Good morning! It's Thursday, October 29, 2026, and this is The Morning Shift , your daily roundup of the top automotive headlines from around the world, in one place. This is where you'll find the most important stories that are shaping the way Americans drive and get around.
๐ The Core Development
In this morning's edition, Porsche is stumbling and bringing Volkswagen down with it, Hyundai's slump is getting worse, and Toyota just saw its third-straight month of sales and production slides. Despite it all, though, Carvana is having the time of its life.
It feels like every single day there's a new bit of doom and gloom coming from the Volkswagen Automotive Group . Well, today is no different, as the German automaker sank deeper into the red in the third quarter โ posting its worst results in over a decade while it battles ever-growing challenges in key markets and pushes ahead with a massive restructuring effort . Europe's largest automaker just posted a $6.6 billion operating loss for the past three months, hit by about $8.9 billion in one-off items, most of which are linked to a writedown of its now-less-valuable Porsche stake .
๐ Background & Sector Context
The loss was Volkswagen's largest quarterly deficit since Q4 of 2015, when it was in the throes of Dieselgate, and a spokesperson for the automaker said these latest results make it clear that there's no time to lose. From Reuters :
The results โhighlight the pressure on Volkswagen to overhaul its business model as it faces fierce competition in China, billions of โeuros โ in annual tariff costs and heavy investment demands from the transition to electric vehicles in Europe, where Chinese rivals continue to gain ground.
๐ Industry & Real-World Impact
CEO Oliver โBlume plans to cut โ 100,000 jobs across the group, which includes the Audi and Porsche brands. Up to four plants in Germany face closure under the plan, which has โdrawn fierce opposition from unions and could trigger strikes from early next year.
Benchmark Telemetry & EV Fuel Savings
Put top supercars and EVs to the test in The Pit Stop Lab โ launch head-to-head 1/4-mile drag strip battles & compute EPA electric fuel cost savings.
โก Prefer Visual Stories on Mobile?
Experience this news piece in an interactive 5-slide visual format crafted for mobile devices & Google Discover.
๐ฎ Strategic Outlook & What Lies Ahead
Antlitz said โVolkswagen's operating โ return on sales margin was only 3.8% in the first nine months of the year, even before the one-off items.
Volkswagen is targeting an operating profit margin โ of โ8%-10% by 2030 under its restructuring programme.
