Finland Allows Tesla FSD, So Long As It's Not Called That

Happy Wednesday! It's November 11, 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 Finland approving FSD by any other name, and Volkswagen's successes in China. We'll also look at VW's future plans in the country, and Nissan's profit targets. 

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Tesla desperately wants its FSD software approved in Europe, but so far it's only been adopted piecemeal. The latest adopter? Finland, which approved the tech with some slight modifications — but said that it may not vote the same way in an EU-wide decision. From Reuters: 

STOCKHOLM, Nov 11 (Reuters) – Finland ‌granted provisional approval on Wednesday for Tesla's Assisted Driving system (TAD) after the US automaker made changes to the technology, allowing its use on Finnish roads ahead of an EU-wide ​vote.

Nearly a dozen countries, including Slovakia and Belgium, have granted provisional approvals for ​the technology, which allows vehicles to steer, accelerate and brake automatically ⁠under driver supervision.

However, Tesla has yet to secure backing from any of ​the EU's largest member states, whose support is likely to be crucial to ​winning approval across the bloc.

Finland's transport authority, Traficom, said it ​approved the system after Tesla renamed it from "Full Self-Driving" and tightened speed-control settings ​that critics said encouraged speeding.

FSD is, really, Tesla's flagship at the moment. The Roadster isn't real, the Model S, Model X, and Cybertruck are all dead, the Semi only sort of exists for fleet sales, and the Optimus robot will likely never be a household product. Tesla's big thing is its software, and it can't sell that software in a major economic bloc. Not a great look for a company that pretends not to be a car company — though at this point, with only two real offerings, maybe it's no longer pretending. 

China has been a rough market for most automakers recently, with the country's consumers spending less and preferring to dedicate the cash they do spend on domestic brands. Volkswagen, though, is doing just fine. In fact, it just set a sales record in the country. From Automotive News: 

Volkswagen Group said its namesake brand's sales of electric vehicles and hybrids in China climbed to a record last month and forecast that growth will continue this year as its turnaround efforts in the world's largest auto market start bearing fruit.

October deliveries of VW EVs and plug-in hybrids surged nearly 350 percent from a year ago to more than 28,000 vehicles, the group said Nov. 11. New models including the ID Aura T6 SUV and the ID Era 5S sedan drove the increase.

The company said it expects to sustain growth in the coming months, with a goal of ranking among the 10 best-selling New Energy Vehicle brands in the country next year.

Of course, those sales goals could be stymied by our next gear. 

Despite recent sales success, Volkswagen doesn't seem to have much invested in the future of its Chinese wing. In fact, the brand isn't even working on new models for the Chinese market — at least, not new models due out before 2029. From Reuters: 

BEIJING, Nov 11 (Reuters) – Volkswagen's electric-vehicle joint venture in China has not planned any new models for 2027 or 2028, two people with knowledge ​of the situation said, after it banked on far greater demand for its ID. UNYX series than what has materialised.

Without new models, money-losing ‌Volkswagen Anhui is stuck with a line-up that has not caught on with the young, urban consumers it targeted when it launched the UNYX marque in July 2024, in a market where automakers introduce models and variants on a monthly basis, with hundreds launched so far this year.

Reuters' characterization of Volkswagen Anhui as having "not caught on" seems a bit much, with the brand setting its own sales records. Even if it's growing, though, it's still small — small enough that VW corporate may not want to risk putting good money after bad. 

Speaking of sales being down in China, Nissan's not doing so hot in the country. Its profit goals are undeterred, though, as the company's CEO expects sales in Japan and the U.S. to skyrocket in place of China. From Automotive News: 

YOKOHAMA, Japan — Nissan CEO Ivan Espinosa is betting on rising sales in the U.S. and Japan to keep earnings on track after the crumbling China market undercut quarterly performance and forced him to downgrade the company's global sales forecast for the second time this year.

Nissan Motor Co. upgraded its sales target for the key markets of Japan and the U.S. for the current fiscal year ending March 31 citing the arrival of new product such as the Rogue crossover.

But the uptick won't be enough to offset the China slump, with Nissan forecasting global sales to fall to between 2.97 million to 3 million vehicles this fiscal year, from 3.15 million last year.

We haven't seen U.S. car sales tank like China yet, but it does feel like it's on the horizon — cars keep getting pricier and buyers keep getting broker. Eventually, something has to give. Hopefully it doesn't kill Nissan on the way. 

What happened to you, journalism industry? You used to be cool. I don't mean the drugs part, I mean the "paying people a livable wage to write stuff like that" part. 

Under $4! This happened yesterday, so Andy got the big celebration, but it's worth mentioning today too. Back to brunch, everyone. 

Break out the Do-Re-Mi, boys!