Tesla Says It’s Weeks Away From Selling Steering Wheel, Pedal-Free Cybercabs to Private Buyers: TDS

Hello and welcome to The Downshift, a daily sweep of the morning’s top headlines from the auto industry and car culture, 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 your bulletin for Friday, October 23, 2026:

🔊 The latest episode of The Drivecast, our weekly podcast, went live yesterday on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you get your podcasts.

🤖 Tesla’s engineering boss Lars Moravy says the company plans to begin selling its Cybercab coupe, which lacks manual controls, to the public before the end of 2026. It’s worth highlighting that NHTSA has an ongoing probe into how Tesla determined that the Cybercab is compliant with regulations. [Reuters]

🤠 Lexus won’t keep the plug-in-hybrid version of its three-row TX SUV around in 2027, as it apparently accounted for just 2% of overall sales of the nameplate in 2026. [Automotive News]

🔩 Honda announced a slate of new performance parts for the Civic Type R, Acura Integra Type S, and Passport TrailSport yesterday at SEMA in Las Vegas. They’ll be available starting in March. [HRC]

🧲 General Motors has reportedly canceled its deal with a German-owned, U.S.-based supplier of rare-earth magnets for EVs, and the two parties are now in arbitration. [Reuters]

🔨 Mercedes performance specialists HWA have teased their next project after their 190E restomod, and it appears they’re going to try their hand at the legendary AMG 300E 5.0 “Hammer” next. [HWA]

✊ Volkswagen employees in Germany say they’ll strike if the company doesn’t reverse a plan to freeze wages by this time next week. [Reuters]

📉 A significant third-quarter operating loss has led Volvo to axe 2,300 jobs in Sweden, leading to a 30% dive in shares Friday morning in Europe. [Reuters]

📹 Not even Land Rover is safe from the scourge of backup camera recalls, as the company has announced that 94,000 vehicles in the U.S.—specifically, 2022 through 2026 model-year Range Rovers—will need fixes. [Reuters]

🪖 The U.S. military has banned BYD vehicles from its airbase in Japan due to security concerns, because its cars are equipped with cameras that can capture information about the site. [Reuters]

🏁 Weekend races to watch (all times Eastern):

• NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series at Talladega: Friday at 4 p.m. on FS1
• NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series at Talladega: Saturday at 3:30 p.m. on CW/ESPN
• MotoGP Australian Grand Prix: Saturday at 11 p.m. on FS2
• NASCAR Cup Series at Talladega: Sunday at 2 p.m. on NBC
• Formula 1 United States Grand Prix: Sunday at 4 p.m. on Apple TV

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