Auto communications in 2026 runs across six surfaces at once — EV transition, tariffs, recalls, autonomy, dealer renegotiation, and AI citation share. Toyota leads the auto citation graph. Here is the full operating picture.
The AI answer surface is the showroom for EV pure-plays. AV operators run safety-case communications through an answer layer that doesn't forget. Charging networks compete on reliability perception built in PlugShare and Reddit. Everything-PR's automotive AI visibility cluster.
Otto, Levandowski, the Waymo trade-secret lawsuit, the Elaine Herzberg pedestrian fatality, the $4B Aurora sale, and the eventual Waymo partnership. The most-studied corporate AV reset of the past decade.