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Episode #1198: Audi taps Scout Motors to build its first U.S.-made SUV, the used-car market cools while EVs heat up, and Ford trades “The Glass House” for a high-tech headquarters built for its next century.

Show Notes with links:

• Audi is shifting its U.S. strategy with plans for a large electric SUV designed specifically for American buyers—but instead of building a new plant, it’ll lean on Scout Motors’ upcoming South Carolina facility.
  • The new SUV will use Scout’s body-on-frame EV platform with a range extender for longer driving distances.
  • Production starts in late 2027, giving Audi its first U.S.-built model without a multibillion-dollar factory investment.
  • The move helps Audi avoid steep import tariffs while boosting its U.S. competitiveness.
• Scout CEO Scott Keogh hinted at more group synergies: “There is certainly a possibility that other exciting products from the group will definitely be built there.”

• The used-car market is finding its rhythm again—though buyers are taking their time. Prices keep climbing, but EVs are now the surprise speed sellers of the segment.
  • The average three-year-old car spent 41 days on lots in Q3 2025, the slowest turnover since 2017.
  • The average transaction price hit $31,067, up 5% from last year and nearly $10K higher than pre-pandemic.
  • EVs sold fastest at just 34 days, beating hybrids (40 days) and gas models (43 days).
  • Two-thirds of used EVs were priced between $20K–$30K, often with under 40,000 miles, giving them the best value in the market.
  • Edmunds found that eight of the 19 fastest-selling three-year-old vehicles were EVs, led by the Tesla Model 3, Model Y, and Hyundai Ioniq 5.

• For the first time since 1956, Ford is moving its headquarters—trading “The Glass House” for a massive, ultra-modern campus designed to reflect the automaker’s tech-driven future.
  • The new 2.1 million-square-foot “Ford World Headquarters” doubles the size of the old site, featuring seven restaurants and a 160,000-square-foot food hall.
  • A dramatic showroom dubbed a “James Bond villain’s lair” serves as the centerpiece for product reveals and executive decision-making.
  • The move, just three miles from the old HQ, brings over 14,000 employees within a seven-minute walk of the new complex.
  • Ford’s goal: attract top software and AI talent and foster collaboration—something “The Glass House” wasn’t built for.
  • Ford Land’s Jennifer Kolstad said, “When you’re in it, you feel like you are in the center of automotive design.”

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