Happy Tuesday! It's October 27, 2026, and this is The Morning Shift โ 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 we're looking at the fallout of Audi's tie-up with Trump, and the U.S. car market drifting away from the rest of the world. We'll also look at the state of Livewire, and the latest numbers from Porsche.
Gernot Dรถllner, CEO of Audi, took the stage with U.S. President Donald Trump at a campaign rally to announce the construction of a new factory . I asked at the time whether hitching your corporate wagon to a historically disliked politician who faces an all-time midterm rout was a good idea, but there was an angle I hadn't considered: What Audi's workers, based in Germany, would think. Turns out they're not huge fans, and they control enough of the company to make that a problem. From Automotive News :
๐ Background & Sector Context
BERLIN โ Audi CEO Gernot Dรถllner's on-stage embrace of President Trump during the announcement of a new U.S. factory for the brand is drawing fierce criticism in Germany, handing unions new leverage over Volkswagen Group's restructuring plans.
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ), one of Germany's leading newspapers, described Dรถllner's appearance alongside Trump as "Bending the Knee in Georgia." Other commentators labeled the Audi chief, a key ally of VW Group CEO Oliver Blume, a national embarrassment.
๐ Industry & Real-World Impact
An investment of this scale must be approved by VW Group's supervisory board. Under Germany's co-determination laws, half of the board's seats are held by labor representatives, while VW Group's home state of Lower Saxony holds two seats.
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
Volkswagen is looking to shutter factories and lay off workers at home, but it suddenly has money for an all-new factory in the U.S. โ all to appease a president who's not particularly loved by most. I'm no fancy big-city MBA, but I probably would've handled just about all of this differently.
See that up there? That's the GM EV1, a car that signaled General Motors' interest in exploring electrification back in the '90s. Yet, in the 30 years since that car's launch, both General Motors and the country in which it's based have largely rejected the EV โ a stance that's increasingly making both company and country international pariahs. From Automotive News :
