Land Rover And Stellantis Will Team Up To Build A Defender Pickup In The U.S. – Jalopnik

Good morning! It’s Tuesday, September 15, 2026, and that is The Morning Shift, your each day roundup of the highest automotive headlines from world wide, in a single place. This is the place you may discover crucial tales which can be shaping the way in which Americans drive and get round.

In this morning’s version, the Land Rover-Stellantis alliance will spawn a U.S.-built Defender pickup, Waymo has its sights set on Tokyo, the eldest boy of the VinFast empire is called its world chief govt and Stellantis could have a purchaser for its shuttered plant in Brampton, Canada.

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Land Rover and Stellantis have some large, funky plans for this tie-up, and the primary car they’re apparently going to construct collectively is a Defender pickup truck. It’ll be constructed within the U.S., permitting Land Rover to keep away from the 25% Chicken Tax on imported pickups, and evidently it will be aimed squarely at stuff just like the Ineos Grenadier Quartermaster and (to a lesser extent) Jeep Gladiator.

Back in May, Land Rover and Stellantis, two corporations that are not precisely doing too scorching proper now, signed a memorandum of understanding to “explore opportunities to collaborate on product development” within the U.S., and it is slated to be finalized on the finish of the 12 months. From Automotive News:

The U.S.-built fashions can be developed with assist from Stellantis, fairly than JLR shifting manufacturing of its stronger-selling fashions to Stellantis services within the nation, Automotive News Europe reported.

The automaker will as an alternative go into “new segments” with Defender-branded automobiles inbuilt collaboration with Stellantis, [JLR CFO Richard] Molyneux stated.

[…]

The U.S. has taken on extra significance inside JLR as gross sales in China, as soon as its largest market, decline.

No technical particulars of the deal have emerged. For instance, Stellantis would not presently make a unibody truck. The Defender is such a unibody car. It’s additionally not clear what engines will energy the Land Rover pickup. Engines imported from Europe can be subjected to tariffs.

But utilizing an off-the-shelf Stellantis engine may not be appropriate for a premium pickup.

The upcoming Defender pickup will not be the primary ever bought within the U.S. market. In the Sixties and early ’70s, British Leyland bought pickup variations of the Series 1 and Series II, vans that had been primarily based on traditional body-on-frame Land Rover SUVs.

It makes a hell of plenty of sense why JLR is attempting to increase within the U.S. It presently imports all its automobiles right here, though we’re JLR’s largest market globally. That means it’s getting killed by President Trump’s 10% tariffs on UK-built automobiles and 15% tariffs on EU-built automobiles.

JLR CEO PB Balaji says the aim is to ultimately increase the corporate’s U.S. enterprise to be the dimensions of its world enterprise. That’s a tall order, to say the least.

Waymo is teaming up with Japanese taxi operator GO and taxi firm Nihon Kotsu with a purpose to launch Japan’s first absolutely autonomous industrial taxi service in Tokyo someday in 2027. The corporations stated that they plan to begin with a small fleet of automobiles earlier than increasing to about 100 automobiles throughout key neighborhoods within the metropolis. Of course, the plan is topic to regulatory approvals and ongoing validation of Waymo’s know-how and working mannequin. From Reuters:

Once approvals are secured and the service is ​absolutely validated, it should function with out drivers and be obtainable by way of each the GO and Waymo apps, the businesses stated ​in a joint assertion.

“From day one, this will ​be an unmanned service for the public,” Waymo Co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana ‌advised ⁠reporters at a joint press convention in Tokyo.

“We’ll grow our fleet responsibly over time, steadily operating until anyone in Tokyo can download an app and take ​a ride.”

The ​announcement marks ⁠the newest step in Waymo’s Japan push after the corporate started amassing information in ​Tokyo in 2025 utilizing human-driven Jaguar I-PACE ​automobiles, ⁠its first public-road operations exterior the United States.

The corporations stated the service may assist deal with Japan’s driver scarcity ⁠and ​its broader inhabitants decline.

Waymo is not the one firm that wishes a chunk of Japan’s robotaxi pie, both. Nissan has individually been working with British startup Wayve and Uber Technologies on creating their very own robotaxis for the nation.

VinFast appeared from inside to search out its new world chief govt, and by “within,” I imply inside its founder’s loins, as a result of the Vietnamese electrical car maker picked Chairman Pham Nhat Quan Anh, the eldest boy of firm founder Pham Nhat Vuong, for the place. I ponder how he obtained the job. Still, it isn’t prefer it’s an enviable place. He should now oversee the loss-making agency because it goes by way of restructuring and abroad enlargement.

The 33-year-old, who was first appointed world chairman in May, will even function chairman and chief govt officer of VinFast Vietnam. VinFast is planning to restructure right into a extra asset-light firm because it seems to develop in key markets like Southeast Asia and India. From Reuters:

“Pham Nhat Quan Anh will hold ultimate and ​comprehensive responsibility for all of VinFast’s operations as the company enters a ⁠new phase of growth,” the corporate stated in a press release.

Anh will succeed his father, ​founder Pham Nhat Vuong, as chief govt. Vuong will proceed to serve on VinFast’s board.

Anh ​shall be VinFast’s fifth chief govt. Previous CEOs embrace former General Motors govt James DeLuca, ex-Opel chief Michael Lohscheller, and Le Thi Thu Thuy, who led the corporate by way of its Nasdaq itemizing.

In May, VinFast unveiled ​a restructuring plan that might switch manufacturing property value about $530 million to a purchaser group ​that might additionally tackle about $6.9 billion in debt, because the automaker seeks to scale back future capital ‌necessities.

The ⁠complexity of the deal and the involvement of traders with ties to Vingroup and Vuong has raised issues for some analysts and shareholders.

VinFast reported an increase of almost 42% in first-quarter income however posted a wider web loss. It has acquired ongoing monetary assist from ​Vuong, the founder and ​chairman of Vingroup, Vietnam’s ⁠largest conglomerate and VinFast’s father or mother firm.

Anh is a graduate of Singapore Management University and held a lot of senior roles at VinFast ​and different Vingroup corporations earlier than changing into chairman of VinFast Auto. He ​will stay ⁠as chief govt of VinMetal, a metal producer throughout the Vingroup conglomerate.

Further conserving issues within the household, Pham Nhat Minh Hoang, Vuong’s second son, and the Roman Roy of the household, was named the worldwide chief govt officer at VinFast-linked taxi agency GSM, and Nguyen Quoc Tuan appointed world chairman. GSM is planning a Hong Kong itemizing in 2028, and it plans to buy about 1 million EVs and 4 million e-scooters from VinFast between 2026 and 2030.

Stellantis says it has a tentative deal to promote its presently closed Brampton Assembly plant in Canada to Roshel, a weapons producer. While the information may be good for the automaker, which has struggled to determine what to do with the plant, it rapidly drew criticism from the Unifor automakers union that has urged it to reopen and spend money on the power.

In a press release, Unifor stated that it was at an deadlock in collective bargaining negotiations with Stellantis after 10 days of talks, due largely to the disagreement over the way forward for the plant. Conversely, it has already come to agreements with Ford and General Motors. From The Detroit News:

“The persistence of the company’s proposal to close and sell the Brampton plant has hindered the bargaining process,” the union stated.

A sale would “threaten the wages, pensions and other benefits of Unifor members” who had labored on the plant earlier than it closed and had sought to return, the union stated. It added that there “is no economic substitute for automotive assembly in Canada.”

The facility most just lately made the Chrysler 300, Dodge Charger and Dodge Challenger sedans earlier than manufacturing led to late 2023. Workers and union officers had been awaiting the retooling and reopening of the plant to construct a next-generation Jeep Compass final 12 months, however that by no means occurred as the corporate switched up its North American product technique amid excessive U.S. tariffs on Canadian items. Still, Unifor stated it was assured by the corporate that Stellantis deliberate to spend money on new applications for the plant.

Stellantis spokesperson LouAnn Gosselin confirmed Friday that the corporate has entered a memorandum of understanding with Roshel to take over the plant. The Canadian protection producer designs and builds armored automobiles.

“Following consideration of a number of potential opportunities, Stellantis believes that Roshel represents a strong path to restoring sustainable operations at Brampton Assembly, preserving the site’s strategic role in Canada’s advanced manufacturing sector and helping to avoid a prolonged period of inactivity,” a press release stated. “For more than 100 years, Stellantis has invested in and grown with Canada, and we remain committed to supporting Canadian jobs, innovation and the long term competitiveness of the country’s automotive sector.”

Unifor says there will not be a tentative settlement in talks with no “suitable resolution for union members who are part of Local 1295 at the Brampton facility. A spokesperson said that unless there’s a resolution, “formal contract talks between Unifor and Stellantis are paused till additional discover.”

History.com

I’m simply glad no one actually realized their lesson from all the 2008 monetary meltdown, and much more thrilled that not one of the stakeholders had been even held accountable in any significant manner. Surely this is not going to embolden them to do one thing comparable down the road. Surely not. Anyway, if you wish to study Lehman Brothers’ collapse, head over to History.com.

Friends, with regards to gas costs, it might appear that we’re each on the runaway practice and tied to the tracks on the identical time. As we reported yesterday, Houthi rebels efficiently attacked the East-West pipeline that Saudi Arabia makes use of to get across the Strait of Hormuz, forcing the Saudis to close it down and take 4% of the world’s oil offline. Compounding this with every thing occurring within the Strait, and also you get WTI Crude Oil futures and Brent Crude costs sitting at $103 and $107, respectively, on the time of publication.

Here’s the place nationwide common costs stand proper now, in response to AAA:

AAA

What all this implies is the common worth of a gallon of standard gasoline was up one other cent in a single day to $4.33, in response to AAA. Diesel was additionally up one other 4 cents in a single day to $6.27 — a brand new all-time file. I do not know when this ends, however it’s not tomorrow.

I noticed Charli xcx carry out on the Barclays Center final evening as a consultant of the “Straight Guys Supporting Their Fiancée” contingent of the gang, and rattling, what an incredible present. Of course, I’m joking — I needed to go simply as badly as she did, as a result of Charli rocks, and I like “Music, Fashion, Film” greater than “Brat.” See her if you happen to can, as a result of this tour is sick as hell.