Mazda Quietly Killed It Last Month In The Best Way

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.

As Automotive News reports:

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