News

Tesla has reversed one of its longest-standing promises. On its Q1 2026 earnings call, it admitted for the first time that Hardware 3 (HW3) cars, built from 2019 onward, cannot run unsupervised Full Self-Driving. They will keep getting FSD updates, but the hardware is not enough to drive without a person at the wheel. Tesla's fix is a heavy retrofit of cameras, wiring and computer at dedicated conversion hubs, or a trade-in discount toward a new car.

Kimi Antonelli won the inaugural Spanish Grand Prix at Madrid's new Madring circuit, leading home Max Verstappen and pole-sitter Lando Norris. It was strategy, not raw pace, that decided it: a Virtual Safety Car on lap 13 and the pit stops it forced handed Antonelli the win, and even he admitted Norris deserved better. His championship lead now stands at a commanding 81 points.

Daimler Truck Defence and PGZ have agreed to assemble Mercedes-Benz truck diesels in Kalisz, Poland, from 2027, growing to more than 1,000 engines a year from kits of over 700 parts. The 7 to 15 litre six-cylinders, 326 to 625 hp, are the units used in the Unimog and Zetros and will power vehicles PGZ companies build for the Polish armed forces, chiefly Jelcz trucks that currently use Iveco engines. No Mercedes trucks are part of the deal.

The Chery-JLR Freelander 8 holds the Guinness record for the highest altitude reached by a hybrid car: 6,002.33 metres in Tibet on 22 August 2026, 22.28 metres above the BYD Fang Cheng Bao 5 mark from July 2024. Its 1.5-litre generator kept 80 percent of its output on half the oxygen and a two-speed rear axle put up to 8,000 Nm through the wheels. A petrol Porsche 911 reached 6,734 metres in 2023.

Ferrari has revealed the 296 GT Modificata, a track-only special built in very limited numbers for its Club Competizioni GT customer programme. Based on the 296 GT3 Evo but freed from any racing rulebook, its V6 makes 730 hp, 130 more than the GT3 racer, and Ferrari says it laps Fiorano three seconds faster. It even has two seats, so owners can take a coach or a passenger along.

Lexus put an updated LS on sale in Japan on 10 September 2026, priced from ¥14.14 million to ¥18.05 million and offered only as the 359 hp LS500h hybrid. The 422 hp twin-turbo LS500 and the entry-grade are gone, so the cheapest LS now costs ¥3.03 million more. The shell gains a reinforced centre tunnel and resin-damped braces. Europe lost the LS on 1 October 2025; the United States gets 250 final Heritage Edition cars.

Ugo Ugochukwu won the 2026 FIA Formula 3 title at the Madring on 13 September with Campos Racing, 159 points to Freddie Slater's 145, after entering the final round 15 points behind. McLaren had signed the American at 13 and released him in November 2025 after a winless, 16th-place season. Slater is the first driver in Audi's F1 programme. The title is worth 30 super licence points and is Campos' first drivers' crown.

Toyota is recalling 8,521 electric C-HRs in the United States because a battery ECU programming error can let regenerative braking overcharge a nearly full pack and shut down the drive system. The cars were built between 6 February and 10 July 2026 at Takaoka, the plant that also builds Europe's C-HR+, and Toyota says not all of them were sold in America. The fix is a dealer software update, with owner letters due on 18 October.

Ford's Transit City, a 56 kWh electric van built by Jiangling Motors in Nanchang, went into production on 31 August and the first batch of around 1,000 is bound for Europe, priced from €35,990 net in Germany and A$50,000 in Australia. Ford exported 184,000 vehicles from China in 2025 while Changan Ford sold 99,400 there, and Jim Farley pledged deeper Jiangling ties days before Washington's letter objecting to Ford's Chinese partnerships.