Hello and welcome to The Downshift, a sweep of the top headlines from the auto industry and car culture served up every morning and curated by The Drive’s editorial team. Each story gets a short summary and link to the original source if you want to dive deeper.
Here’s your bulletin for Tuesday, November 10, 2026:
The Trump administration reportedly promised Audi tariff relief as part of the negotiation behind the luxury automaker’s $4-billion Georgia site. Toyota, which paid more than $8 billion in tariffs (!) last fiscal year, has reached out to the U.S. Commerce Department to know if it can have what Audi’s having, because it also committed to a new plant in Texas in July. [Automotive News]
Honda announced Monday that it will invest $3 billion into hybrid vehicle production in Ohio and add 2,000 employees to its workforce. The facility will reportedly manufacture the next-generation Acura MDX and two unnamed flagship crossovers (likely including an even larger Pilot), and would open in 2029. Honda raised its forecast on full-year profit as well, despite recording a 39% drop in profit from July through September. [Automotive News]
Stellantis has confirmed that it is selling its Brampton Assembly Plant outside Toronto to defense contractor Roshel, after working out a deal with labor union Unifor. [Automotive News]
The latest Ford F-150 production data indicates that manufacturing of the best-selling pickup is no longer hamstrung by aluminum supply shortages. [Ford Authority]
Ford’s conducted its own research on the first run of Mustang Mach-E electric SUVs to determine how well they’ve held up since 2021. Its findings indicate that the average Mach-E currently retains 92% of its initial battery capacity. Cars that have accumulated more than 100,000 miles since then are looking at about 91% on average, while the highest-mileage examples, above 200,000 miles, are landing around 88%. [Ford]
Horse, the engine-making joint venture between Renault and Geely, has announced its first V8 engine. Called the W40, it’s optimized for hybrid applications, measures four liters in capacity, and promises more than 670 horsepower while weighing less than 440 pounds. It will be paired with a dual-clutch, eight-speed transmission and is confirmed to power the upcoming Lotus Type 135, which is expected to be called Esprit when it eventually hits the market. [Horse]
The U.S. Justice Department is taking Lyft to court, seeking $53 million over allegations that the rideshare company discriminated against passengers with disabilities, including those who use stowable wheelchairs or are assisted by service animals, by refusing them rides. [Reuters]
Rimac partnered with BMW to improve the battery capacity and charging performance of the i7’s electric platform, and the EV wizards are now working with the luxury automaker to improve two other models. We don’t know what they are yet, but it’s believed that one of them may be the i5. [BMW Blog]
Fiat says it has sold through nearly all 300 of its initial run of Topolinos for U.S. buyers. [Yahoo Finance]
Polestar has revealed a concept four-door hatch called Formula 2030. It resembles a squished Ioniq 5, which is to say that the proportions are good but it also looks titanically big and heavy. [Polestar]
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