Senate Passes Budget, Hyundai Hot Streak, Cloudflare Block AI Scrapers

Automotive State of The Union

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Episode #1085: Today we’re diving into a high-stakes Senate budget bill that could end EV credits early, Hyundai’s record-breaking U.S. sales run, and Cloudflare’s bold move to make AI bots pay to crawl.

Show Notes with links:

• The Senate passed a budget bill by a razor-thin 51-50 vote, with VP JD Vance breaking the tie. The bill, which moves to the House next, packs major implications for automakers and dealers alike.
  • As we covered yesterday, the current version would kill EV tax credits by Sept. 30, 2025.
  • CAFE penalties for fuel economy non-compliance would be eliminated, gutting enforcement.
  • Car loan interest (up to $10,000/year) could be deducted for certain U.S.-built vehicle purchases from 2025-2028.
  • An earlier AI regulation ban, which might’ve restricted state autonomous vehicle laws, was cut from the final bill.
  • Electrification Coalition: Ending EV credits “would cede control over the future of transportation to China.”

• Hyundai just posted its best-ever U.S. sales performance in the first half of 2025, powered by strong EV momentum and a major new plant in Georgia. The automaker says this is only the beginning.
  • Hyundai sold 439,280 vehicles in H1 2025, a 10% YoY increase—the most since its 1986 U.S. debut.
  • Q2 and June also set new records with 235K+ (+10%) and 70K (+3%) vehicles sold, respectively.
  • The IONIQ 5 remains a top EV performer with 19,092 units sold YTD; IONIQ 9 logged 1,013 units since May.
  • The new Metaplant in Georgia can build 300K vehicles/year—expandable to 500K—with both IONIQ 5 and IONIQ 9 rolling off the line.
  • With leases as low as $179/month and free home chargers on offer, Hyundai is “building momentum with every mile,” said North America CEO Randy Parker.

• Cloudflare is positioning to be the premier AI gatekeeper by blocking AI bots by default for new websites and launching a paywall-style marketplace for AI crawlers.
  • New sites on Cloudflare will automatically block AI bots unless given explicit permission.
  • Their new “Pay per Crawl” lets publishers charge bots for different kinds of data use.
  • Condé Nast, TIME, and The Atlantic are on board after seeing steep traffic drops from AI-generated answers.
  • OpenAI bots reportedly scrape 1,700 times per referral, while Anthropic scrapes 73,000 to one. Google is only 14 per referral
  • “This could split the internet,” one analyst said, noting the potential divide between premium and freely scraped content.

Join Paul J Daly and Kyle Mountsier every morning for the Automotive State of the Union podcast as they connect the dots across car dealerships, retail trends, emerging tech like AI, and cultural shifts—bringing clarity, speed, and people-first insight to automotive leaders navigating a rapidly changing industry.
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