Good morning. In today’s edition:

• 🚗 Car models missing amid EV pullback
• 🪖 US military to cut 20% of top brass
• 👃 America’s best-smelling cities

…and much more.

Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news should be a ~3.50-minute read (932 words).

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“Words are the clothing of our thoughts.”

–Jonathan Swift (1667-1745)

The auto industry has spent decades convincing Americans they need the latest model in the driveway. But that process is now getting a bit harder, with the “newest model” looking suspiciously like the last one.

Car dealerships across the US are facing an unusual drought of new and redesigned vehicles in the coming years, with significantly fewer models set to make their debut compared to historical averages.

By the numbers: Automakers are expected to redesign just 9% of their vehicle lineups on average across the 2026-2028 model years, well below the industry’s 20-year average of 14%, according to auto analyst John Murphy.

• Data shows the current new-model drought ranks as more severe than the ones following the pandemic and the 2007-09 major recession.
• The timing is especially rough for dealers; US auto sales are already down ~2% this year, and now fewer new models will be available to help reverse the slide.

Where did all the new cars go?

Much of the drought stems from the industry’s massive EV push earlier this decade—more specifically, the subsequent scramble to change course away from EVs, as demand fell short of expectations and federal tax credits for EV buyers expired.

• Automakers devoted billions of dollars and years of development work to electric models, then began canceling or delaying many of those plans as the market shifted, contributing to a combined $70+ billion in charges and impairments.
• Overall, US EV registrations fell 31% year over year in July, marking their 10th straight monthly decline.

Swapping those canceled EV models for more in-demand vehicles can take years, since automakers have to develop new models, retool factories, and reorganize supply chains before anything reaches a dealership.

The slow turnaround is giving rival automakers an opening:

• Toyota, Honda, and Hyundai have gained US market share this year with lineups featuring more hybrids—an increasingly important part of companies’ EV replacement strategy—and other lower-cost options.
• Meanwhile, GM and Ford have lost market share recently as they work to reshape their offerings.

Looking ahead…Companies across the US auto industry are fast-tracking new hybrids, pickups, sedans, and SUVs to refill their lineups following an EV pullback, though many of those new vehicles won’t reach dealerships until 2028 or later.

📊 Flash poll: In hindsight, do you think federal EV incentives accomplished enough to justify their cost?

• Yes
• No
• Too early to tell
• Unsure/other

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BUSINESS & MARKETS

• 💍 Smart ring-maker Oura delays IPO that had been expected to raise up to $2.2 billion, citing "uncertainty in the IPO market."
• 🏛️ Treasury Department issues new structure that will auto-enroll 60+ million children in the government’s new Trump Accounts as soon as this week; it also eases the way for donors to contribute stock while avoiding capital-gains taxes.
• 🗽 NYC Mayor Mamdani must redo the rollout of his new pied-à-terre tax on second homes, per state judge; ruling finds that NYC’s initial rollout unlawfully put the burden of proof on homeowners to prove their residency status.

SPORTS, MEDIA, & ENTERTAINMENT

• 🏛️ Senate votes 77–22 to approve Protect College Sports Act, which would create a national regulatory framework for college athletics that covers eligibility, player payments, and more; the bill heads to the House, which is in recess until after the Nov. 3 midterms.
• ⚾ MLB Wild Card Round: Day 1 of the playoffs kicked off yesterday, with all eight Wild Card teams in action.
• 🎶 Miley Cyrus nabs first #1 album on the Billboard 200 chart in over a decade with Bass Persuades. | 🐲Game of Thrones: Aegon’s Conquest, an upcoming prequel movie in the GoT universe, announces release date of June 1, 2029.

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SCIENCE, SPACE, & EMERGING TECH

• 🌌 Astronomers spot radio waves emanating from what appears to be the first known magnetic field on a planet outside our solar system, per new research that has yet to be peer reviewed.
• ⚛️ IBM quantum computer accomplishes feat in 19 seconds that would take a conventional supercomputer ~110 years to complete, per new pre-print study.
• 🦣 Colossal Biosciences delays planned timeline for attempting to revive the woolly mammoth using gene-editing technology and harvested DNA, pushing the estimated completion date back from 2028 to “in the early 2030s.”

US, WORLD, & POLITICS

• 🪖 Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to announce 20% cut to US military’s positions for generals and admirals in speech later today, according to Pentagon officials.
• 🏛️ Former special counsel Jack Smith testifies before Senate Judiciary Committee over his criminal investigations into Donald Trump, during which Smith defended his handling of those independent probes under President Biden.
• 🤖 Trump admin unveils new AI-powered tool aimed at serving as a “concierge” to the federal government, with a goal of ultimately providing a catch-all streamlined platform to renew a passport, start Medicare enrollment, check student loan status, and more.

☝️ Mapleside Farms in Brunswick, OH, unveiled its 2026 corn maze just in time for pumpkin season, with the seven-acre maze commemorating America’s 250th anniversary. As the farm puts it: “From above, it is a patriotic work of agricultural art. From the ground, it is seven acres of decisions, wrong turns, and confident people gradually becoming less confident.”

🤔 Did you know? The world record for the longest single-word place name belongs to a hill in New Zealand called (deep breath…) Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu. The 85-character Māori name roughly describes the hill where Tamatea, a legendary traveler and mountain climber, played his flute for his beloved.

📰 Worth a read: How iced coffee sparked a generational debate

🖱️ What we’re clicking:

• America’s best-smelling cities
• 3 habits shared by happy retirees—that you should start now
• Are we forgetting what darkness feels like?

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Can you name these poorly-explained movie plots?

1. A woman gets kidnapped and eventually decides she likes the furniture enough to stay.
2. An anti-virus software fights off a computer virus for love

(keep scrolling for the answer)

🐒 A 54-year-old chimpanzee named Pierre is seeing familiar faces again—including Jill, his close chimp companion—after cataract surgery restored Pierre's sight following months of blindness.

1. Beauty and the Beast
2. The Matrix

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