Canadians Want A European Car Market – Jalopnik

Happy Friday! It’s October 9, 2026, and that is The Morning Shift — your every day roundup of the highest automotive headlines from around the globe, in a single place. This is the place you may discover an important tales which might be shaping the best way Americans drive and get round.

In this morning’s version we’re taking a look at Canada’s need for a extra European automotive market, and new German fines on Volkswagen. We’ll additionally take a look at Honda’s plans for a Southeast Asian pickup, and gross sales for Chinese-built Teslas. 

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Europe’s automotive market is stuffed with reasonably priced EVs and compacts, whereas the U.S. market runs on gasoline-fueled vans and crossovers. We’ve typically decided the trail for all of North America, however now Canadians desire a market that extra intently resembles the EU. From Automotive News: 

Just wanting half of Canadians need the nation’s car market to develop into extra like Europe’s — with extra compact and electrical choices — as affordability issues persist, tariffs pressure North American auto ties and Canada explores affiliate membership within the European Union.

Of almost 2,800 Canadian adults polled in September, 47 per cent mentioned they would like the automotive market transfer towards Europe, in contrast with 21 per cent who backed extra U.S. affect. The the rest wished no change, in keeping with the Abacus Data examine commissioned by suppose tank Clean Energy Canada.

I, too, need issues over right here to be extra like Europe. Both as a result of Europe will get extra highly effective Civic Type Rs, and since the continent will get much less highly effective far-right white supremacist freaks. Mostly. They’re really following in our footsteps a bit on that entrance. 

Volkswagen has been attempting to chop prices in every single place it may, because the automaker makes an attempt to shrink its scale to extend its income, however it appears the corporate shrunk one part too rapidly: Its monetary compliance wing. Now it is dealing with $1.3 million in fines for protecting data non-public, and never permitting buyers to behave on it. From the Wall Street Journal:

The German monetary supervisory authority fined Volkswagen 1.2 million euros ($1.3 million), saying the automaker did not disclose doubtlessly market-moving information in a correct and well timed method.

The regulator, often called BaFin, mentioned Friday that Volkswagen’s forecast for the 2023 monetary yr was considerably above market expectations, and that the German automaker ought to have issued an instantaneous, or advert hoc, announcement for monetary markets relating to the enterprise efficiency mirrored within the forecast.

Instead, the corporate revealed this inside data in a press launch, the regulator mentioned.

One might make the argument {that a} press launch remains to be a way of publishing monetary data, and I’m positive some very extremely paid attorneys will make precisely that argument. However, if the corporate has a historical past of publishing its monetary particulars in a way that does not match this particular launch, it might nonetheless have an issue — it isn’t an ideal look to bury your estimates. 

Honda builds a unbelievable pickup within the Ridgeline, however many nonetheless deride it as being “not a real truck” due to its unibody development. Now it appears Honda is seeking to silence these naysayers with a correct truck, however one we can’t get within the States. From Automotive News: 

TOKYO — Honda will dive into body-on-frame vans, with a rebadged model of the Mitsubishi Triton pickup on the market in Southeast Asia, because the loss-making Japanese automaker tries to offset crumbling gross sales in China with new product in different markets, Japanese media reported.

Honda Motor Corp. will put its model of the Triton on sale from 2028, in keeping with Oct. 9 studies within the Yomiuri and Nikkei newspapers. A Honda spokesman in Tokyo mentioned the corporate had not introduced such a call and declined to touch upon the studies.

Would you moderately have your Honda truck be an actual truck or an actual Honda? I’d take the true Honda seven days every week, however not everybody thinks like I do. I, for one, just like the Ridgeline — even when I believe it is needlessly huge. Still, vans just like the Triton are successful in additional creating markets, and Honda might use the assistance as its China gross sales dwindle. 

Speaking of China gross sales, Tesla’s are doing nice. Not in China itself, however gross sales of automobiles in-built China are going gangbusters overseas and the export market is buoying the Shanghai gigafactory. From Reuters: 

Tesla’s China-made electrical car gross sales rose 5% from ​a yr earlier in September, selecting up from ‌a 3.6% enhance in August, as the corporate’s gross sales rebound in Europe continued.

Deliveries of Model 3 and Model Y ​autos in-built its Shanghai manufacturing facility, together with ​exports to Europe, Asia Pacific and Canada, elevated ⁠to 95,366 models from 90,812 the yr earlier than, ​notching the eleventh consecutive month of annual features, ​knowledge from the China Passenger Car Association confirmed on Friday.

Tesla is definitely placing over $1,000 on the hood of Model Ys in China, so it is possible the Shanghai manufacturing facility could be in tough form have been it not for all of the export gross sales. The firm is ready to have a progress yr in 2026, regardless of the tough yr for EVs in its dwelling nation, however it’s nonetheless doable that “Musk” documentary might change issues. Anything might occur. 

It’s really been a very long time since I’ve seen a Che tee in actual life. Do folks nonetheless put on these?

Looks like we’re again to a different level of stability, with one-cent jumps between days. Unfortunately, the brand new baseline is so much larger than the final one. 

Aren’t you bored with being good?