Good morning! It’s Thursday, November 5, 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.
In this morning’s edition, we get a better understanding of how much the upcoming Ford Fathom EV will cost, Canada is refusing to back down on its trade dispute with the U.S., Toyota is posting monster numbers and Stellantis is keeping Fiat 500 production paused for another week.
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1st Gear: Even the most expensive Fathom seems like a value
We’ve known the Ford Fathom’s $29,945 starting price for some time now, but we’re finally getting an idea of where the mid-size electric pickup will top out at, and it sounds like it could be a real value proposition. Ford is still on track to launch Fathom pre-orders in the first quarter of 2027, according to Andrew Frick, Ford Blue and Model e President. When those preorders do start, they’ll top out in the “high $30,000 range,” and there will be a “couple different offerings within that.”
Frick says the Blue Oval has seen prices for new battery-electric vehicles in the U.S. rise by about 10% in the past couple of years, and that has pushed many new EVs outside of the “affordable” price point for a lot of shoppers. From the Detroit Free Press:
“It’s not just the EV market, it’s actually opening us op to a massive total addressable market,” Frick said. “If you know that nearly 50% of the U.S. new vehicle industry transacts under $40,000, not only do we expect Fathom… to attract new and used EV buyers, but also (gasoline) and hybrid customers, especially because we’re going to ahve much lower operating costs than even a mainstream hybrid vehicle.”
[…]
He declined to add further details at the moment other than to say Ford would add an affordable advanced electrical architecture and offer a digital camera dashboard.
[Ford CEO Jim] Farley then said, “I won’t go into all the detials Andrew said, but the digital suite, including the embedded Apple Maps, is really a game changer…. let alone at this price. For me personally, that is going to be the most exciting upset opportunity. It’s really the long-term subscription and digital experieence for the customer.”
Oh Jim, ever the salesman.
Of course, there are now two things Ford must prove: 1) It can actually build the Fathom on time without having it recalled a million times a week. So far this year it has issued 84 separate recalls — 43 more than second-place Stellantis. 2) It can actually see the Fathom for the prices it has mentioned for at least some amount of time. As we all remember, the Maverick once started under $20,000. Now, a base 2027 May will set you back $29,990, including destination.
2nd Gear: Canada won’t back down on trade talks following midterms
A senior Canadian cabinet minister said the results of Tuesday’s midterm elections weren’t going to change Ottawa’s stance toward trade talks with the U.S., adding that he would soon be speaking with his American counterparts. The rising costs of goods brought on by President Trump’s trade wars with various countries played a huge role in the thorough drubbing Republicans took earlier this week. From Reuters:
Dominic LeBlanc, the minister in charge of US trade ties, said “to a certain extent last night’s results are interesting, but they will not have any significant impact in terms of our government’s focus and work.”
LeBlanc told reporters that he planned to speak to US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer over the next few days.
Trump said on Tuesday the United States was close to making a trade deal with Canada, but Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said work remained to be done and that Washington had dropped some demands.
It’ll be interesting to see if the results of the election have changed Trump’s tune on trade with Canada or if he’ll now double down. After all, he’s got literally nothing to lose at this point, so he could harden his position, taking us all down with him in the process. That’s a fun thought, isn’t it?
3rd Gear: Toyota beats its chest after operating profits soar
Toyota might have just posted its third-straight month of sales declines, but it’s still raising its annual earnings forecast thanks to a weaker yen and cost cuts that boosted quarterly operating profits. CFO Yoichi Miyazaki gave more encouraging news — for shareholders, at least — saying there was further room for cost reduction, as well.
All of this is to say that operating profits climbed 34% to about $7.1 billion, and revenue was up 8.6% to about $85 billion. This good news comes despite everything going on in the Middle East right now. Toyota worked hard to mitigate those effects and others, even here in the U.S. From The Wall Street Journal:
The Japanese automaker has taken measures to mitigate the impact of disruptions caused by the Iran war, such as establishing alternative routes to shorten the time it takes to deliver vehicles to customers in the Middle East.
The carmaker has also implemented steps to expand production capacity in the U.S., after it announced a plan last November to invest up to $10 billion in the country over the next five years.
Toyota in July said it would spend $3.6 billion to bring production of its top-selling midsize pickup, the Tacoma, back to the U.S. by 2030. The company plans to build a second assembly line for the Tacoma at its San Antonio plant. Toyota currently builds the Tacoma in Mexico.
The Japanese carmaker, like many of its rivals, has been hit by the Trump administration’s tariffs. Making more vehicles in the U.S. will help Toyota, the world’s top-selling automaker, defray a hefty tariff bill in its largest market.
Because of the weaker yen, shipments have become more competitive abroad, according to WSJ. It also has the effect of boosting the value of profits earned overseas in yen terms. The currency has depreciated 28% against the dollar over the past five years, and it’s not like the dollar is doing that hot itself.
4th Gear: Fiat 500 production stop extended by a week
Fiat’s production is a mess right now. Its owner, Stellantis, is extending the current stoppage at its 500 plant in Turin, Italy, for the whole of next week because of a semiconductor chip shortage, according to both the automaker and the FIOM trade union. If it can’t finish the engine control unit, it can’t finish the car. It’s more bad news for a company just looking to make money where it can at this point. From Reuters:
The November 9-13 extension marks the fourth consecutive week of no production at the historic Mirafiori plant.
[…]
Union officials have pointed at weak demand for the Fiat 500 city car as the continuing reason for the stoppage.
Gianni Mannori of the FIOM metalworkers’ union said that blaming the shortage of components was “an alibi.”
Last week Stellantis said the shortage in engine control units was causing “significant” disruption to the Italian production of the Fiat 500 and Fiat Pandina models.
The first two weeks of the shutdown apparently were not caused by this chip shortage. Instead, Stellantis blamed weak demand. It’s certainly curious timing as to why this chip shortage would pop up all of a sudden. How convenient.
Reverse: And everything was very chill after that
History.com
As we all know, Richard Nixon had a very cool, very chill and very low-key presidential tenure after his election. It was barely noteworthy, when you think about it. Obviously, I’m joking, but what’s sort of hard to wrap your head around is the idea that what he did probably would only be a blip — a week-long news story at most — in today’s day and age. In any case, if ya wanna learn more about old Tricky Dick, head over to History.com.
The Fuel Up
Democrats are already delivering on their promise of bringing fuel costs down following their historic nationwide electoral victories on November 3. Obviously, I’m joking, but I had some of you conservatives shook for a second, didn’t I? However, while Democratic policy may not be the reason fuel costs are down, Tuesday’s election seemed to have had an impact on oil prices around the world. WTI Crude Oil futures and Brent Crude were sitting at $90 and $97, respectively, at the time of publication — down almost $10 each from where they were pre-election.
Here’s where national average prices stand right now, according to AAA:
AAA
What this all equates to is the average price of a gallon of gas dropping another 2 cents overnight to $4.10, according to AAA. Diesel saw a similar 2-cent drop to $6.26. President Trump promised gas prices would come down following the election, and would you look at that. Promises made, promises kept. Checkmate, liberals.
On the radio: LoneStar CJaye – Real Women Vote Trump
As it turns out, Trump not directly being on the ballot meant there were no real women voting. Perhaps that’s why just about every Republican running for office lost on Tuesday. Sad to see.
