Carmaker Lobby Swipes Against States Fighting for Fuel Efficiency: TDS

Hello and welcome to The Downshift, a daily sweep of the morning’s top headlines from the auto industry and car culture, curated by The Drive’s editorial team. Each story gets a short summary and a link to the original source if you want to dive deeper.

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The Alliance for Automotive Innovation, a lobbyist coalition of automakers and partners that includes General Motors, Toyota, Volkswagen and others, which generally fights for things to be cheaper and easier for its member corporations, unsurprisingly backed the federal government’s efforts to steeply roll back emissions standards in the face of legal challenges from 21 states on Monday. The group argued that “Automakers require certainty and stability in the standards” and that, if states ignore the Trump administration’s rules in favor of their own, it “would affect automakers’ ​business, endangering the capital investment planning, product development, and performance validation for hundreds of ​new vehicle models intended for the US market.” [Reuters]

Honda has officially kicked off its Heritage Parts program in North America with more than 3,000 reproduction parts available for the entire run of the original Acura NSX, from 1991 through 2005. [Honda]

Stellantis has confirmed that Dodge will return to the NASCAR Cup Series next year, competing in the championship for the first time since 2012. The brand will partner with Kaulig Racing to lead its factory effort, and will announce its driver lineup this weekend at Homestead. [Stellantis]

⛐ In what is proving to be a big Tuesday for racing news, Toyota has announced it will take the WRC paddock next year with two cars: the GR Yaris you know, and the GR Celica you don’t. This is technically Toyota’s first official acknowledgement that the Celica is happening. Our question now is whether that mid-engine prototype we’ve seen lapping Fuji is also the Celica. And, if the Celica is mid-engined now, what does that mean for the MR2? Will there even be a new MR2? The anticipation is killing us. [Toyota]

Here’s a weird one: Stellantis has confirmed it will begin selling the Ram 1500 in Japan. The entrance will begin with 100 Limited-trim trucks, before assessing demand and response. [CarWatch]

Honda Racing, like Porsche, is attending working group meetings to determine the future of the WEC and IMSA’s top prototype class. Honda (as Acura) left IMSA at the conclusion of this season and still hasn’t achieved its goal to take the grid at Le Mans; Porsche left the WEC after 2025 and is rumored to be out of IMSA after 2027. So, how all of this goes will ultimately determine if either company commits to endurance racing once the new regulations are passed. [Motorsport]

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