Tariffs Rattle European Automakers

Johannes Simon/Getty Images

Happy Wednesday! It's September 10, 2025, and this is The Morning Shift — your regular roundup of nan apical automotive headlines from astir nan world, successful 1 place. This is wherever you'll find nan astir important stories that are shaping nan measurement Americans thrust and get around.

In this morning's edition, we're looking astatine nan distressed authorities of European automakers, arsenic good arsenic Americans' penchant for gasoline. We'll besides look astatine nan Lexus ES's reported replacement connected Kentucky accumulation lines, and Stellantis' dreams of request for nan Pacifica, Voyager, and Charger.

Johannes Simon/Getty Images

The world car marketplace is successful a weird spot correct now. Everyone's transitioning to caller tech, China is becoming a world player, and nan United States is becoming an progressively protectionist marketplace — not to mention an progressively collapsed one. All this has near Europe successful a bind, and it seems automakers are dreading nan future. From Reuters:

Whisper it quietly, but beneath nan buzz of shiny caller car models and agleam lights astatine Europe's largest car show, nan manufacture assemblage is worried that their statement is over.

Prices and profits successful cardinal marketplace China are successful decline, request is tepid successful Europe and U.S. tariffs person created an uncertain outlook, putting nan attraction connected cost-cutting arsenic nan world marketplace is reshaped.

"The statement we person been celebrating successful nan automotive manufacture for decades is complete successful its existent form," said Oliver Blume, CEO of some Volkswagen,
Europe's biggest carmaker, and its luxury section Porsche AG.

"Now it is astir reorientation."

We're only seeing nan very opening of really tariffs will deed American citizens, truthful nan adjacent fewer years will beryllium very absorbing for automakers. Modern cars are already unaffordable for many, what happens erstwhile we each person to walk doubly arsenic overmuch connected groceries? Will it beryllium worthy sending cars to nan U.S. astatine all?

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

The authorities of EV infrastructure is ever-improving successful nan U.S., but it's apparently still not bully capable for nan mostly of buyers. Maybe it's nan car centric quality of our civilization, nan sheer size of our manifest destiny sprawl, but you tin pry gasoline retired of America's acold dormant hands. From Automotive News:

Electric conveyance charging successful nan U.S. is improving, pinch much stations, higher powerfulness and greater reliability. Yet astir Americans stay wedded to gasoline vehicles, dissimilar their European counterparts, who are much unfastened to an electrical future, a caller study says.

The U.S. added 37,000 charging points — a 19 percent summation — and boosted mean charger powerfulness 52 percent from June 2024 to June 2025, Here Technologies and SBD Automotive said Sept. 4. But for astir U.S. buyers, combustion substance remains king.

In a study conducted arsenic portion of nan report, 57 percent of U.S. consumers said they were astir apt to take a gasoline powertrain for their adjacent vehicle, followed by 32 percent for hybrids and 10 percent for battery-electric. The remainder chose hydrogen.

Honestly, moreover 1 percent of American buyers sounds measurement excessively precocious for hydrogen. You're telling maine astir 3.5 cardinal group are willing successful that? I don't judge you. 

Toyota

Yesterday, a study came retired saying that Toyota was readying to discontinue Lexus ES accumulation successful nan United States. I speculated that it would beryllium to make room for much Toyotas, and what do you know? New reporting says we'll build 2 caller EV crossovers successful Kentucky: One based connected nan RAV4, nan different connected nan Land Cruiser. From Reuters:

Toyota Motor will commencement making 2 battery-powered athletics inferior vehicles astatine its U.S. Kentucky works and will extremity accumulation of a luxury Lexus marque exemplary astatine nan site, a personification acquainted pinch nan matter said.

The electrical vehicles nan Japanese automaker plans to build successful Kentucky will beryllium based connected nan RAV4 and nan Land Cruiser, according to nan person, speaking connected information of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak publicly.

...

The next-generation Lexus ES sedan, owed adjacent year, will beryllium manufactured successful Japan and exported to nan U.S., nan personification said, adding nan alteration is not related to U.S. import tariffs.

Saying this move is entirely unrelated to tariffs is unconvincing, since replacing a luxury-oriented sedan pinch apt lower-priced, much celebrated crossover offerings from nan much fund marque is simply a smart tariff move. It's apt a smart non-tariff move too, though, truthful this could person been successful nan useful agelong earlier nan waste and acquisition war.

Stellantis

President Trump wants to bring car manufacturing backmost to nan U.S., sloppy of whether that's economically feasible for world companies to propulsion off. He's shown peculiar ire towards Canada, which he thinks should beryllium a U.S. authorities for immoderate reason, but it seems Stellantis is undeterred. The institution is doubling down connected Canadian production, adding shifts astatine nan mill that makes its minivans and Chargers. From Automotive News:

Stellantis' assembly works successful Windsor, Ont., will beryllium returning to 3 shifts from 2 successful nan first 4th of 2026.

"In anticipation of accrued request for nan products built astatine nan Windsor Assembly Plant ... Stellantis confirms that it will beryllium returning nan works to a three-shift cognition successful early 2026, honouring a committedness made during 2023 Unifor negotiations," Lou Ann Gosselin, institution spokeswoman, said successful an email to Automotive News Canada Sept. 9.

The assembly tract is nan sole shaper of Chrysler minivans and nan Dodge Charger.

Unions adhd yet different wrench to automakers' plans, since they can't precisely alteration accumulation betwixt nations connected a whim. Do we deliberation Trump remembered unions beryllium erstwhile he decided to dive headlong into waste and acquisition war?

drunk driving whitethorn termination a batch of people, but it besides helps a batch of group get to activity connected time, so, it;s intolerable to opportunity if its bad aliases not,

Drunk driving wouldn't moreover beryllium forbidden successful nan U.S. for different 13 years, because we person state here. 

This opus has been almost wholly scrubbed from nan internet, but location are 2 workplace sessions that stay connected YouTube. It's not moreover connected nan band's Bandcamp immoderate more, and nan Internet Archive doesn't person nan page archived that acold back. I swear a workplace type of this opus exists, because I person a rip of nan original euphony video, but I wonderment if anyone other retired location has entree to it. Does anyone request a full-time indie euphony archivist?