Affordability is the main topic on the mind of Americans right now, which means people are looking to save money anywhere they can. That includes the dealership floor. According to new data released yesterday, the demand for base models over more premium trims is on the rise this year, to the point where automakers are seeing huge swings in demand depending on spec. As a result, you might soon be seeing far more base models on the lot in the coming months while shopping for a new car.
What else is happening this morning? Nissan, which teetered on the edge of insolvency as early as two years ago, looks to be getting things back on track, showing smaller losses than expected as it announces its seventh factory closure. And for the first time in 10 years, registrations of electric vehicles fell in America year over year—but that hasn’t stopped Tesla from retaining its dominance in the EV capital of America, California.
In a bit of less industry-esque news, the Formula 1 movie is confirmed to be getting a sequel. Sadly, something tells me it won’t be called F2. Let’s get into it.
More Buyers Are Starting To Realize Base Is Best
In my experience visiting dealerships, it’s rare you actually see a truly base, no-option version of a car sitting on the lot. Cars you see at the dealer carry various levels of options throughout various trims, pre-determined by the dealer, who orders those cars, or the manufacturer, who allocates those cars to the dealership (or, in many cases, both).
Cars with more options generate higher margins, so it makes sense that the cars available for buyers on the lot are more decked out than the base car you see on that automaker’s website. Both the dealer and the carmaker want to make as much money as possible on every sale. But buyers are speaking with their wallets, with data showing that cheaper, simpler entry-level trims are selling quicker than premium versions, according to data from Cox Automotive and CarEdge, seen by Reuters.
The publication reports that “Americans are ditching premium trims for entry-level cars as affordability takes a hit:”
Steep sticker prices on new cars are pushing Americans to opt out of premium trims for basic models, lifting sales of entry-level variants and prompting some automakers to adjust production.
Pickup trucks and crossovers have cemented their place as top-sellers despite their hefty price tags. But average transaction prices have hovered around $50,000 for nearly a year, according to Cox Automotive, putting many fully loaded models out of reach.
The strain extends beyond the showroom. Widening wealth gap in the U.S. and a sharp rise in costs for housing, insurance and healthcare are squeezing lower-income households, with President Donald Trump’s tariffs adding more pressure.
“If you want to keep a car for a decade, shouldn’t you get the bare minimum of options that you will use? No need to get the most powerful engine if the plan is just to commute to work,” said Sam Fiorani, vice president of research firm at AutoForecast Solutions.
If you’re an automaker or dealer, you can feel one of two ways about this. The negative Nancies will stress about how they’re losing on that precious margin, since fewer buyers are opting for fancy trims and options they don’t actually need. On the flip side, building base model cars isn’t as expensive and often quicker than building pricier versions. So long as you can keep sales volume up, there are still profit opportunities.
How automakers feel about this isn’t as important as how they plan to adapt, of course. And most of the big players in the affordable car space are taking notice:
Automakers say the impact is showing in sales. Ford reported lower overall U.S. sales in January, but said deliveries of the basic trim of its compact Maverick pickup rose 33.5%.
Honda flagged a similar shift to focus on entry-level models in January.
As Reuters points out, demand for cheap cars like the Corolla and Camry was up in January, according to Toyota, while Stellantis told the publication it’s cutting prices across its brands to better appeal to lower-cost buyers.
CBT News, a news site for dealers, says the shift will push automakers to “recalibrate production and inventory strategies” going forward to align “inventory with price-sensitive demand.” That means buyers should start seeing more base model cars at dealerships in the near future, to match what people are actually buying.
If this trend continues, I wouldn’t be surprised to start seeing trims with unpainted bumpers and steel wheels. And I’d be totally down for that.
Nissan Is Actually Doing It, But At What Cost?
The past couple of years have been supremely interesting for Nissan. Back in 2024, an exec reportedly said the company had “12 to 14 months to survive,” leading the car world to question when, not if, the Japanese auto giant would collapse into bankruptcy or be absorbed by a competitor like Honda.
That Honda merger didn’t happen, though, and Nissan forged a different path forward. It acquired a new CEO, Ivan Espinosa, in March 2025, who introduced a restructuring plan for the brand called “Re:Nissan.” The plan involved significant cost-cutting measures, including the closure of seven factories and the reduction of around 20,000 jobs.
That plan is working, according to Espinosa. It just recently offloaded the seventh and final factory it planned to get rid of—an assembly plant in South Africa where it previously built the NP200 half-ton pickup—to Chinese automaker Chery. So far, the company has $1 billion of the planned $1.6 billion in fixed costs from its balance sheet, and plans to get that number to $1.3 billion by the end of next month, according to Automotive News:
As for job cuts, Nissan is ahead of schedule on that front as well.
Espinosa declined to give a figure for Nissan’s progress on job cuts, but said the company is “a bit ahead of schedule” in trimming the global workforce by about 20,000 people.
What about the actual numbers? Well, things are still bad for Nissan, but they’re not as bad as originally expected. Which means they’re good … right?
In announcing the quarterly results, Nissan lifted its earnings outlook for the fiscal year ending March 31. The company now expects an operating loss of ¥60 billion ($391.3 million), better than the ¥275 billion ($1.8 billion) in red ink it had forecast in November.
The loss reverses a ¥69.8 billion ($455.2 million) operating profit from the year before.
Nissan issued a net-based income outlook for the first time this fiscal year, forecasting a ¥650 billion ($4.2 billion) net loss.
That compares with a net loss of ¥670.9 billion ($4.4 billion) the year before.
Despite the double-digit percentage gains Nissan is expecting from dealers this year in the U.S., sales forecasts are looking pretty flat in 2026. So it’ll be up to those cost-cutting measures to ensure the brand’s continued existence in the near term.
EV Sales Are Down In America For the First Time In A Decade, But Tesla Still Has Its Home Market Locked
The registrations of pure electric vehicles dropped by 0.4% in the United States last year compared to 2024, falling to 7.8% of the overall new car market, from 8%, according to S&P Mobility data seen by Automotive News. This is the first time in 10 years that the number of EVs sold has fallen compared to the previous year.
The loss of the federal EV tax credit certainly had something to do with the decline, but it wasn’t the only factor, according to S&P analyst Tom Libby. Things like infrastructure and range anxiety remain important pain points for buyers. And we certainly can’t forget about affordability now, can we?
Although congressional repeal of the $7,500 EV tax credit helped trigger a sharp drop in EV sales in the final months of 2025, the slowdown in demand actually began in 2024, Libby said.
“I think there’s a lot of reasons for that. A key one is price,” Libby said. Even with generous government and automaker incentives, high EV sticker prices remained a hurdle for mainstream buyers, who gravitated toward hybrids instead.
“The customers who wanted an EV got an EV. When you get beyond the early adopters, there are barriers like charging infrastructure issues, the range anxiety issue,” Libby said.
Tesla might not be the overwhelming market force it once was, but it’s still the undisputed king of sales in the United States, holding 44.9% of the EV market in 2025 (down 3.1% versus the year prior). In its home state of California, its most popular car, the Model Y crossover, is in an entirely different league when it comes to sales, according to data from the California New Car Dealers Association published by San Francisco local news station KRON 4:
Top Selling New Vehicle Models in CA (2025)
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Tesla Model Y: 110,120
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Toyota RAV4: 65,604
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Toyota Camry: 62,324
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Tesla Model 3: 53,989
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Honda Civic: 53,085
Even if Tesla never updates the Model Y again, it would likely be years before it loses the sales crown in the Golden State.
The F1 Movie Is Officially Getting A Sequel
I enjoyed the Formula 1 movie, even though it wasn’t totally realistic. It was fun to see real faces from the F1 scene appear alongside Brad Pitt on the big screen. As interesting as a movie surrounding the Formula 2 scene might be, I don’t think F1’s sequel will be that clever. But it’s definitely happening, according to the original film’s producer, Jerry Bruckheimer. From the BBC:
Speaking to the BBC at the annual Academy Awards luncheon in Los Angeles on Tuesday, Bruckheimer said: “We’re working on a sequel.”
The producer declined to give a timeline for the project or confirm casting details, including whether Pitt would reprise his role. But Bruckheimer added that he would “of course” be involved in casting decisions.
I don’t see Pitt not returning in some way, though perhaps he’ll play a team principal or something similar. I can see a Sonny Hayes + Guenther Steiner team-up working nicely.
What I’m Listening To While Writing TMD
It’s Valentine’s Day tomorrow, which means love is in the air. So I’m listening to “Nobody’s Love” by Maroon 5, from their 2021 album Jordi.
The Big Question
Is the ultra-base, stripped-out model about to make a triumphant return?
Top graphic image: Nissan
I’d love a base vehicle again. The only option I’d require out here in the high desert is A/C.