Leases made up 23% of new vehicle transactions in the first half of 2026, according to fresh JD Power data. That is a recovery from the pandemic-era trough of 17% in 2022, but it is still a long way from the roughly 30% share that leasing held before COVID scrambled the entire business model.
The gap tells a story the industry would rather not spell out. Automakers discovered during the chip shortage that selling fewer cars at higher prices was more profitable than chasing volume. They liked those margins.
They kept supply tight even after the shortages eased. Lease deals, which depend on competitive money factors and generous residual values, became less attractive because manufacturers had less incentive to subsidize them.
Higher interest rates compounded the squeeze. And because fewer leased vehicles are cycling back to dealers every two or three years, used car inventory stays thin and prices stay elevated. The whole ecosystem shifted, and consumers at every price point are paying for it.
Elsewhere, Mazda CEO Masahiro Moro offered a candid window into the next MX-5 Miata’s development. Speaking with Auto Motor und Sport, Moro said the ND’s successor “must also be ready for a scenario without a combustion engine.” The engineering puzzle is weight.
Electrification adds mass, and the Miata’s identity depends on lightness. Moro ruled out exotic materials like carbon fiber on cost grounds, which means Mazda’s engineers have to find another way to keep the car honest.
Genesis, meanwhile, priced its first Magma performance model. The 2027 GV60 Magma starts at $71,495 and will land initially in California, New York, and New Jersey showrooms. Underneath, it shares architecture with the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N, though Genesis would prefer you focus on the luxury trim.
Whether buyers see $71,000 worth of differentiation from a $54,000 Ioniq 5 N remains an open question.
Ferrari apparently has no such problems with price justification. The automaker filled its allocation of just under 500 units of the Luce, its first EV, in roughly two months after the car’s divisive debut. China drove particularly strong demand.
For a company that thrives on scarcity and prestige, selling out fast is the only acceptable outcome, and Maranello delivered.
Toyota reported a nearly 3% decline in global sales for the first half of the year, its first such drop in two years. China was the sore spot, down 17%, while North America and Japan provided some cushion. Production slipped 1.2% over the same period.
Toyota remains the world’s largest automaker by volume, but the China erosion is not a blip. Local brands there are eating market share at a pace that no amount of reliability reputation can easily counter.
On the recall front, Mercedes-Benz is calling back more than 310,000 vehicles in the U.S. for a corroded switch in the driver’s door lock that can prevent the car from detecting an open door. Without that detection, the automatic parking brake won’t engage, creating a rollaway risk.
Volkswagen is also recalling 58,000 Atlas and Atlas Cross Sport SUVs from model years 2024 through 2026 because their backup cameras may fail to display an image when the vehicle is shifted into reverse. A rearview camera that does not show a rearview is not a camera. It is a liability.
The leasing numbers will be the data point to watch through the rest of the year. If rates come down and incentives tick up, that 23% figure could climb. But automakers have tasted discipline-driven profit margins, and giving that up voluntarily is not how this industry works.
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