A handful of developments worth noting from the past week in the automotive world, covering federal safety leadership, dealership dynamics, and the ongoing EV conversation.
The head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has departed after a remarkably short tenure. Steven Cliff, who was confirmed by the Senate in May, has left to take an executive role at the California Air Resources Board. Leadership continuity at NHTSA matters because the agency is in the middle of several significant ongoing investigations and rulemaking processes — including its probe into Tesla’s Autopilot system — and transitions at the top can slow that work down. Who fills the seat and how quickly will be worth watching.
The new vehicle market continues to show signs of normalization, though the pace varies considerably by brand and segment. Truck and SUV inventory at dealerships remains thin for popular configurations, while some passenger car segments are beginning to see more availability. The dealer markup era that defined much of 2021 and early 2022 is fading in categories where inventory has recovered, but premium truck and performance vehicle buyers are still frequently encountering above-MSRP asks.
On the EV side, the conversation around public charging infrastructure reliability has gotten more prominent. Several high-profile instances of charging networks experiencing outages or poor maintenance have fed into the broader debate about whether the infrastructure is ready to support the adoption rates that policy targets require. The buildout is happening, but the experience for drivers is still inconsistent enough to be a genuine adoption barrier for buyers who don’t have reliable home charging options.
Finally, the secondary market for classic and collectible cars remains strong, though the frenzied appreciation of the pandemic years appears to be moderating. Auction results are showing more selectivity — well-documented, unmolested examples continue to command strong prices, while cars that need work or have unclear histories are finding less buyer enthusiasm than they did 18 months ago. The window of easy money in the collector car market is likely behind us.