar just got bad news. It can no longer sell vehicles in the US."

Also covered by: Automotive News Daily Drive.

88-Day Inventory Supply and CarGurus Fee Disclosure Rules Squeeze Dealer Margins

New vehicle days supply hit 88 in late 2025, up from 71 a year earlier, and the carrying costs are landing hard on dealer margins.

The Car Dealership Guy Podcast put it plainly: floor plan interest is eating into profit as inventory sits longer.

Car Dealership Guy Podcast:
Riley on New Car Pricing, Barbosa on First 30 Days | Daily Dealer Live

"Floor plan is eating margin alive and AI is flooding the building faster than anyone can vet it today."

On the pricing transparency side, Automotive Informants reported that dealers who fail to disclose fees and addendums on CarGurus will have their used inventory labeled "no rating" and pushed down in search results starting July 14. One host noted that forced disclosure removes the ability to obscure add-on fees, which ran as high as $1,500 at some stores, and expects that visibility to compress the margins dealers once extracted by keeping those numbers off the window sticker.

Automotive Informants:
AI, FTC, CarGurus... The Rules Just Changed

"Starting July 14th, dealers who don't disclose their fees, addendums, will have their used inventory labeled no rating."

Hidden Gems

Episodes worth checking out that you might have missed:
- Asking The Detailing Experts Anything! (Live Forum with Garage Therapy) (9WERKS Radio : The Porsche and Car Podcast), A live Q&A that dives deep into winter corrosion mechanics and ceramic coating maintenance with hands-on experts explaining the actual chemistry of rust prevention and when coatings fail, rare practical detail you won't find in generic maintenance content.
- Driven Radio Show #359: John Ficarra of Ficarra Classic (Driven Radio Show), A conversation with classic-car builder John Ficarra that wanders into one of the stranger restomod projects going: the 'Suprona,' a 1970 Toyota Corona riding on front and rear subframes from a later-model Toyota, with the kind of fabrication detail that only comes from someone who actually cut the metal.
- 2009 Porsche Cayman - No Start (Pawlik Automotive Podcast), A detailed diagnostic walkthrough of a mid-engine starter problem that requires significant disassembly, teaching the actual troubleshooting methodology (battery → circuit → solenoid → motor) with real access challenges that reveal why some repairs are expensive.

Quotes of the Week

"Piwis is the Porsche diagnostic system, comes on a laptop, every dealership has it, it..."

Porsche's $300 Suspension Cheat Code on Eleven After Nine | A Porsche Culture Podcast

"Well, no, it's a range extender, so it is a plug-in hybrid, but the motor..."

To the office! Mille Miglia, Minis, a hydrogen record on My week in cars: the Autocar podcast

"So with the 2027 Rumblebee, they have taken a Ram 1500, chopped 13 inches out..."

First Drive in Rivian R2, Revealed 777HP RAM 1500 Rumble Bee SRT, & INEOS Grenadier Review on MotorWeek

"how you regulate driver cars not how you punish individuals human drivers"

Rethinking Criminal Consequences for Drivers Who Kill on The War on Cars

"if you can't give it a yes it's a no, if you're giving it a..."

Maintenance Is Always Ongoing: The 5-Step Car Caregiver Plan on Car Connection Workshop

"it was the left rear sway bar link was broken and it was broken in..."

Under The Hood Your Live Car Questions Answered Now on Under The Hood show

Recommendations

If You Only Listen To One

S2 Ep38: Does EV Ownership Make You Less Of A Petrolhead? (And Clarkson Shock News), The AutoAlex Podcast

The central question, whether driving a Chinese EV disqualifies you as a car person, generates a genuinely unresolved debate rather than an easy answer. It stays grounded in the real texture of ownership, a piston-ring diagnosis and some air-con fault chasing, rather than drifting into abstract identity politics.

More Episodes Worth Hearing

• Aura loss in a Japanese taxi (Smith and Sniff), A dad buying his daughter a 2002 Beetle as a first car, complete with a grade-based stereo upgrade ladder and a tire 'reward menu', is charming enough on its own. Then the hosts go deep on a Group B homologation rabbit hole and a right-hand-drive 1968 Porsche 911 E restoration, all while maintaining the loose, funny rhythm that makes this show worth finding.
• #366: Sex, Family, and the Ferrari Luce EV (Autonocast), The hosts use the rumored Ferrari EV as a lens to examine what happens when a brand built entirely on emotional differentiation has to fight on a commoditized platform. The Rimac licensing comparison and the Porsche Cayenne 'sacrilege' parallel are both sharp, and the conversation moves fast enough to stay interesting even when it gets abstract.
• JSPEK Projekt Veterans & JDM Cars - EP.187 (Right Hand Drive Guys), J-Spec's founders explain how JDM culture became a genuine mental-health outlet for veterans, 'boost therapy' cruises, low-drama events, the community that formed around Japanese cars. The drifting origin story (two Silvias at a show) and the GTR Fest logistics talk give it texture beyond the feel-good framing.
• Episode #230 - Last Minute Budget Overland Updates (Another Pointless Automotive Podcast), A budget Xterra overland build that's almost-but-not-quite ready, a timing belt that hasn't been done, a Hollister Hills night run on the horizon, the hosts are honest about what they don't know and funny about the gap between planning and reality. Good low-fi energy for anyone who's ever bought a cheap SUV with vague intentions.
• Still on the Floor. Still Building the Industry. (Beyond the Wrench), Anthony Calhoun's 25-year journey through a GM dealership is an honest look at why technicians leave and why many who stay develop the wrong diagnostic habits under time pressure. The 'ball joint fell out of the control arm' story is genuinely alarming, and the conversation about psychological safety in a flat-rate environment is more thoughtful than most trade-show panel talk.
• 155: The $19k 2023 Subaru Solterra: An EV Deal We Didn't Expect To Find (Batteries Included), A real used-EV deal gets stress-tested rather than celebrated. The hosts work through DC fast-charging limits, how to verify suspicious listings, and what the warranty actually covers. Practical and specific, without the breathless 'EVs will save you money' framing that makes a lot of EV content hard to trust.
• C.R.E.A.M. #88 - Fake Wheels, Francis Bourgeois Is About It and The New allroad (C.R.E.A.M. (The TDC Podcast)), A UK ownership podcast where real problems keep interrupting the plans: a bonnet that won't open after a paint job, four brake pipes that need doing, a Golf with a rattling 'Orcs Belt,' and someone in limbo after selling an S2000. The replica wheel pricing debate and the engine oil viscosity explainer at the end round out a show that sounds like a garage conversation you'd actually want to be part of.
• What car do (insert professions here) buy? (Car Torque with Matty J), A loosely structured but entertaining tour through buyer stereotypes, fleet-vehicle logic, hail-damage pricing, and the specific appeal of a covert Everest police build. The hosts are comfortable enough with each other that the tangents, including a dashboard subwoofer story, land better than the main topic.

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Also from our team: Suspension News is a daily automotive briefing for people who need to stay informed without spending their morning reading car news. It scans industry news, trade publications, filings, Reddit, and YouTube, then turns the important stuff into one useful email.

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237 episodes. 3058 car mentions. 10868 terms explained. Browse every episode with searchable annotations and plain-language term definitions in the Car Curious app.