AD #4368 – Model 3 Update Coming in 2028; BYD & Leapmotor Want Stellantis’ Brampton Plant; Stellantis Shakes Up Leadership

This is Autoline Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry.

MODEL 3 UPDATE COMING IN 2028
We’ve got some great future product intel on Tesla, and it looks like it’s getting ready to give the Model 3 a major facelift. Autoforecast Solutions reports that the 3 will stay on the same Gen III platform that it sits on today, but will get a new model designation. Its internal designation will change from Highland to D90. The updated 3 will go into production in Fremont, California in March of 2028. And there’s a good chance an update for the Model Y won’t be far behind.

CHINA WORRIED PRICE WAR WILL EXPAND OVERSEAS
China is going through a brutal price war and now the government is concerned it will follow automakers overseas. So, the country just issued new rules telling companies to avoid price wars and frequent price fluctuations outside of China saying it could harm consumer interest and damage brand image. The guidelines also say companies should respect the rights of local dealers to set prices and follow through with reasonable agreements on sales incentives. In addition to pricing, automakers are also encouraged to improve safety at their overseas plants. But it’s not clear how China will enforce the new rules.

    

BYD & LEAPMOTOR INTERESTED IN STELLANTIS’ BRAMPTON PLANT
President Trump seems to be out to destroy the Canadian auto industry with punishing tariffs. That’s certainly how the Canadians see it. And now the Mayor of Brampton, Ontario let it be known that two Chinese automakers, BYD and Leapmotor, are interested in taking over the Stellantis assembly plant there. The Brampton plant has been sitting idle for 3 years, and while the company promised the Canadian union Unifor that it would find some use for it, that could involve turning it over to BYD or Leapmotor. Stellantis already invited Leapmotor and Dongfeng to use a couple of its factories in Spain, so the precedent is there. And we think it would be a travesty to see U.S. trade policies force the Canadian auto industry into the arms of the Chinese.

VINFAST PULLS BACK IN INDIA
Just a few years ago EV startup VinFast was seeing big growth but now its momentum has slowed considerably. It’s having difficulty gaining market share in the U.S. and Europe and now Reuters reports that it suspended plans to build three electric models in India and ordered suppliers to halt work on the projects so it can review the costs. The move is a big setback to VinFast’s expansion strategy in the country. The company opened its first overseas plant in India last year, which has an initial capacity of 50,000 vehicles a year. But since sales kicked off in 2025, it has only sold about 10,000 cars.

 

STELLANTIS SHAKES UP EUROPEAN LEADERSHIP
Stellantis made a number of changes to its leadership, mostly in Europe. Most notably, Olivier Francois, who is currently the CEO of Fiat and head of European marketing, is being replaced and will become a strategic advisor to the company. His titles go to Arnaud Belloni, who was most recently the head of marketing for Renault. In addition to leading Fiat and marketing in Europe, Belloni is also being named CEO of the Abarth and Lancia brands. Stellantis also named new CEOs for Jeep Europe and DS Automobiles. And on a global level, Stellantis named Stephanie Hartgrove as its new chief communications officer, who will report directly to company CEO Antonio Filosa.

‘LENO LAW’ PASSES CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE
Politicians don’t seem to agree on much these days, but they came together in California to easily pass a bill that would exempt some classic cars from the state’s smog test. Senate Bill 1392, which is nicknamed ‘Leno’s Law’ after the famous TV personality and car collector who sponsors the bill, was voted through California’s Legislature by a 49-4 vote. It now goes to Governor Gavin Newsom for consideration and if the bill goes through, vehicles made between 1981 and 1976 will be exempt from smog-check requirements starting at the beginning of 2028. Pre-1976 vehicles are already exempt in California. But vehicles must meet collector-car requirements and have the proper insurance, which limits how many miles they can drive each year, or be able to prove that the vehicle is driven less than 1,000 miles a year.

LEXUS NX FOLLOWS IN RAV4’S FOOTSTEPS
Lexus made some significant upgrades to the NX crossover, but since it’s based off the Toyota RAV4 a number of the changes may sound familiar. The NX will also go hybrid-only. Depending on the market, there’s a 2.0L front-wheel-drive setup, a 2.5L front-wheel or all-wheel-drive setup and a 2.5L all-wheel-drive plug-in hybrid setup. All models feature a new front e-Axle that incorporates the motor, transaxle and power control unit into a single package. While the PHEV gets a newly developed battery pack that increases body stiffness and improves EV-only range to an EPA-estimated 40+ miles. Engineers also made a number of enhancements to the body, chassis, steering and suspension, while the interior was upgraded with a standard 14-inch display screen. Lexus says the new NX will go on sale around the world at the end of this year.

RAM ADDS COOL-FACTOR TO CHASSIS CAB TRUCKS
Chassis cabs don’t get a lot of attention, but they’re an important workhorse in the commercial fleet business. Just like the name says, a chassis cab is a truck with a cab but nothing else on the back. Then fleets and upfitters convert them to flatbeds, dump trucks, fire trucks, or add cargo boxes. They’re just work trucks. But now Ram is adding some flare to its chassis cabs, with a trim level called the Night Edition. They got rid of all the chrome, blacked out the wheels, blacked out the trim, flared the front fenders, added a hood scoop and more. Prices for the Night Edition package vary, running from about $1,700 to $2,200. But the important lesson here is that even with commercial trucks, there’s an opportunity to up-sell by making trucks look cool.

AUTOLINE VIEWER FIX FOR EXPLODING SUNROOFS
Yesterday we reported on how sunroofs are exploding without warning. We said the problem seems to involve tempered glass and that prompted a viewer, Gary Magarian to give us some of his insight. He’s an architect and never uses tempered glass overhead. Instead, he says “In glass skylights I preferred a laminated unit with heat strengthened glass on the outer pane, a laminate layer and regular glass on the interior pane.” Gary says laminated sunroofs would solve the problem, but they’ll cost more. We love it when Autoline viewers provide their insight, and thanks to all of you who commented on that story as well. We hope to see more of it.

And with that we wrap up today’s report, thanks for watching Autoline Daily.