AutoGuide Hot Takes: The Trade War Is On

Can you believe it’s already March? Just a few more weeks and the classics and ratchet project cars will be back on the street. As always, AutoGuide is here for it. We don’t always cover every piece of news, but that doesn’t mean we don’t have thoughts and opinions—many of them.

Managing Editor Mike Schlee, Road Test Editor Kyle Patrick, Site Coordinator Michael Accardi, and Editorial Director Greg Migliore weigh in on the hot topics of the week. If you disagree, please get in the comments and tell us why we’re wrong.

1) After much posturing, tariffs on Canadian and Mexican imports have been enacted by the Trump administration. Shortly after becoming official, the North American auto industry secured a one-month reprieve for vehicles produced under USMCA standards—it will take a whole lot longer than 30 days to reroute entrenched supply chains, build new plants, and reconfigure product decisions that were made years in advance.

2) Is Polestar in trouble? The Chinese-backed Swedish EV brand just secured a fresh cash injection via a $450 million loan. The latest round of debt follows an $800 million loan late last year used to cover other outstanding loans. The company has also delayed reporting its fourth-quarter earnings for the second time. Polestar is using its credit cards like your extremely irresponsible bachelor friend who works in the film industry.

3) Ford Pro’s latest capabilities announced during the NTEA work truck show in Indianapolis read like a dystopian wish list. Top speed limits, acceleration rate limits, and even a remote kill switch. Sure, these functions are aimed at fleet management, but the reality is that the software capabilities are now out there in mainstream vehicles similar to ones privately owned by many North American residents.

4) Ford has been threatening to turn the Mustang into a sedan for years, hopefully, it happens this time, and hopefully, they do it right—like the Chevy SS with a V8 and a manual transmission. Who am I kidding? It's going to be some kind of EV.

5) Sticking with Ford here: the Focus will exit production this November with no plans for a direct replacement. Ford CEO Jim Farley says the company is "getting out of the boring-car business and into the iconic-vehicle business." Whatever that means—all I know is that most people commute to regular jobs in boring cars so they can make money to enjoy what precious downtime they do have. Shoppers want a product that gets them from A to B with as little hassle, expense, and downtime as possible. Never mind being iconic, most people just want to be left alone. What is this, a Jaguar commercial? The demise of the Focus follows the cancellation of Ford’s other mainstream cars, the Fiesta and Mondeo (Fusion). Colossal misstep. The Focus or something similar will be back, there’s no way Ford can stay healthy in Europe without staple products for average buyers. Why are automakers so content to abandon these segments to Asian automakers like Toyota and Hyundai?

6) Some European automakers like Fiat, Opel, and Citroen are starting to offer new cars without an infotainment center screen. It’s an absolute breath of fresh air and a welcome return to clean and classic dash lines. Screens dominate our lives, I think it’s nice to get a reprieve from them when behind the wheel.

7) The new 2026 Audi A6 Avant is one of the best-looking new cars to debut in a long time. You can disagree, but you’d be wrong. North America will, unfortunately, not get the wagon in regular spec because VWOA wants people to buy Q5s and such—but look for the RS6 Avant to make its way over here as the fashion choice for finance professionals.

8) Make Wagons Great Again—I’ve never understood why, in a world where everyone wants the space and AWD capability of a crossover, automakers haven’t found a way to push wagons mainstream again. They’re ostensibly the same thing, but wagons offer far more sex appeal and would go a long way to reduce some of the bloat that’s making vehicles inherently more dangerous to vulnerable road users like cyclists and pedestrians. I don't buy the ground clearance argument, either. Ground clearance for what? You live in a Phoenix subdivision, play golf, and shop for groceries at Walmart.

9) Harley-Davidson just debuted a motorcycle that starts at about the same price as a brand-new C8 Corvette Z06. The 2025 CVO Road Glide RR is a race replica of the bike Harley races in the King of the Baggers series, which is part of the traveling MotoAmerica circus. This thing is mental. It has Ohlins suspension, Brembo brakes, and an Akrapovic exhaust along with a 2,147cc engine that makes 153 horsepower and 150 pound-feet of torque from a 6,400 rpm redline— that's more power than a Honda Civic.

10) General Motors is facing another lawsuit for selling driver data to insurers without consent. The new suit, filed in Arkansas, follows a January settlement with the FTC in which GM agreed to stop selling customer data for 5 years. GM is also contending with 27 class-action lawsuits consolidated into a multi-district litigation case over higher insurance rates for customers after their data was sold without consent. Watch out, GM is firmly convinced it's a software company now— just look at the sad state of GM small-block V8s lately. Every decision the General makes these days is geared towards unlocking shareholder value, which usually means you, the consumer, lose something.

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