I am slow to recognize a pattern, so it wasn’t until late last week that it occurred to me how many overlapping news stories are coming out tomorrow, May 20th. This is, as far as I can tell, a day of no special significance on the calendar. Other than occurring right before the Memorial Day weekend, it’s just another Tuesday.
Because some of this news is embargoed, I can’t tell you about everything happening, but I can give you, dear Morning Dump readers, a little heads up as to what to expect.
If you’re an employee at Italdesign, I should probably let you know that Volkswagen might not own your company for that much longer, assuming it can find a partner.
Nissan maybe could have ended up with a Toyota partnership, apparently, as the much larger automaker reportedly made an overture when talks with Honda failed. Is that a good or a bad thing? I don’t know. I do know that when long-time car hauler Jack Cooper went out of business, I was curious who might pick up the slack. At least some of that work is going to a group put together by a former driver. That’s nice.
It’s Super Car (But Not Actually Supercars) Tuesday!
The first one is the easiest one. We’ll have someone (Sam) on the ground at Toyota’s HQ in Plano for a bunch of different cars, reveals, and experiences. Expect a lot of Toyota and Lexus news this week from your favorite car website.
Right off the bat, come back tomorrow at 9:00 PM (ET) and you’ll get to read about the 2026 Toyota RAV4. Will it be hybrid-only? How much tougher will it be? It’s the bread-and-butter car for Toyota, so they can’t go too crazy with it. Or can they? I haven’t actually looked at any of the embargoed information, so I honestly can’t tell you. Presumably, Sam has, and he will tell you tomorrow at 9:00 PM.
Do we have a review? Yes. Am I allowed to tell you that a review of the Hyundai Ioniq 9 is coming tomorrow? Is the date of the embargo actually embargoed itself? I don’t think so. That’s also written by Sam, and so will be an insightful, thorough read like all his great reviews. Just to make it exciting, I won’t tell you when exactly. It’s just tomorrow.
The last piece of news I have to be more circumspect about. It involves a company that’s made one of the most iconic vehicles on the road for years. It’s a low-volume manufacturer and hasn’t, to this point, ever gone racing. It’ll debut its first fleet of race cars ever tomorrow morning, and you’ll be able to read all about it right here at 7:01 AM ET.
Why is this happening now? I think the New York Auto Show gave me hope that there was some life left in the traditional auto show, even if the reality is that most automakers don’t want to share the spotlight. Automakers typically don’t like to do news on Memorial Day, which is all about sales, so this is sort of the last week to squeeze product stuff in before the official start of summer
Either way, look forward to a minimum of three big car stories tomorrow, plus whatever else I missed.
Report: VW Is Looking To Do Something With Italdesign
Founded in the late ’60s by the great Giorgetto Giugiaro, Italdesign is one of the strangest and most important of the Italian design and engineering firms of the 20th century. The original Fiat Panda and the Lotus Esprit are both Italdesign/Giugiaro products. In particular, some of the biggest Volkswagen cars (Scirocco, Passat, and Golf) all have roots in Italdesign.
The company was gobbled up by Volkswagen during Ferdinand Piëch’s Imperial Era VW, when it bought seemingly every brand or automotive outfit for sale. Italdesign ended up under Audi, which is also responsible for Lamborghini and Ducati. Ultimately, you can argue that Piëch’s ambitions played a big role in ruining the company, and now the new leadership is trying to do what it can to survive. One strategy is to offload many of these assets, including Italdesign.
Per Reuters, who is getting this information from the company’s union, the sale is already in process:
Volkswagen, has received preliminary expressions of interest from four or five counterparts, the union representatives said after a meeting with Italdesign management, adding the German company will not consider offers from competitors or financial groups.
“The management confirmed in the meeting that Audi is assessing a possible sale of Italdesign,” Gianni Mannori of Fiom union told Reuters, adding alternative options could be considered.
The process could take a few months, Mannori added.
Rocco Cutrì, the head of FIM Cisl union in Turin, said Audi was running a preliminary due diligence process at Italdesign, to prepare the unit for the plan.
Would Audi/VW consider a Chinese automaker a competitor?
Toyota And Nissan At Least Had A Chat
For all the issues that Nissan has cultivated over the years, it sure seems like a lot of companies are interested in its potential. There was the prospect of Nissan-Honda-Mitsubishi. And then Nissan-Foxconn. Now there’s some reporting out of a Japanese daily, via Automotive News, pointing out that Toyota at least gave a friendly “how you doing?” to Nissan as the Honda deal was falling apart.
When negotiations between Nissan and Honda Motor Co. abruptly ended in February, a Toyota executive contacted Nissan to offer support, Japan’s Mainichi daily reported May 18, without saying where it obtained the information.
The report did not detail the results of Toyota’s overture.
But neither Nissan nor Toyota has publicly disclosed discussions on partnering or cooperating. A spokesman for Nissan declined to comment on the Mainichi report. A Toyota spokesman said the company was looking into the report.
Toyota currently wholly owns Daihatsu and has a stake in Mazda, Suzuki, Isuzu, and Subaru. Nissan doesn’t not make sense in that lineup. Plus, as Automotive News goes on to mention, new CEO Ivan Espinosa says the company is “evaluating potential partners that will bring additional corporate value to Nissan.”
Ex-Jack Cooper Driver Launches Hauling Business
Vehicle hauler Jack Cooper started in the business in 1928, not quite making it to its 100th birthday as both General Motors and Ford decided to cut the company as a supplier this year, effectively dooming it. Why did this happen? It could have been a cost-cutting issue, or just the idea that Jack Cooper itself wasn’t a stable business spooked its customers. Whatever the reason, it left a lot of drivers without a job.
One of those drivers was McKinley Archie, who told the Detroit Free Press that the news shook him up a bit.
“As the steward, my coworkers looked to me for leadership and guidance, so I had to be strong for them on the outside. But internally, I didn’t know what I was going to do either,” Archie said. “Then when I saw my mom she said, ‘What’s wrong? Your face looks heavy?’ I broke a couple tears and said, ‘I don’t know if I’ll have a job.’ She reminded me that I’m a child of God. He will take care of me. She said to suck it up, keep moving and it will all work out.”
Archie and a few of his lifelong friends were able to get enough money together to lease a few of the ex-Cooper trucks, and have started hauling Fords and other vehicles under the name Squirrely LLC, saying it’s “Because we are all over the place.”
I love the spirit of it.
What I’m Listening To While Writing TMD
Lola Young got a lot of attention last year with her “Messy,” which was her vulnerable and on her backfoot. It’s a great song, but her best music is when she’s on the offensive. The new “One Thing” is definitely her throwing hooks.
The Big Question
What’s some car news you’re looking forward to?
Photo: Toyota
It’s about time for Ford to give us some news on the West Coast Choppers operation they have been teasing for too long now.
Big Q? Cadillac picking up a win somewhere along the line in WEC/IMSA this year, preferably Le Mans.
Continuing with my wishful thinking, I’m also looking forward to hearing that it’s confirmed, the Slate will be available in 2027 at a starting price of less than $20K.
The US built Foxconn Mitsubishi car seems interesting. When parts of Stalantis and Nissian inevitably end up owned by a Chinese company and hopefully they don’t take the geely approach.
Car news I’m looking forward to: Stellantis is going out of business and is giving away all remaining Hellcat models to the first people who show up at the door.
I call dibs on the Copperhead prototype
“…a company that’s made one of the most iconic vehicles on the road for years. It’s a low-volume manufacturer and hasn’t, to this point, ever gone racing. It’ll debut its first fleet of race cars ever tomorrow morning, and you’ll be able to read all about it right here at 7:01 AM ET.”
I knew it! YUGO WILL FINALLY ENTER LEMANS!!!
And they’ll unveil a new sports coupe called the Yugo STH (Straight To Hell).
The automaker entering racing has got to be Bugatti, right?
Is there a Spotify playlist with the “What I’m listening Too” songs?
No, but that’s a good idea.
I would volunteer to go through all the articles and create one, but at my core I’m lazy
A compact to mid-sized BEV sedan with good range, roomy passenger and cargo volume, enough space for a donut spare, and a semi-normally designed dashboard. It’s gonna be a long wait.
A PHEV truck that’s not shackled to a manufacturer with a reputation for horrible reliability. So far they’ve only been announced by two of the last companies I’d like to buy a vehicle of that nature from.
I’m very cautiously optimistic about what Ram announcements will be happening over the next 18 months. And definitely when the gasser Charger’s and maybe that Hornet GLH will come out.
Otherwise, meh. Maybe Honda will do something with the Ridgeline?
I really hope Honda give the Ridgeline the Passport treatment. I don’t think it’ll ever sell crazy numbers, but that simple yet strong style is bound to pull some casual tacoma owners who were scared off by the looks of the latest gen.
I keep hoping for this too. The Ridgeline is so close for me.