Happy Friday! It’s May 8, 2026, and this is The Morning Shift — your daily roundup of the top automotive headlines from around the world, in one place. This is where you’ll find the most important stories that are shaping the way Americans drive and get around.
In this morning’s edition, we’re looking at Toyota’s costs from the war on Iran, as well as U.S. car sales. We’ll also look at GM’s pickup plans, and Mercedes’ latest recall.
1st Gear: Toyota expects to lose $4.3 billion in profit due to the war on Iran
The U.S.’s largely unprompted war on Iran has made life worse for basically everyone, and now that list includes Toyota. The automaker was looking over its corporate numbers recently, and found that our war on Iran will cost it about $4.3 billion. From Reuters:
Japan’s Toyota expects the effects of the Iran war to cost it about $4.3 billion this financial year, in one of the most significant warnings yet by a global company on the wider impact of the conflict.
The world’s largest automaker reported an almost 50% drop in quarterly earnings on Friday and said full-year profit is expected to fall by a fifth in the year just started, as rising costs from the war outweigh surging demand for hybrid vehicles.
The bulk of the 670 billion yen ($4.3 billion) hit will come from higher material costs, with the remainder from delivery delays and lower sales volumes, Toyota’s accounting group officer Takanori Azuma told a briefing.
Corporate accounting is so interesting, because this $4.3 billion is a mix of increased costs and lost profit. To a company, “potential money you might have earned that you did not in fact earn” is a loss that goes on the balance sheet. Welcome to the world of business.
2nd Gear: U.S. car sales may be down, but buyers still want hybrids
Yesterday, we talked about how car sales in the U.S. have cratered as a result of prices skyrocketing and everyone being broke. As it turns out, there’s an exception to the rule: Hybrids, which folks are still buying en masse to try and dodge rising fuel costs. From Reuters:
Many American car buyers are gravitating to hybrid vehicles to offset the recent surge in gas prices from the Iran war, according to fresh industry sales data and dealers.
U.S. hybrid sales rose 37% in the two months since the Middle East conflict began at the end of February, according to data from research firm Motor Intelligence. That outpaced the sales growth of the overall car market, which was up 15% in that period.
But fully electric cars have not attracted the same level of consumer interest, even as U.S. gasoline prices topped $4, hitting a four-year high in late April, according to data from the American Automobile Association.
EV sales are still down since the end of the tax credit, but buyers are entirely unsurprisingly turning to alternatives to cut their fuel expenses. Maybe one day, Trump will be remembered as the president who electrified the U.S.’s private vehicle fleet.
3rd Gear: GM wants to capitalize on Ford’s pickup shortage
Remember how Ford is having a tough time getting dealers enough F-150s after that fire at a supplier? The folks at General Motors certainly remember, and they’re hoping to capitalize on it by flooding their own dealers with pickups. From Automotive News:
General Motors wants to boost inventory of its money-making pickups on U.S. dealer lots after falling short of demand to start the year and as a production snag at rival Ford Motor Co. presents an opportunity to gain market share.
“It’s prudent to be increasing right now just because their inventory is low relative to demand,” said David Whiston, an auto analyst with Morningstar. “But if you’re GM, you want to take advantage of Ford’s weakness.”
GM ended the first quarter with 9 percent fewer pickups on U.S. dealer lots than it did a year earlier, CFO Paul Jacobson said on an April 28 call with analysts. That’s a notable decrease considering the pre-tariff sales rush GM and other automakers saw in the first quarter of 2025.
There’s only one problem with this plan: The Silverado and Sierra simply don’t look as good as the F-150. The Sierra is better than the Silverado, for sure, but the F-150 is far and away the best-looking of the bunch.
4th Gear: Mercedes-Benz is recalling 144,000 cars for infotainment screen issues
Usually this spot of TMS is reserved for Ford recalls, but today we’ve got something new: A Mercedes-Benz recall. Specifically, 144,000 cars, all headed back to dealers for infotainment issues. From Reuters:
Mercedes-Benz (MBGn.DE), opens new tab is recalling 144,049 vehicles in the U.S. over instrument panel display issues, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said on Friday.
The recall includes certain 2024-2026 AMG GT, C-Class, E-Class, SL, CLE, and GLC vehicles.
The infotainment control unit, which is responsible for navigation and multimedia features, may reset while the vehicle is in motion and cause the instrument panel display to go blank, the regulator said.
It really feels like modern cars have more recalls than older models, but the recalls are for smaller and weirder things. Is that better? Worse? Debate in the comments.
Reverse: My favorite unreleased Rage Against The Machine record
This is somewhere on the list of albums that RATM would’ve eventually released if the whole band could just get along for ten minutes.
The Fuel Up
Prices are lower than yesterday! Everyone buy as much fuel as you can right now! Panic!
On The Radio: The Pillows – ‘LITTLE BUSTERS’
Apparently I’ve never used The Pillows as an On The Radio gear? I should fix that. I should rewatch ‘FLCL’ too.
