Welcome in, today is Friday, October sixteenth, and we begin with Automotive News on a Franco-German deal taking shape over Europe's twenty thirty-five emissions target. France and Germany are nearing an agreement that would soften European Union-wide carbon dioxide targets for twenty thirty-five, and open the door for Britain to be treated as a trusted partner under the bloc's Made in Europe local-content rules. That is according to diplomats cited by Automotive News. The same account does not carry an effective date. If it lands, it resets the compliance math behind European product cycles, from powertrain mix to how much of a car has to be built in Europe to count. Industry reaction leans wary. Some in the trade read the move as part of a wider loosening of transport decarbonisation signals, and a recurring concern in the channel is that weakening mandates erode the investment certainty that scaled European low-carbon capacity in the first place. Also today, Automotive News argues automakers and suppliers are stuck in limbo on the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, and will likely wait until after the November third midterms for answers. In that read, American and Mexican negotiators are pursuing a deal while talks with Canada, which collapsed in August, have yet to restart, with further tariffs still weighed in Washington. The planning cost is the substance here: sourcing, tooling and capacity calls stay open until the rules are fixed. Reaction in the supply base leans toward treating unsettled rules of origin as a bigger planning risk than the tariff rate itself. Some practitioners describe holding capacity decisions until a regional-content threshold is set, and a recurring concern is that a shift to annual reviews makes multi-year supply contracts harder to underwrite. Separately, Just Auto reports Beijing plans to cut the export tax rebate on new energy vehicles in twenty twenty-seven, a step that account frames as reining in the overseas price war as trade tensions rise. That summary is all we have, and it carries no rate. Trim the rebate and the landed cost of a Chinese-built EV rises, narrowing the price gap incumbents in Europe and emerging markets are pricing against today. Reaction among export-trade practitioners centers on incidence rather than the headline, on who absorbs it between factory, importer and showroom, with no consensus either way. Some read the timing as signalling, a nudge to compete on product instead of price. Still in China, and following our earlier report on the Chinese brands to watch in Paris, Automotive News now counts a record twenty of them on the floor, and argues Europe is where China's consolidation gets decided. The argument runs that a slowdown and overcrowding at home are forcing that industry to consolidate, and that sales success in Europe could help determine which carmakers survive it. BYD, Chery and SAIC's MG already hold a foothold there, per that reporting. Industry reaction splits show floor from showroom. Some in the trade argue European concept cars won the attention while Chinese brands win the purchase, and several note the show's center of gravity has moved toward the collective Chinese presence. Now, a few more headlines moving the trade today. Stellantis and Dongfeng will build electrified Jeeps in Wuhan for China, Canada, Mexico and other markets, Automotive News reports, but tariffs and connected-vehicle rules keep them out of the United States. Automotive World argues a re-elected Fain leaves the UAW on a collision course with Detroit over labour costs in twenty twenty-eight, with Automotive News reporting fewer than ten percent of eligible members cast ballots. Volvo Cars is widening its Nvidia tie-up for eyes-off driving, per Automotive World, betting its safety record differentiates a system built largely on one supplier's sensors, software and chips. Automakers turned more confident in the third quarter while dealers and suppliers did not, per Automotive News' confidence index, following our earlier report on investment anxiety. That reporting has automakers citing reduced emissions penalties. And finally, Stellantis has started a Leapmotor-based EV platform program, targeting its Pomigliano plant in Italy for city cars in twenty twenty-eight, with one model expected to echo the Citroen two C V, according to Automotive News.