Today's Honda Pilot. The planned Pilot XXL would be nearly 8 inches longer. Photo: Mr.choppers / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
In today's issue:
Honda's two biggest SUVs ever, and the $2.5 billion plant that may build them
Federal regulators open a probe into Comma.ai's hands-free kit after three deaths
Bentley's first EV should be its cheapest model, expected around $200,000
SUPERSIZED
A three-row Acura flagship, internally labeled the Acura XL, is scheduled to start production in September 2029, and a "Pilot XXL" nearly 8 inches longer than today's Pilot follows in the first quarter of 2032 on the same platform, per Automotive News, citing a person briefed on the plan and a Honda planning document.
Separately, Honda is in the final stages of talks on an up to $2.5 billion hybrid assembly plant, with Ohio the front-runner and operations starting in 2030 if the state deal closes, per Nikkei Asia sourcing reported by Automotive News.
The reports point at each other: Automotive News says the new plant could build a pair of large flagship crossovers for Honda and Acura, and Car and Driver says the eighth plant could end up the home of the Pilot XXL and Acura XL.
The plant would be Honda's first new North American assembly plant in about two decades, with capacity of about 250,000 vehicles a year focused on large hybrids, per Just Auto.
The pressure is capacity: "It's almost in full production," CEO Toshihiro Mibe said of Honda's North American plants in July, and U.S. large-crossover sales hit a record 1,302,585 in 2025, per Automotive News.
Honda has confirmed neither. A spokesperson said no decisions have been made on a new U.S. plant and declined to comment on the SUVs; both reports rest on anonymous sourcing.
For a family cross-shopping a Toyota Grand Highlander today, the takeaway is the calendar: the Honda-badged answer to it is a 2032 product, possibly built in a plant that doesn't exist yet.
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Also worth knowing
Feds Probe Comma.ai's Hands-Free Kit After Three Deaths: NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation opened a preliminary evaluation on Sept. 21 into comma.ai's aftermarket driver-assist devices and its openpilot software, an estimated 30,000 units, after five crashes in which equipped cars reportedly struck stopped or slow-moving vehicles in their lane, per Ars Technica and Road & Track. Three people died in two of the crashes, and 11 others were injured across four of them; regulators will also examine modified "forks" of openpilot, per TechCrunch. #news
Mercedes Targets $911M in Labor Cuts: Following up on Mercedes' warning that two German plants could close, the automaker now plans to cut 800 million euros ($911 million) in labor costs, per three people who confirmed the figure to WirtschaftsWoche and reported by Automotive News Europe. Options include longer hours without added pay and cutting Christmas bonuses, per autoevolution. #analyst
China's Retail Sales Fall 22% Through Sept. 20: Passenger-vehicle retail sales hit 878,000 units from Sept. 1-20, down 22% year over year even as NEV penetration reached 67.9%, per the China Passenger Car Association data cited by chinaevhome.com. #market
Geely's Sub-Five-Minute Charger Aims Past BYD: Geely says its new AI-managed 2,250-kilowatt "Smart Charging System" takes a battery from 10% to 70% in under five minutes, beating BYD's Flash chargers, per Automotive News Europe and InsideEVs. The Lynk & Co 10 and Zeekr 001 get it first. #news
A Zeekr 001, one of the first cars to get Geely's new charging. Photo: Retired electrician / Wikimedia Commons, CC0
Skoda's CEO Search Gets Harder as VW Tightens Grip: Klaus Zellmer's move to replace Volvo's Hakan Samuelsson left Skoda without a chief and accelerated Volkswagen Group's plan to centralize control over the Czech brand, per Automotive News Europe. Samuelsson, 75, hands off by October 2027. #analyst
Reveals & culture
Bentley's First EV Should Be Its Cheapest, at About $200,000: The Torcal, a midsize SUV built on Porsche Cayenne Electric underpinnings, is expected to start around $200,000 when it goes on sale next year, making it Bentley's least expensive model, per Edmunds. UK pricing is put at about £173,000, and Bentley calls it the most powerful production model it has built, per Just Auto. It's built at Crewe, UK, in Core and S trims, per Paul Tan. #enthusiast
The Bentley Torcal. Photo: Bentley
BYD Teases a Rolls-Royce Rival That May Debut Its Solid-State Battery: Yangwang general manager Hu Xiaoqing posted images on Weibo of an as-yet-unnamed flagship "ultra-luxury executive sedan," internally called "HU," that will be BYD's first vehicle with rear-hinged coach doors, per Electrek. Local reports and CarNewsChina say it could be BYD's first car with a solid-state battery; BYD executive Stella Li has said that car debuts in 2027. BYD hasn't announced pricing or specs. #enthusiast
Yangwang's camouflaged flagship sedan on a test track. Photo: Yangwang
Nissan's T-Top Z Concept Revives a Roof Sports Cars Dropped Decades Ago: Nissan showed the Z Kaze concept at ZCON, a skunkworks one-off in Pacific Teal with carbon-fiber bodywork, GReddy engine upgrades and removable T-top panels that latch like the Z32 300ZX's, per The Drive. Nissan North America chief planning officer Ponz Pandikuthira told The Drive he would "like nothing more" than to see a Z convertible return; The Autopian notes a production T-top would likely need re-homologation. #culture
The Nissan Z Kaze concept with its T-tops off. Photo: Nissan
Genesis Patents Its G90-Based X Gran Coupe and Convertible: The USPTO granted design patents for the X Gran Convertible on Aug. 4 and the X Gran Coupe on Aug. 25, covering the two G90-based concepts Genesis showed at the 2025 Seoul Mobility Show, per Carscoops. A design patent protects only the shape, not a production plan, and Genesis still calls both cars concepts, per Motor1. #enthusiast
The Genesis X Gran Coupe concept. Photo: Damian B Oh / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Toyota's Next Corolla Is Expected to Add a Plug-In and an EV, and Keep a Gas Model: The redesigned Corolla, expected in 2027 as a 2028 model, is set to offer gas, hybrid, plug-in hybrid and electric versions, per Car and Driver. Toyota engineers told the magazine the new 1.5-liter hybrid makes about 134 hp; whether the EV comes to the U.S. is still unclear, per Electrek. Toyota hasn't announced pricing or a launch date. #enthusiast
The Toyota Corolla Concept that previewed the next Corolla. Photo: TTTNIS / Wikimedia Commons, CC0
Quick links
Renault Revives the Gordini for Paris: The Gordini 8 concept, a two-seat, rear-engine electric coupe with 270 hp, debuts at the Paris auto show in October, per Automotive News Europe.
Akio Toyoda Joins the Automotive Hall of Fame: Toyota's chairman was inducted in Detroit on the night of Sept. 23, per Toyota's pressroom.
GM's Barra Climbs to No. 3 in CEO Pay: Mary Barra rose to her highest ranking since 2022 in the Automotive News/Equilar 2025 survey, behind the CEOs of Nvidia and Flex, per Automotive News Europe.
Recalls & legal action
GM Recalls 306,511 SUVs Over Blank Backup Cameras: Certain 2024-2025 Buick Envista, 2024-2026 Buick Encore GX and Chevrolet Trailblazer, and 2025 Chevrolet Trax models may show a distorted or blank rearview image while backing up, per We Talk Cars, citing GM's NHTSA filing (26V539). Dealers will inspect and replace the camera as needed.
Yesterday's picks
Rivian Recalls Nearly 99,000 Vehicles Because a Notification Can Cover the Backup Camera: NHTSA says a notification can block the rearview camera image when the vehicle is in reverse, raising crash risk. The recall covers certain 2022-2027 R1S, 2022-2026 R1T and 2027 R2 models, and Rivian has released a free over-the-air software update as the remedy, per Reuters.
Nissan Is Dropping Piano-Black Trim and Chrome Because Owners Hate the Fingerprints: Nissan North America chief planning officer Ponz Pandikuthira called the change "definitely consumer driven," starting with the 2027 Rogue Hybrid, which has no piano-black trim and no chrome grille, per The Drive.
Mercedes Signs Wayve to Bring Tesla-Style City Driving Assistance Within Two Years: Mercedes-Benz and British startup Wayve signed a definitive production agreement on Sept. 22 to put the Wayve "AI Driver" in future Mercedes vehicles, with urban and highway point-to-point driving assistance arriving within the next two years, per Wayve and Motor1.
Worth a listen
One episode from Car Curious, our sister car-podcast platform, picked out of everything the shows published in the last day.
Episode 218: All of Your Questions Have Been Answered (Lizard Brains: Driving Drivers, also at YouTube): The hosts make the case that an ND Miata on skinny 205 tires, with little grip, might be the best version of the car, and that the constraint makes you a better driver.
Lizard Brains: Driving Drivers
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