Whew. What a night! Right? I spent most of the evening giddily going through the data, not believing my eyes. I was expecting a strong result but, wow, even taking into account the extra selling day, many carmakers posted a strong October, and a lot of it was due to the kinds of cars enthusiasts like.
Let’s start with Mazda, which had its second best October ever, including some vehicles I know we love around here. Hybrids? Yes, there were a lot of hybrid sales, too. That’s especially true at Honda, which had its best October in six years. Toyota? They’re finally giving dealers enough new RAV4s (also all hybrids).
What else is going on, uh… Vauxhall has sold 100,000 electric cars, which is a reminder to me that Vauxhall still exists. Are you ready for a Morning Dump written by someone who is unsure how they’re still awake? Let’s roll.
The Mazda3enaissance Is Nigh
Do you have taste? Do you enjoy driving? Do you not need a giant, three-row crossover? The Mazda3 might be the car for you. It is, as Thomas pointed out only last week, both the last stick-shift economy car and also ludicrously nice:
Nearly eight years on, a stick-shift Mazda 3 is still a lovely compact car for keener-than-average drivers. Its shape still elicits desire, it’s still beautifully made, and now it’s your only choice if you want three pedals without hot hatch thirst.
With everything getting expensive, there’s something awfully appealing about a Mazda3. I woke up this morning thinking maybe people agree with me, and Mazda sales are proof, with the brand taking advantage of the extra selling day to report 31,446 sales, up 25% compared to last year. Most of the lineup was up, with cars taking the lead thanks to a 136.7% increase in Mazda3 sales. And what of the MX-5? Why, sales were up 21.5%. The brand did so well it’s almost erased its deficit from earlier this year. Another big winner was the CX-90, which more than doubled in sales (gonna call that one an Autopian bump).
Mazda seems to be benefiting from having a lot of affordable cars in inventory, and is likely doing some heavy pushing on the incentive side as well. Data from LeaseGuru shows that Mazda is pushing strong lease deals across the country, including a $299 lease (with $1839 down) on the base Mazda3 sedan. That’s appealing.
The brand still has work to do, but the fact that Miatas and Mazda3s are helping lead the way shows that the kinds of cars enthusiasts love aren’t obsolete. Americans will surprise you like that.
Honda Rides High On Hybrids
Honda also had a great month, posting its best October in six years, including an all-time high for light trucks (aka crossovers). A lot of it is also up to hybrids:
Overall Honda hybrid sales set a new October record of 32,519 on growth of 5.1% with Civic hybrid accounting for 36% of sales mix and Accord hybrid trims representing 45% of sales mix.
The Passport–which is not available as a hybrid–is also doing quite well, and the high level TrailSport trim now accounts for 80% of that model’s sales (Autopian bump). A couple of interesting quirks from the Honda monthly sales report is that the Prologue was up 48.5%, which feels like dealers dumping the model, but who knows. The Prelude, which is only hybrid, sold 422 units last month, though it’s the first year so it’s hard to say if that’s good or bad.
People Will Buy As Many RAV4s As There Are To Buy
It turns out that Toyota’s strategy of going all-in on hybrid versions of the RAV4, Camry, and Sienna is paying off, especially now that Toyota has been able to get more of the popular crossover into the hands of dealers.
For the year, RAV4 sales are still down more than 26 percent to 293,552 as Toyota ramps up production of the redesigned — and now all-hybrid — crossover across three plants in Canada, Japan and the United States.
But last month, RAV4 sales eked out a 0.6 percent gain to 39,888 over October 2025, making it once again the Japanese brand’s top-selling nameplate in the U.S. The RAV4 lost the title to the Camry sedan for several months as consumers faced long waits to obtain a RAV4 from depleted dealership inventories.
Within the RAV4 line, hybrid models accounted for about 84 percent of the October sales tally, with plug-in hybrids making up the remaining 16 percent, Toyota said.
While not every Toyota is equally popular, it is much like Ferrari in that it has more of an issue finding cars for buyers than buyers for cars.
Congrats, Vauxhall!
Vauxhall, the British marque I keep forgetting is a Stellantis brand, just celebrated the sale of its 100,000th electric vehicle, which was apparently something called a Grandland Electric 213PS Ultimate delivered by a dealership in a place called Nuneaton. Those are a lot of words I definitely understand. Here are some more:
As of October 2026, Vauxhall has sold 102,852 EVs in the UK. Key milestones in the brand’s electrification journey include reaching 10,000 EV sales in 2021 and 50,000 EV sales in 2023, reflecting a tenfold increase in customer demand for Vauxhall electric vehicles.
Vauxhall has always been a champion of electrification, leading the way in electrifying Britain. Since 2021, Vauxhall has been one of the first brands to offer an electric version of every van in its range. Vauxhall was also the UK’s best-selling electric van manufacturer for three years in a row from 2021 to 2023. The Combo Electric is built in the UK at Ellesmere Port, the UK’s first EV-only volume manufacturing plant.
A big congrats to Vaxhaul on its big Grantland sale, and a special shout out the real ones in Nooneaster!
What I’m Listening To While Writing TMD
I heard a bunch of songs about Karma in a row last week and I thought it would be a fun thing to do a theme week. So, for no specific reason, here’s Texas legend Willie Nelson performing “Little Old Fashioned Karma” from his 1983 album Tougher Than Leather. If you want to dance, you gotta pay the band.
The Big Question
What are the most enthusiast cars for sale under $40,000 right now?
Top photo: Mazda
TBQ: “What are the most enthusiast cars for sale under $40,000 right now?”
Elantra N (It’s under $40K US). Great handling, great power, good interior space, LSD and lots of features. High grin factor.
And you can still get a stick. I went DCT, but…I kinda feel like I should have bought the stick. But, better highway mileage with the DCT, and I have bad knees and ankles.
Anyway, it’s a ripping fun ride.
I struggle to think of cars below $40K, actual on the lot pricing and not advertised MSRP for nonexistent base models. Actual enthusiast cars under that price totally blanking on.
Will there be a slide in hybrids in near-term if fuel prices drop?
One hopes not. But we’ve got a bad habit as a society of not learning from things.
But I’ll say this: it’s not for lack of trying to ramp up at Toyota for RAV4 supply. Those plants which are running are running on all shifts, and genuinely trying to get more cars out. So I’m not entirely sure what’s causing the supply constraints.
As much as I’d like to get a hybrid or EV, I gotta say I wouldn’t mind replacing my 2013 GTI with a Mazda 3 hatchback manual transmission. Similar gas mileage (slightly better on paper) but a brand new manual transmission in 2026? Yes, please. Oh, we have a CX-30 so we like the controls and all already.
https://tenor.com/view/sea-bear-spongebob-safety-anti-sea-bear-circle-spongebob-funny-gif-8782259290133626566
Okay who else read the headline, saw the photo and thought Mazda had cancelled the Miata ?
That headline and top shot combo was just mean and you know Matt did it on purpose.
Give us a Hybrid Ridgeline Trailsport!
TBQ? Mazda.
I totally forgot Vauxhall existed as a brand until I saw a Grandland on the street in London last year.
What are the most enthusiast cars for sale under $40,000 right now?
The BRZ/GT86 still being around brings some joy to my heart. The mustang withe the RTR package just comes in at 43K, but im sure you could find one under 40.
We’re on the waiting list for a RAV4 at just about every dealership within a 4 hour drive. Because we want the woodland, PHEV and in the green. Those only come from the plant in Japan and have fast charging built in. Should be getting some updates this week on allocations for the month. But not in a rush which helps.
This is quite possibly the finest election report that has ever been delivered [you know, if that’s what it is, or if I choose to infer anything at all, one way or t’other].
Someone at Toyota is going to be fired, or at least demoted. Toyota has held on to that best selling non-pickup title for years and in the past has gone to great lengths to maintain that title. Management is going to be pissed when Honda takes that title from them.
Honda’s success is largely due to the lack of RAV-4, but it is also helped significantly by the fact that they still offer non-hybrid versions in segments where Toyota is hybrid only.
So while I’m a big fan of Hybrids and have only purchased Hybrids for our daily drivers for over 10 years, there are still a lot of people out there that are “scared” of hybrids or don’t see the value in the higher price.
Indeed, they have the winning formula for the biggest non-truck segment and they can’t provide enough to even meet the prior year’s customer demand. Company brass cannot be happy about leaving so many sales on the table.
One counterpoint to the non-hybrid point is the Accord. It still offers both ICE-only and hybrid options vs the Camry as hybrid-only, and the Camry has been mopping the floor with it in sales. Not sure exactly what to attribute to that, but the disparity is striking.
Hybrids, hybrids, hybrids,same old song. And a good one.
I was driving a Vauxhall Grandland hybrid around ireland a couple weeks ago. And it was perfectly acceptable although maybe a little larger than I would have preferred. Had to do an Internet search to see who was making them these days.
Funny to hear cowboys singing about karma and not Indians…
Willie’s kind of half-and-half.