Porsche Teases New Supercar! Rivian R2 Pricing Announced! Montana Plate Crackdown! THISCARPOD! EP102

TL;DR

Porsche's new CEO hints at a hypercar above the 911, Rivian R2 launches at shockingly competitive prices, and California charges 14 people with felony tax evasion for Montana plate fraud.

Key Points

• 1.Porsche reported only $90M profit in 2025, down from $5.9B the prior year; VW is cutting 50,000 jobs by 2030 across the group including Porsche.
• 2.Porsche's new CEO (formerly of McLaren) hinted at models above the 911 and Cayenne, strongly suggesting a hypercar; the all-electric Mission X concept appears to be cancelled in favor of something different.
• 3.A W18 engine patent was filed by Porsche, though hosts consider it unlikely; they expect something closer to an SF90-competitor in the $500K–$800K range, ideally with a manual transmission.
• 4.Rivian R2 base (RWD, 350 hp, 265 mi range) starts at $45,000; standard long-range (345 mi) at $48,490; premium (450 hp, AWD, 330 mi) at $54,000; performance trim (650 hp, 0–60 in 3.6s) at $58,000 — all before $1,500 destination.
• 5.Hosts call the R2 Premium the standout value, beating a 4Runner TRD Pro ($56K) and sitting just above a Model Y AWD ($49K) with far more capability and no "Elon problem."
• 6.California charged 14 people with felony tax evasion totaling $2.3M in unpaid sales tax; enforcement came partly through dealership forms now required when selling to out-of-state businesses.
• 7.California is also increasing scrutiny on cars registered in Oregon, Delaware, New Hampshire, and Alaska — the other no-sales-tax states used to avoid California taxes.
• 8.A New York State report found a single 2023 Audi A6 (plate LCM8254, Brooklyn) received 259 school-zone speed camera tickets across two consecutive years, paying $64,000 in fines — and kept speeding.
• 9.The Audi A8 is dead (Germany stopped accepting orders); hosts predict the BMW 7 Series is next, noting its U.S. sales dropped from ~17,000/year in 2007–08 to under 10,000 today.
• 10.The Hyundai Ioniq 6 is being discontinued in the U.S. (built in South Korea, costing Hyundai 25% more due to tariffs); only the Ioniq 6 N performance variant will be sold in 2026.
• 11.Stellantis is hiring 2,000 engineers to address quality issues; hosts are skeptical, noting the company has 14 brands (Chrysler, Ram, Dodge, Alfa Romeo, Fiat, Lancia, Opel, Citroën, DS, Peugeot, and others) and predict layoffs will follow in two years.