Good morning! It's Tuesday, September 30, 2025, and this is The Morning Shift, your daily roundup of the top automotive headlines from around the world, in one place. This is where you'll find the most important stories that are shaping the way Americans drive and get around.
In this morning's edition, we say goodbye to the federal EV tax credit that helped so many people afford cleaner transportation, a potential government shutdown could make air travel even more miserable, Jaguar Land Rover is asking for billions of dollars to stay afloat and Stellatnis is recalling over 100,000 Wagoneers and Grand Wagoneers that weren't put together properly the first time.
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Pack it up, folks. By the end of the day, the $7,500 federal EV tax credit will be dead, and we've got no one but President Donald Trump and his merry band of Republican goons to blame. In all likelihood, sales of electric vehicles are about to crater as real-world prices rise. That's good for consumers, right?
In any case, the deadline caused a huge uptick in August EV sales. 146,332 electric cars found homes last month — more than any other month in history and 18% higher than the same time last year. Nearly one-in-10 new cars sold were fully electric last month. Even used EVs — which get their own $4,000 credit — set their own record with nearly 41,000 sales.
That's all over now. The $7,500 tax credit, meant to help swallow the $9,000-ish price premium EVs carry over their gas-powered counterparts, is dead. From The Verge:
In July and August, between credits and fire-sale incentives, the average EV cost $44,908, or $600 less than the $45,521 paid for ICE models, according to J.D. Power.
Now those clean-car credits that benefited buyers and automakers, first conceived in 1992 during the George H.W. Bush administration, are sailing off into the sunset. President Barack Obama switched an existing $7,500 credit to a point-of-sale rebate, with a goal of getting 1 million EVs on the road. Rebates continued as a cornerstone of President Joe Biden's Inflation Reduction Act, but tied to a dizzying array of domestic-sourcing rules and restrictions that created confusion for buyers.
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EV sales could drop as much as 27 percent after consumers lose tax breaks, according to a study from economics professors Joseph Shapiro, Felix Tintelnot, and Hunt Allcott. Coincidentally, that 27 percent sales decline is exactly what Germany experienced over the first 10 months of 2024, after the government abruptly killed incentives worth $4,900.
Many experts bemoan the sudden loss of credits here, especially with EVs already fighting hurricane-force headwinds. A phase-out over a few years would give the market time to adjust.
Trump and his ilk have characterized the end of these credits as a victory for affordability and consumer choice (read: propping up a fossil fuel industry that really doesn't need any more propping up).
Trump tapped men with deep ties to the fossil-fuel industry to lead his Energy and Interior departments. As The Washington Post reported, he called for $1 billion in oil-industry donations at a Mar-a-Lago fundraiser in 2024, backed by an explicit promise to roll back emissions regulations if elected. In a rambling jeremiad at the United Nations this week, the president claimed EVs and renewable energy are a road to economic ruin.
It's hard to know exactly what will come next for the industry. I'm assuming many automakers are going to slap fat deals and discounts on their EVs just to get them out the door and keep the market from stagnating too much. For us consumers, it means things get more expensive, but that's to be expected. Everything is getting more expensive all the time.
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U.S. airlines are warning that a partial federal government shutdown could put even more strain on American airports and slow air traffic even further. It would cause air traffic controllers and security officers to work without pay, and it would halt other crucial functions.
Trade groups Airlines for America, which represents United, Delta, American, Southwest and other airlines, warned that if the government shuts down, "the system may need to slow down, reducing efficiency," and impacting travelers. That's, uh, not ideal — especially as we get into the leading edge of the holiday season. From Reuters:
"When federal employees who manage air traffic, inspect aircraft and secure our nation's aviation system are furloughed or working without pay, the entire industry and millions of Americans feel the strain," the group said.
Air traffic controllers and about 50,000 Transportation Security Administration employees who staff airport checkpoints are among the government workers who would be required to keep working but would not be paid.
In 2019, during a 35-day shutdown, the number of absences by controllers and TSA officers rose as workers missed paychecks, extending checkpoint wait times at some airports. The Federal Aviation Administration was forced to slow air traffic in New York, which put pressure on lawmakers to quickly end the standoff.
The shutdown is expected to begin on Wednesday unless there is an agreement between the Democrats and Republicans on a government funding bill. Congressional Democratic leaders left a meeting with President Donald Trump on Monday without reaching a deal.
In a separate letter, airline groups, aviation unions, manufacturers, airports and other aviation groups warned shutdowns force the FAA to "suspend air traffic controller and technician hiring and training, delay the implementation of safety initiatives, postpone maintenance and repair work to critical air traffic equipment, suspend air carrier pilot check rides, delay airworthy inspections for aircraft, defer the analysis of voluntary safety reporting, and suspend work on modernization programs."
A theoretical shutdown could delay the FAA's certification of the Boeing 737 MAX 7. That would be bad for Boeing. It could also delay the $12.5 billion overall of air traffic control, and that would be bad for everyone. The FAA said under its shutdown plan, it would not be able to conduct air traffic control hiring or field training of new controllers.
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Jaguar Land Rover is getting a $2.7 billion loan from banks around the world as the automaker looks for ways to ease the financial struggle caused by a cyberattack that stymied production for months. Luckily, operations seem to be getting back online for the struggling British automaker, but this infusion of cash would be a big help in getting it through to the other side. From Bloomberg:
The foreign currency facility will be priced at about 110 basis points over the secured overnight funding rate, or SOFR, the people said asking not to be identified because the discussions are private. Citigroup Inc., Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group and Standard Chartered Bank Plc have agreed to offer the 18-month credit facility to the carmaker, the people said, adding that the debt may be syndicated to more banks later.
The fund raise, that was reported by the Economic Times earlier on Monday, is expected to show JLR has liquidity to tide over revenue losses.
A JLR spokesperson declined to comment on the efforts to raise emergency funds. Representatives for Citigroup, MUFG and Standard Chartered also declined to comment.
Automotive suppliers typically operate on thin margins and need high working capital, leaving them vulnerable to prolonged disruptions after unexpected events such as the cyberattack confronting JLR. The funding requirement comes months after the luxury carmaker achieved its goal of becoming debt free on a net basis and will help the company normalize operations.
Yesterday, we reported that JLR would be resuming some of its manufacturing operations in the coming days. That's good news, but the company is hardly out of the woods. This year, it reported a near 11% drop in quarterly sales in July. I'm a bit of a JLR-head, so here's hoping it can turn things around sooner rather than later.
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Jeep is recalling 123,396 2022-2024 Wagoneers and Grand Wagoneers because of window trim pieces that just do not want to stay on, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Despite the big number, less than 10% of all cars recalled are actually expected to have the defect. From Automotive News:
The quarter window trim might not have been properly secured to the vehicle and could detach, NHTSA said. Stellantis first opened an investigation into the issue in May.
Stellantis is not aware of any accidents or injuries that were a result of the defect, the spokesperson said. Affected customers will be advised when they can obtain service, which will be free of charge.
Dealers will be notified of the recall Oct. 2. Owners will be notified between Nov. 14 and Nov. 19.
The automaker is also recalling about 7,850 of the full-size SUVs in Canada, 762 in Mexico and 702 in other markets outside of North America.
Michael Eisner is sort of my GOAT. Sure, Bob Iger is a better businessman, and Bob Chapek is better at saving money, but Eisner brought a critical amount of weirdness and wonder to Disney that is now sorely missing. Yes, I like Disney a lot. Theme parks are fun. Sue me. If you want to learn more about Eisner, head over to History.com. If you want to learn even more, watch this Defunctland YouTube playlist.
Last night, I got to see an advanced screening of "Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere," the new Bruce Springsteen biopic starring Jeremy Allen White, during the New York Film Festival as an early birthday gift (shoutout Kara!). I won't give away my thoughts on the movie, but I will say it gave me a new respect and reverence for Springsteen's album Nebraska. As a Jersey Boy myself, "Atlantic City" has always been one of my favorites.
