In today's issue:

The companies that couldn't agree to merge 18 months ago just agreed to write identical software for a decade of future vehicles. When we covered Honda and Nissan's software talks in July, they were still only talking. That's not reconciliation, it's two also-rans deciding the Tesla and BYD problem is bigger than their rivalry.

GM's Unifor deal buys Oshawa a truck and Ingersoll a promise: Unifor members ratified a three-year agreement on Aug. 29 and 30 covering 4,600 workers, per Automotive News. GM commits C$144 million to Oshawa to add the next-generation GMC Sierra HD, and at its St. Catharines engine and transmission plant recommits C$691 million for V8 production plus a further C$215 million for a next-generation transmission program, work expected to create 250 jobs from 2029, per Automotive News. CAMI in Ingersoll got no product mandate at all: the plant has sat idle with more than 1,000 workers off the job since GM cancelled the BrightDrop electric van, and what the union secured was a written commitment not to close or sell it, plus, Unifor says, first place in line if GM's defence arm wins Canadian Armed Forces work. This is the other half of the Stellantis plant threat we ran in August, now with a ratified contract behind it. #analyst

Rates fell to a four-year low and the payment still set a record: The average new-vehicle loan rate fell to 6.55% in August, the lowest August reading since 2022, and the average monthly payment still hit the highest level any August has produced, per J.D. Power and GlobalData's August forecast as reported by GoodCarBadCar. Thomas King, president of OEM solutions at J.D. Power, puts the gap down to trade-in equity rather than to price or rates: 28.8% of trade-ins carried negative equity, up 0.6 points year over year, and 13.9% of new loans now run 84 months or longer, up 2.1 points, per the same forecast. Incentive spending is running at $3,384 per unit, up 5.9%. The likely mechanism, though J.D. Power does not spell it out: buyers trading in today largely bought at the 2021 and 2022 inventory-shortage peak on terms long enough that they are still inside them, so the car they arrive in is a liability rather than a down payment, and it rolls into the next loan. #market

BYD's overseas revenue passes its home market for the first time: BYD's first-half overseas sales rose 34% and outearned domestic revenue for the first time, per Automotive News. Total H1 revenue still fell 7.13% year over year to RMB 344.8 billion ($51.2 billion) as net profit dropped 20.54% to RMB 12.3 billion ($1.83 billion), per chinaevhome.com. Q2 alone was a rebound, up roughly 30% year over year to 8.2 billion yuan, ending four straight quarterly declines, per Autoblog. #analyst

Barclays puts a number on who actually pays Trump's Canada tariff: Canadian-built cars accounted for almost a quarter of Honda's US sales last year and 17% of Toyota's, the most among major automakers, per Barclays analysts cited by Automotive News. That reframes the exposure from production share to sales dependence, and it lands four months before the proposed Jan. 1 jump from 25% to 50%. Both automakers would likely have to close some Canadian assembly lines to absorb it, said Julie Boote, autos analyst at Pelham Smithers Associates in London: "If you really wanted to destroy the Canadian auto industry, you could with these tariffs." We ran the production-volume math in August; this is the sales-side version, and it points at the same two companies. #analyst

Nissan Titan headlights blow past the glare limit, legally: An index built by the eyewear company Overnight Glasses put the Nissan Titan's headlight glare 615% over the IIHS limit, and the truck still breaks no federal regulation, per The Drive. The BMW X5 actually threw more raw glare, at 677%, and scored better only because the index weights ride height and the Titan sits taller, putting its beams closer to oncoming drivers' eyes. US glare rules were never written to match modern LED output, which is why none of this is illegal.

Lexus keeps the V6 alive with a 350-unit green special: The 2027 IS Special Appearance Package pairs Envious Green paint with 19-inch forged BBS wheels on the naturally aspirated IS 350 F Sport, limited to 350 units for North America, per Carscoops and Motor1. It caps the IS's 25th Legacy Tour with no direct replacement announced.

Ford showed dealers an off-road Mustang called the Baja: Dealers got a first look at a reported all-wheel-drive, V8, 10-speed automatic Mustang variant, per Motor1. Ford has not confirmed it.

Kia teases the PV7 ahead of its IAA debut: The second entry in Kia's Platform Beyond Vehicle lineup gets its world premiere at IAA Transportation 2026, per The Korean Car Blog.

Tesla quietly kills its $8,000 wrap service: The option disappeared from Tesla's online shop without an announcement, per Autoblog.

The week in attention

How many separate outlets ran a headline naming each company over the last 7 days, across the 560+ sources we monitor. Press releases and Reddit are excluded, so this counts what got written about, not what got announced. A few brands whose names double as ordinary English words are not counted yet.

Mitsubishi: 39 outlets this week, about 18 in a median week.

NHTSA: 19 outlets this week, about 10 in a median week.

Suzuki: 16 outlets this week, about 9 in a median week.

Quieter than usual: Subaru (17 outlets against about 23).

Most covered overall: Volkswagen Group, Hyundai Motor Group, General Motors.

From our sister platform

The Car Curious Weekly for August 30: 266 episodes across 176 podcasts, and the sharpest argument of the week came from a host visiting someone else's show. The Smoking Tire's Zack Klapman went on Carbage Time to argue that the Woodward Dream Cruise, free and open to anyone who turns up, beats Pebble Beach for the other 99% of enthusiasts.

Suspension is the daily email that makes you the most informed car person in the room.