Intersection: Everything That Moves

Intersection EBook 2026 Chapter: A Tumultuous Year For The Auto Industry

Micheline Maynard — Wed, 23 Sep 2026 13:03:38 GMT

In 2023, I launched Intersection as a serialized sequel to my 2003 book, The End of Detroit: How The Big Three Lost Their Grip on the American Car Market.

That book captured an important turning point for international car industry, and I was thrilled at the response. The End of Detroit remains in print, and I regularly sell out of my copies at book festivals.

After publishing the original sequel, I began sending paid subscribers to Intersection a fresh chapter each year, summing up what was happening in the industry. This is the third such chapter since I launched Intersection, and I appreciate your support.

To read this chapter, you can upgrade your subscription to annual status. That costs $30 a year — the cost of a hardcover book — and I’ll send new subscribers the complete sequel as a PDF as a thank you.

A College Town Wants To Be A 20-Minute City

Micheline Maynard — Tue, 01 Sep 2026 14:03:30 GMT

You might have heard the phrase, “15-minute city.” It means that peoples’ daily needs, including work, shopping, school, leisure activities and healthcares — can be accessed within a 15-minute walk or the use of transit, including bicycles.

It’s not clear who gets credit for the concept, although it tracks with urbanist Jane Jacobs’ ideas from the 1970s…

It's Almost Time For A New Chapter

Micheline Maynard — Tue, 18 Aug 2026 14:04:33 GMT

In 2023, I kicked off Intersection: Everything That Moves by publishing an update to my book The End of Detroit. Paid subscribers received the entire book. Every September, they get a new chapter with fresh information.

I’m starting work on the chapter that you’ll receive next month. This has been a tumultuous year for the automobile industry, in the U.S…

The Passing Of A Transformational Toyota CEO

Micheline Maynard — Mon, 17 Aug 2026 19:01:07 GMT

If you look at any popular culture before the 2000s, Japanese business men were depicted essentially in the same way: boring automatons. They embraced slogans, followed cultural traditions, and seemed interchangeable, at least where the Western world was concerned.

There were occasional departures, like Soichiro Honda, the effervescent founder of the mot…

Making A Different Case For Buying A Hybrid

Micheline Maynard — Thu, 23 Jul 2026 13:00:14 GMT

Hello to new subscribers! If you found this newsletter through Maine Calling, thanks for signing up. This edition refers to our public radio conversation this week, so it might sound familiar.

This has been a year when hybrid-electric vehicles have grabbed the spotlight. In the first six months of 2026, automakers in the U.S. sold 1.21 million hybrids, a…

Detroit Got What It Wanted. Then Gas Prices Spiked

Micheline Maynard — Tue, 07 Jul 2026 17:01:40 GMT

Back in March, I was startled at how fast gas prices spiked after the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran. At that time, I was paying $2.79 a gallon for unleaded at the “cheap” gas station in Ann Arbor. Within a week, the price jumped to $2.89.

And, it just kept going up. While that particular station hasn’t climbed above $4 a gallon, plenty of spots around An…

A Grand Ambition For A Chinese Carmaker

Micheline Maynard — Thu, 11 Jun 2026 17:08:34 GMT

China’s BYD (for Build Your Dream) is already the world’s biggest producer of electric vehicles. But now, it is setting its sights on an even more impressive goal.

At its annual shareholders meeting in Shenzen, China, BYD’s chairman, Wang Chuanfu, said he wants to go straight to the top.

"BYD will truly become the number one automaker globally in terms …

A Thousand Jobs, And 35 Years

Micheline Maynard — Wed, 27 May 2026 13:02:10 GMT

I’m on the press release list for a bunch of auto companies, and I usually scan them before I delete them. Last week, one floated in that caught my eye.

“Casting Legacy: Toyota Missouri Celebrates 35 Years Of Excellence,” the headline read.

Missouri, I thought — do they mean Mississippi? But no. In 1991, Toyota broke ground for a casting plant in Troy, …

Could Canada Become An Independent Automotive Power?

Micheline Maynard — Tue, 21 Apr 2026 13:01:04 GMT

Canada’s automobile industry has long been overshadowed by, and dependent on, Detroit carmakers. But the country’s prime minister, Mark Carney, has been determined to wrest Canada free of reliance on the United States.

This weekend, Carney made an intriguing presentation on YouTube called Forward Guidance that outlined his goals to establish Canada as a…

PODCAST: A Remarkable Mayor Ends Her Tenure In Paris

Micheline Maynard — Mon, 06 Apr 2026 17:00:58 GMT

Anne Hidalgo would be the first person to say that not everyone agrees with her. But in 12 years as mayor of Paris, she’s had a remarkable impact on the way the city gets around. And, Parisians are healthier as a result.

Here Are The Ways You Can Support Intersection

Micheline Maynard — Wed, 25 Mar 2026 17:01:22 GMT

Intersection has been part of Substack since 2023, which was the 20th anniversary of my book, The End of Detroit: How The Big Three Lost Their Grip On The American Car Market.

It began as a serialized sequel to The End of Detroit. When I finished publishing those chapters, the flow of automotive and environmental news continued, so I decided to keep the…

Toyota Announces A Couple Of Big Investments

Micheline Maynard — Tue, 24 Mar 2026 13:03:32 GMT

There are days when you’re reminded of how much history you’ve witnessed. In my case, it was a news release from Toyota marking the 40th anniversary of its operations in Georgetown, Kentucky, its first independent U.S. plant.

The complex is Toyota’s largest manufacturing location in the world, eclipsing even its operations in Toyoda City.

Last fall, Toyot…

Honda Has Lost Its Way, And That's Sad

Micheline Maynard — Fri, 13 Mar 2026 18:01:55 GMT

The news report was so startling that I had to take a minute to absorb it.

Honda announced on Thursday that it would scrap three electric vehicles it planned to introduce in the U.S., and it anticipated a charge of $15.7 billion.

The company said it expected its first annual loss since 1957, when it became a public company. That was when it still focuse…

Gas Prices Are Already Going Up, Even At My Local Station

Micheline Maynard — Tue, 03 Mar 2026 17:02:30 GMT

What A New Study Shows About Potential EV Buyers

Micheline Maynard — Wed, 18 Feb 2026 14:01:54 GMT

I’ve often quoted Ed Kim at AutoPacific on car matters. So, when I saw their latest study on potential EV buyers, I was intrigued.

AutoPacific’s Future Attribute Demand Study (FADS) data showed that EV intenders (shoppers who will not just consider an EV, but actually intend to get one as their next vehicle) are now more likely to identify as Republican …

We May Finally Get To See Chinese EVs -- From Across The Canadian Border

Micheline Maynard — Fri, 16 Jan 2026 19:30:35 GMT

Everyone knows that China is the world’s laboratory for electric vehicles. Companies like BYD (Build Your Dream), Xiaomi, Geely, NIO, XPeng and Li Auto have created a vast market for EVs, along with Tesla.

Price wars are common and new technology is reaching Chinese consumers at a blistering pace. Last year, automakers collectively sold nearly 13 millio…

In 2026, The Future Of EVs Is On The Line

Micheline Maynard — Mon, 29 Dec 2025 15:02:49 GMT

After Ford’s bombshell charge to write down its electric vehicle business, and seemingly start over, and General Motors’ steps to shift EV operations back to internal combustion engines, it’s easy to be gloomy about the future of electric vehicles.

Clearly, in 2026, the future of EVs will be on the line. They’ve been abandoned by the White House, stripped of their $7,500 tax credits, with federal mandates gone as well.

Tesla’s reputation has been shredded by its mercurial CEO, Elon Musk, whose DOGE team ripped jobs away from tens of thousands of federal employees (although some have been restored) and turned dealerships into protest sites.

It would be easy to say that EVs were just one more automotive fad and that they can now be confined to the toy section of the car companies’ shopping malls.

Except for two things.

Ford Drops The Big Charge We've All Been Waiting For

Micheline Maynard — Mon, 15 Dec 2025 23:01:04 GMT

The first big shoe has dropped in Detroit’s retreat from electric vehicles.

On Monday, Ford announced that it is taking a $19.8 billion charge this year and next to write down the value of its existing EV business.

In a Securities and Exchange Commission filing, Ford said it will cancel two EVs planned for the U.S. and another for Europe. It also has dis…

My Last Time (Probably) In The Renaissance Center, And A New HQ For Ford

Micheline Maynard — Tue, 25 Nov 2025 18:30:31 GMT

Back in the late 20th century, the headquarters buildings of the Detroit automakers were as fixed as the constellations.

There was the General Motors Building on West Grand Boulevard. It sat in the New Center area, named in 1933 after a newspaper called the New Center News. (Use that in your next pub trivia game.)

The New Center was supposed to be a new …

Martha Layne Collins' Anxiety Of Waiting For Toyota's Private Jets

Micheline Maynard — Tue, 18 Nov 2025 18:02:31 GMT

Former Kentucky Gov. Martha Layne Collins died on Nov. 1, at age 88. Gov. Collins was a woman of firsts. She was the first — and only — woman thus far to serve as Kentucky’s governor, and was in office from 1983 to 1987.

Among a long list of accolades, one stands out: she negotiated the 1985 deal that brought Toyota’s first stand alone plant to the Unit…