Welcome in, today is Monday, September seventh, and we begin with Automotive News, which reports federal regulators have opened a probe into Tesla's Cybercab. Automotive News reports the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened the investigation on September fourth, one day after Tesla put the Cybercab on Austin streets without a steering wheel, foot pedals or mirrors. Following our earlier report on that rollout, the same account has the gold, two-seat cab introduced at an Austin event on September third, with rides offered to invited guests. What gets tested now is the regulatory path any manufacturer would have to clear to sell a vehicle with no human controls. Industry reaction leans toward treating the self-certification route, rather than the missing controls, as the weak point, with some contrasting it against rivals that sought a formal exemption first. A recurring thread, including among those positive on the vehicle, is that acceptance may hinge on perceived controllability, with repeated calls for a manual stop or door release. Also today, Volkswagen. WardsAuto reports the company is advancing a restructuring plan that could cut fifty thousand jobs, and halve its model portfolio by twenty thirty-five, with North America shifting toward higher-margin vehicles. Automotive News reports the board approved Chief Executive Oliver Blume's overhaul unanimously, after brokered talks softened plant closures and dropped a spinoff of the VW brand. Sizing a cost base at that scale sets a reference point for the wider European auto industry. Industry reaction leans toward reading the cuts as a symptom rather than a strategy, with a recurring view that the pressure is structural, from low-cost Chinese competition, eroding China volume, and energy and tariff costs, and that headcount alone does not close that gap. Some single out the halving of the model line as the more telling move. Separately, Jaguar Land Rover. Automotive News, citing The Times of London, reports the automaker plans to cut four thousand jobs over the next two years, about twelve percent of its U.K. workforce, as it confronts rising costs, falling sales and the effects of U.S. tariffs. We have not seen that account matched elsewhere. Per the same reporting, the cuts come as the company rolls out the Range Rover Electric. For anyone weighing the same tariff exposure, it puts a number on how that pressure converts into British manufacturing headcount. Industry reaction leans toward reading the cuts as the delayed cost of last year's cyberattack rather than tariffs alone, with some noting the savings target roughly matches the estimated impact of that breach. A recurring concern is second-order damage, to U.K. supplier networks in particular, alongside a separate strand questioning the thinness of the electric lineup against Chinese competition. Also today, rival automakers are lobbying Congress as a single bloc. The Idaho Statesman reports the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, whose members include General Motors, Ford, Toyota, Volkswagen, Hyundai, Honda and Stellantis, wrote to House Speaker Mike Johnson, Senate Majority Leader John Thune and both minority leaders on Thursday, urging a permanent ban on Chinese connected vehicles, software and hardware before the session adjourns in January. Per that reporting, Chinese vehicles are already effectively locked out by steep tariffs and the Commerce Department's Connected Vehicles Rule, which bars Chinese software from the twenty twenty-seven model year and hardware by twenty thirty. What the group is asking for is statute a future administration could not unwind. The same account notes the Senate Commerce Committee approved a toughening bill in July that has cleared neither chamber, and that enforcement already cuts both ways. Polestar was denied authorization for its newest electric models, while Volvo, under the same Geely ownership, secured approval. Now, a few more headlines moving the trade today. WardsAuto reports Hyundai will begin delivering robotaxis to Waymo in the fourth quarter, integrating Waymo's autonomous driving stack into the Ioniq five. Automotive News reports Germany's ruling Social Democrats are backing EU tariffs on Chinese hybrids, a shift in Berlin's stance aimed at closing a loophole in the existing electric-vehicle duties. Following the collapse of the Canada-U.S. trade talks we reported, that outlet reports Prime Minister Mark Carney says Washington wants Canadian industries, autos among them, in his words wiped out or made subsidiaries. And finally, The Wall Street Journal reports Hyundai, Ford and Stellantis plan larger electric vehicles fitted with gasoline generators to extend range.