Ford's $4,195 Carhartt F-150, Germany's First Driverless Truck, and What Else MovedThe Auto WireShawn HenryWed, September 16, 2026 at 1:20 PM UTCAdd us on GoogleNot every headline gets its own story, but it still shapes the industry. Over the past 24 hours, Ford dressed up its best-selling truck in workwear branding, an autonomous trucking startup put a driverless rig on German public roads for the first time, and Waymo laid out plans for its first robotaxi market in Asia.Here's an automotive news roundup of what else moved in the industry, with links to the bigger stories we've already covered.Ford Dresses Up the F-150 in Carhartt for $4,195The workwear-branded package adds rugged styling and interior upgrades to Ford's bestseller, and pushes a loaded XLT past $62,000.AdvertisementAdvertisementFord opened order banks September 15 for a new Carhartt package on the 2027 F-150, priced at $4,195 on top of an XLT SuperCrew 4x4 starting around $62,660 before destination charges. The package pairs 20-inch wheels, fender vents, and lower-rocker and tailgate graphics with Lobo-inspired headlights, a Tremor-style hood, running boards, and dual exhaust. Inside, Carhartt-branded seat covers, door trim with contrast stitching, all-weather floor mats, and a spray-in bed liner round out the package. Deliveries are expected in early 2027.It's the second Carhartt tie-in Ford has rolled out this year, following a Super Duty version announced in the spring, and it lands a week after Ford recalled more than 223,000 F-150s over fuel tank straps that can detach.Photo: Kevauto (CC BY-SA 4.0) via Wikimedia Commons.Germany's First Driverless Truck Hits Public RoadsEinride and Lidl are running a cab-less, Level 4 autonomous truck on a daily route, with no driver and no remote safety operator involved.Swedish autonomous trucking company Einride and grocery chain Lidl announced September 15 that they've begun daily operations of a cab-less, SAE Level 4 autonomous truck on public roads in Germany, running a route between a Lidl distribution center and a retail store in Edermunde. The zero-emission truck operates under a permit from Germany's Federal Motor Transport Authority, known as the KBA, the first of its kind issued in the country, with no driver or remote safety operator aboard during runs.AdvertisementAdvertisement"Germany's approval process is among the toughest in the world, and obtaining clearance there gives us a foundation to scale with confidence," Einride CEO Roozbeh Charli said in a statement. The companies say they're already discussing an expansion to a multi-stop route and additional deployments across parent company Schwarz Group.The milestone comes as carriers on both sides of the Atlantic lean on automation to offset driver shortages, a theme we touched on in our look at diesel prices and truck recalls earlier this week.A semi-trailer truck on a German road. Photo: High Contrast (CC BY 3.0 DE) via Wikimedia Commons.Waymo Sets Its Sights on Tokyo for 2027The robotaxi operator's first Asian market will lean on local partners for dispatch and legal liability, plus about 100 Jaguar I-Pace vehicles.Waymo said this week it's targeting a 2027 launch of driverless robotaxi service in Tokyo, its first commercial market outside the U.S., pending approval from Japanese national and local regulators. The company plans to run roughly 100 Jaguar I-Pace vehicles in partnership with Go, which will handle the dispatch app and taxi-industry coordination, and Nihon Kotsu, a licensed Tokyo taxi operator that will manage depot operations and take on legal responsibility for the vehicles during driverless operation.AdvertisementAdvertisementRides will be bookable through both the Go and Waymo apps, the first time Waymo has agreed to distribute rides through a partner's app outside the U.S. The company has been mapping and running supervised testing in Tokyo since arriving in December 2024, and has covered narrow neighborhood roads and dense pedestrian areas across seven central wards.The Tokyo push comes about a week after regulators opened a federal audit into Waymo's Cybercab program as the company crossed 14 U.S. cities.Photo: Ominae (CC BY-SA 4.0) via Wikimedia Commons.Quick Hits: The Rest of the Automotive News RoundupInsurance: Insurify now projects average full-coverage car insurance will rise to $2,158 by the end of 2026, up about 1% from 2025's $2,144 average, itself a 6% drop from 2024. New Jersey, Washington, D.C., and Michigan are seeing the steepest increases, while Wyoming remains the cheapest state to insure a car.Sales: Cox Automotive says August new-vehicle sales hit a 16.8 million seasonally adjusted annual rate, the strongest pace of 2026 and the sixth straight month above 16 million, the longest streak since March 2020.Charging: Pilot's EV charging network, built with GM Energy and EVgo, has grown to more than 300 locations and roughly 1,300 stalls, up 50% in less than a year.Rivian: Rivian plans to add a second production shift for its R2 SUV at its Normal, Illinois plant by the end of September, part of a push toward as much as 155,000 units a year from that model alone.That's this automotive news roundup as of Wednesday morning. We'll keep tracking the bigger stories, including Ford's fuel tank recall and Waymo's federal Cybercab audit, as they develop.AdvertisementAdvertisementWhich of these moves the needle for you most: a workwear pickup, a truck with no cab at all, or a robotaxi coming to Tokyo? Let us know in the comments.Join our Newsletter, follow our Instagram page, and connect with us on Facebook.