MCG Executive Briefing for August 29, 2025

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Ford is recalling nearly a half-million Ford Edge and Lincoln MKX vehicles to repair a brake fluid leak. Get all the latest auto industry news in the Executive Briefing.

 

Today’s headlines: 

+   General Motors is temporarily halting two production shifts at Detroit’s Factory Zero plant due to lower-than-expected demand in the USA for battery-powered vehicles. More at The Detroit News. 

+   The United Auto Workers union claimed victory in a representation vote at the Ford joint venture battery plant in Glendake, Kentucky, though 41 challenge ballots remain in dispute. More at CBT News. 

+   New car sales in Europe rose 5.9 percent in July, the best month for more than a year, with plug-in hybrid sales recording the biggest jump since at least January 2023. More at World Auto Forum. 

+  As rumored, the Cadillac Formula 1 team has hired two veterans to pilot its entries in 2026, Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez, each highly experienced with multiple Grand Prix victories. More at BBC Sport. 

+  While the federal income tax credit on EV purchases is due to expire after September 30, the IRS says it will honor the credit if one payment is made before the cutoff date. More at Autoweek. 

+   After building 48,000 R35-generation GT-Rs over an 18-year model run, the longest for any GT-R, Nissan ended production with a T-Spec model painted Midnight Purple. More at Car and Driver. 

+   A brand-new $3.5 million Pagani Huayra Roadster fell off its delivery truck in Monaco when a ramp failed, and the damage to the hypercar could effectively result in a total loss. More at Autoblog. 

+   At 81.5 inches, the Mustang GTD is so wide that it should be required to have truck-style amber running lights, but Ford was able to find a technical exception to the regulation. More at The Drive. 

+   Ford is recalling nearly 500,000 Ford Edge and Lincoln MKX vehicles from 2015 to 2018 that could suffer a ruptured rear brake hose, resulting in brake system failure. More at Yahoo! News. 

+   There is “no truth at all” to rumors that IndyCar champion and 2025 Indy 500 winner Alex Palou is being courted by the Red Bull Formula 1 team, a Red Bull spokesman said. More at Racer. 

Photo courtesy of Gooding & Company. 

Review the previous MCG Executive Briefing from August 25 here. 

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9 thoughts on “MCG Executive Briefing for August 29, 2025”

  1. I’m not an import snob and have owned several Ford Motor Company vehicles. But they have at least 105 recalls just for this year. I can’t support a company with such poor engineering and quality control. Jim Farley promised to get a handle on these problems and maybe that scrutiny is what is turning up all of these problems. But I’m not going to pay attention to press conferences about inexpensive EVs if you’ve shown that you can’t build a good car after 125 years of practice.

    • Sadly, I am somewhat of an “import snob” now, after decades of buying domestic vehicles, & that’s due to a variety of factors, including working for a major automotive manufacturer for 2 decades.

      Six years ago, my wife needed a new(er) car,: due to a 30 minute commute on 2 lane roads in SW Iowa in the winter, she wanted AWD. I looked into both foreign & domestic AWD vehicles, & we decided on Subaru. She test drove a few, & she decided on a Legacy Sport. For 6 years she’s loved that car. When a tree fell on my Mustang 2 years ago, I immediately got a Forester. I’ll never own anything but Subaru from now on. Having had the Mustang, & a Dodge Charger as our last domestic vehicles has been eye-opening when compared to the Subarus. In fit, finish, feel, quality, everything, the Subarus are far superior to anything domestic I’ve driven in nearly 50 years of driving. And much more reliable. I wish I’d switched years ago.

      The domestic manufacturers have only themselves to blame for where they’ve wound up, & seem incapable of learning that.

  3. According to the NHTSA recall report 25V544, Ford’s safety office (called the Critical Concern Review Group “CCRG”) assessed ruptured brake hoses as “not an unreasonable safety risk”. ODI was forced (again) to slap Ford back to its senses with this recall. That Yahoo article lists four more Ford safety defect recalls I hadn’t heard about yet totalling over 1.2 million vehicles. Why the heck does Ford allow every safety-related issue to escalate to this level is beyond my comprehension.

    Someone is spiking fifth floor martinis with some serious stupid juice at the Glass House…

    • Thad, you are obviously more plugged into this story with a better understanding of the documentation. The news reports seem to say the defect is a rear brake hose but the correction is a new master cylinder. Eh?

      • Ford says it will not have a solution (“more robust hose”) available at least until 4/26 next year. The yahoo article has multiple errors, it calls the brake hose “brake fluid” in the second paragraph then it’s called a “master cylinder” later on. I believe she (the author) meant brake hose in all three instances…

  4. Does Factory Zero build anything but the Hummer EV? Seems like less a case of “Slowing EV Demand(tm)” and more one of everyone who wanted one of a specific, expensive and awkwardly large boutique model now already having one.

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