Ford Pledges Customer Privacy After GM’s Data-Selling Stumble: TDS

Good morning and welcome to The Downshift, our sweep of top headlines from the auto industry and car culture every day, curated by The Drive’s editorial team. Each story gets a short summary and a link to the original source if you want to dive deeper.

Here’s the report for Monday, November 2, 2026:

🛜 Days after General Motors agreed to settle a lawsuit over selling customers’ data without their consent, paying $220 million to 36 states (drivers won’t see a cent, by the way), Ford has announced a “Privacy Promise.” In the company’s own words, it’s “an explicit commitment to customers that their vehicle data is safe with us and they’re in control of what they share.” A new website outlines Ford’s practices and offers guidance on how to deactivate various types of data sharing and collection, whether on the automaker’s webpages, in its app, or in its cars. What the site does not do, it should be said, is offer one place to turn everything on or off with a click, so be prepared to do plenty of reading, Ford owners. [Ford]

🗣️ The ongoing saga of the U.S. and Canada’s trade talks continued over the weekend, with U.S. President Donald Trump saying that the two sides had the “concept” of a deal, and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney saying they’ve built on “recent constructive discussions.” Don’t forget that the deal looked conceptually finished back in August, too, right before it wasn’t. [Reuters]

👔 Porsche’s development boss Michael Steiner will leave the sports-car maker in May after 25 years at the company; he’ll be replaced by Jörg Bartels, from Mercedes-Benz. [Automotive News]

🤑 Ford is not keeping the Mustang Dark Horse’s $32,000 Track Pack Special Edition package around for the 2027 model year. In fairness, the equipment it added aimed more for form than function—carbon-fiber exterior trim, red Recaro seats, 3D-printed titanium shift paddles, that sort of stuff—so it’s no grave loss. [Motor1]

💎 Pagani has introduced another one-off Huayra, called the Huayra 70 Anima. Apparently its paint finish includes diamond dust, and it incorporates a manual transmission linked to its signature V12. Despite the Utopia’s existence, Pagani serving up new special builds of its past models, much like a diamond, is forever. [Motor1]

💥 A Yangwang U9 Xtreme was reportedly crashed during a top-speed attempt in China, chasing 500 km/h (310 mph). Fortunately, the driver was said to be unharmed. A U9 Xtreme reached more than 308 mph during a similar test last year in Germany. [CarNewsChina]

⚡ A Hyundai executive in Australia said that “hydrogen isn’t dead” for passenger cars, and that “the biggest thing is you’ve got to find customers.” Late last year, Hyundai was reportedly planning to bring the second-generation, hydrogen-powered Nexo to the U.S. in limited quantities by about now, but it hasn’t materialized yet. [CarExpert]

🐂 Fabrizio Giugiaro, the Lamborghini Gallardo’s original designer, has designed a retromodded version with pop-out headlights called the Hommage 26. It’s up to you if you think it’s better looking than the original. [Motor1]

🏁 Weekend race winners:

• NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series at Martinsville: Chandler Smith for Front Row Motorsports
• NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series at Martinsville: Carson Kvapil for JR Motorsports
• MotoGP Malaysian Grand Prix: Marc Marquez for Ducati
• NASCAR Cup Series at Martinsville: William Byron for Hendrick Motorsports
• Formula 1 Mexican Grand Prix: Max Verstappen for Red Bull
• NHRA Las Vegas Nationals Finals: . Doug Kalitta (Top Fuel), Jordan Vandergriff (Funny Car), and Dallas Glenn (Pro Stock)

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