A while back, we said that big screens in cars wasn’t the answer—many more tiny ones are. Clever minds in the aftermarket have started to explore that concept, building digital gauge clusters for vehicles that are much more refined, and more thoughtful, than a tablet stuck in a binnacle. One such inventor is Jean, owner of Usual Suspects garage in Naples, Florida that specializes in BMWs and Porsches. He started developing his own plug-and-play hardware and software for digital clusters in the E28 BMW 5 Series and E30 3 Series because he wanted it to exist, only to discover that plenty of other owners did, too.

We first came across Jean’s project on his garage’s Instagram page, where he’s regularly uploading behind-the-scenes footage of his work. Jean doesn’t expect to have a final, shippable product ready until next year, but his first inkling to embark on this labor of love dates back to the start of the decade. After some false starts with suppliers, and initially struggling to find the proper displays to suit his vision, he returned to it three years ago and took on everything himself, including the programming—all the while running his existing business.

“I didn’t know how to code beforehand,” Jean told me over the phone. “I started with one screen on a piece of cardboard, but I had the layout for the E30s. I bought another one, and then I realized it’s not going to fit in the E30 housing, so I moved it over to the E28, which is what I really started with in the beginning of everything.

View this post on Instagram

“Then I started thinking, ‘All right, how can I make this unique?’ I added my little shift light, trip reset button, and I kind of started having fun with the code on my spare time.” Jean said he “just kind of let [his] brain go crazy” with the possibilities, and was also able to return to developing an E30 version, once he found touchscreens that fit.

Perhaps not surprisingly, sourcing displays was one of the biggest hurdles Jean told me he had to overcome in this journey, one that repeatedly derailed it in the early days. Circular screens weren’t as readily available back in 2020 as they are now, especially in the sizes he needed. And even once they became more common, fitting everything required to drive them was another bugbear.

But finding displays that fit just right and can be packed behind a standard BMW instrument cluster of the era without too many extra parts is really important to Jean’s vision for the project, which is that everything has got to be not only plug-and-play, but also easy to install and remove, if a customer wants to move their digital cluster into a different car down the line.

“I’m trying to take account for every single variable that I can come up with in terms of the differences in years, the differences in wiring, and like what’s needed and what’s not needed,” Jean said, adding that his main focus at the moment is UI refinement.

“I don’t want it to be laggy because then it reminds you that it’s digital,” Jean said. “I was looking at a video of, I think it’s MoTeC unit, in a Gunther Werks Porsche. I noticed the needle was kind of laggy, and I was surprised that, you know, that’s what you accept at that price level for certain things, but obviously you don’t buy the car for that. When you have a car that extreme, you don’t buy the car for the cluster, but people are going to buy my cluster for the cluster, right? So I can’t have that.”

Jean is targeting a price of $1,300 for a whole unit. It’ll include a control knob, “because no one’s really gonna want to reach behind a steering wheel and mess with a touchscreen,” as he says, as well as wireless connectivity to enable over-the-air updates, likely from a paired smartphone with a companion app. He’s open to phone projection as well, via Apple’s new CarPlay Ultra system that is made for circular screens, though it’s not currently in the project’s scope.

A Pro version with built-in navigation is under consideration, though. That’s where a digital replacement cluster could really shine—not just in recreating the look of the original gauges, but in letting drivers quickly scroll through all kinds of information without leaving the original aesthetic completely behind.

View this post on Instagram

It’s a lot of ground to cover, especially since it’s simply Jean working on this with his cousin, all completely self-funded for now. He’s considered crowdfunding, but would go down that route only after he’s proven himself with the initial launch. “Realistically, I don’t want to lose anyone’s trust,” he said.

There are plenty of people tuned into what he’s doing, though, as over 1,000 people have registered their interest in the BMW clusters. Some work has already been done for a Porsche version, and, down the line, he’s eyeing Mercedes, too. “For reference, my Facebook page was sitting at 1,000 followers, and within like two weeks, it was at 40,000,” he told me, off the back of a few snippets of the project that went viral in enthusiast communities. When Jean started all this, he was building the product he wished somebody else had. Now, he’s leading the way.

Got a tip about a cool aftermarket project you want us to cover? Reach out to tips@thedrive.com

The post This Independent BMW Mechanic Built a Cooler Digital Dash Than BMW Itself appeared first on The Drive.

Hello and welcome to The Downshift, or TDS for short, The Drive’s morning news roundup bringing you the biggest automotive headlines from around the world.

The Downshift recaps news briefly, with links to full stories for those seeking more info. Here’s your bulletin for Friday, September 4, 2026. Happy Labor Day and enjoy the long weekend!

Volkswagen’s board of supervisors finally approved a plan to restructure the company, to the tune of 50,000 more job cuts. That brings the planned total reduction in headcount to 100,000, of a global workforce of more than 650,000 people. Additionally, rather than close four of its plants, in Emden, Hanover, Neckarsulm, and Zwickau, VW will “seek alternatives” for their continued operation, which could mean sales to other automakers. [Reuters]

Please excuse the self-promo, but we’ve collaborated with our friends at Blipshift to bring back another five of our favorite t-shirt designs. They’re on sale starting today, and will remain up for grabs until Thursday, Sept. 17. Get ’em while you can!

According to a leaked document related to VW’s restructuring plan, the company may retire Seat as a brand in the coming years, while allowing Cupra—the much newer performance-minded spinoff of the Spanish automaker—to live on. [Autoblog]

BMW has recalled 190,000 older sedans in Germany, spanning 2014 through 2020 model-year 3, 5, and 7 Series vehicles, for starter relays that are not sufficiently protected against moisture, which could lead to corrosion, a short and, naturally, a fire. It’s worth stipulating that this recall has not been picked up by NHTSA here in the States yet, so until then, anyone who believes their vehicle might be impacted should check with their local dealer. [BMW Blog]

The Alliance for ‌Automotive Innovation, a lobbyist coalition of automakers that includes Ford, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Stellantis, Toyota, and Volkswagen, sent a letter to Congress urging lawmakers to “enact a Chinese vehicle, software, and hardware ban” that would prohibit manufacturers like BYD, Chery, and SAIC from acquiring authorizations for U.S. sale—while notably leaving non-Chinese companies that have exported cars from China, like Ford and GM, to continue doing that if they so choose. [Reuters]

The reborn, Chevy small-block-powered Jensen Interceptor has been fully revealed, with a face that’s a little more reminiscent of a recent Camaro than anything else. [CarBuzz]

Weekend races to watch (all times Eastern):

• NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series at Darlington: Saturday at 7:30 p.m. on CW/ESPN
• Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix: Sunday at 8 a.m. on Apple TV
• World Endurance Championship 6 Hours of COTA: Sunday at 2 p.m. on truTV/Max
• IndyCar at Laguna Seca: Sunday at 3 p.m. on Fox
• NASCAR Cup Series at Darlington: Sunday at 5 p.m. on USA
• NHRA Drag Racing US Nationals Finals: Monday at 12 p.m. on FS1

Got a tip or feedback for TDS? Reach out to tips@thedrive.com

The post VW Cuts Another 50,000 Jobs and Possibly a Brand: TDS appeared first on The Drive.

We weren’t joking. The Drive’s collab with Blipshift, purveyors of our favorite enthusiast-themed merch for many years, is back with a new drop of five hall-of-fame shirts. It’s live right now, patiently (adverb!) waiting for you to check it out. Hope you dig it.

If you know Blipshift, you know the site has had a fantastic catalog of apparel over the years, but the options change every few days. Plus, once a design goes out of print, it doesn’t come back—usually. Because, as part of our partnership, we’re reviving some of our favorites of the past.

In classic Blipshift style, each one will be available in whatever medium you like. It’s going to start getting chillier out there before you know it, so if a t-shirt isn’t in season, how about a long-sleeve or hoodie? Maybe a onesie for the budding enthusiast in your life? Heck, if you’re sufficiently clothed, you can always pick one up as a poster.

For this drop, you have two weeks—from Friday, Sept. 4, until Thursday, Sept. 17—to grab these five designs: Crazy Taxi, Daytonaaa, That’s No Pipe, We Have Luft, and Zipdependence Day. Plus, The Drive retro logo design remains on sale, harkening back to our OG look in those salad days of 2012. (That was longer ago than you think; there were only four Grand Theft Autos back then.) You can always find that one, as well as whatever we’re currently slinging, on our Blipshift store page.

Crazy Taxi

Daytonaaa

That’s No Pipe

We Have Luft

Zipdependence Day

The Drive Retro Logo

After this drop is through, on Thursday 9/17, the next one will start two weeks after that, on Friday 10/2. That’s how it’ll work for the rest of the year: two weeks on, two weeks off, etc. You never know what’s going to make the cut, so keep your eyes peeled. Here are the dates for the next three drops—before you know it, we’ll be Christmas shopping:

• 10/2-10/15
• 10/30-11/12
• 11/27-12/10

One more thing: these are all made on demand, so production doesn’t begin until after each sale ends, so Blipshift knows how many to make. That means it’ll take a couple of weeks after you place your order before the package lands on your doorstep. But good things take time, y’know?

If you ruined your favorite shirt long ago (as I did with that Daytona tee) and want to score a new one, send your requests for revivals to feedback@thedrive.com. It just might show up in the next drop. Or let us know if you’ve got any great ideas for entirely new designs. We take requests!

The post Lolly, Lolly, Lolly, Get Your Cool Shirts Here appeared first on The Drive.

Gran Turismo 7 will be getting another significant update before the year is out, series producer Kazunori Yamauchi announced during this morning’s PlayStation State of Play event. It’ll be issued in two parts—one in October, and then another in December—adding a total of 12 cars and two tracks to the game, as well as a host of features fans have been requesting for some time.

We’ll start with the tracks, because they’re both significant, for different reasons. Sportsland Sugo, a mainstay on the Super GT calendar located in Japan’s Tōhoku region, we’ll be making its GT debut first in October. It hasn’t appeared in a great many video games over the years, but it was featured in the Project Cars series, and real ones may remember it from Sega’s Ferrari F355 Challenge way back in the day.

Sugo is a fantastic circuit—not too long, tons of elevation change, plenty of very satisfying mid-speed corners, and some beautiful views. Personally, it’s one I’ve wanted to see in GT7 for a long time, and I’m excited it’s finally happening.

That said, longtime Gran Turismo fans will definitely be more excited for the other new track, which is actually an old one. Autumn Ring will return in December for the first time since GT6, and interestingly, it’ll be offered with two layouts. Kaz said that players “can race Autumn Ring with its original layout and scenery faithfully recreated,” but there will also be an “expanded” version, a “much larger racing circuit that offers a variety of new ways to drive.”

It’s unclear if this new take on Autumn Ring, one of the series’ oldest original tracks alongside High-Speed Ring, Trial Mountain, Grand Valley Speedway, and Deep Forest, is actually connected to the original circuit or separated from it entirely, like the two variations of Dragon Trail Speedway. It’s also uncertain if Autumn Ring Mini, the very short version of the track well-suited for low-power cars, will be included too.

The few still images Polyphony Digital has provided don’t provide us with an angle to see if the Mini layout is still feasible with the new track model. However, both screenshots are centered around Mini’s start/finish line, which is in a different spot from the full track’s main straight, so that could give us a clue.

Beyond tracks, there are a lot of other additions to name, so here they are courtesy of the official website:

October

・ Six new cars.
・ A new Spec IV opening cinematic.
・ Vintage, a section featuring cars no longer available to purchase new.
・ Car Concierge, a service for ordering Used and Legend cars.
・ Experience, a mode featuring brand-specific driving challenges.
・ Car Viewer, a feature that lets you admire the cars in your garage.
・ An increased Collector Level cap.

December

・ Six new cars.
・ Family, a new mode for players of all ages.
・ Shuffle Race, a luck-based race featuring randomly selected cars.
・ Online Drift Trial, a new mode where players can test their drifting skills against others worldwide.
・ The next evolution of Gran Turismo Sophy.
・ A new Power Pack difficulty level for advanced players.

Highlights include the Car Concierge, which will allow you to directly purchase a vehicle not currently offered for sale in the used or legend dealerships. It does appear there will be a delay as you wait for these to become available, and you’ll be able to view them as you can new cars, from a new “Vintage” section within each manufacturer’s menu. And GT5 fans will surely be excited for the return of Shuffle Races in December, a multiplayer mode that sets a performance cap and then gives every player a random car within it, for unpredictable battles.

We don’t know each of the 12 new vehicles coming, but Polyphony has provided images of a few. They’ll include the E60 BMW M5, Citroen 2CV6, a revised version of the Mazda RX-Vision GT3, and the Mugen Motul Civic Si Group A race car that competed in Japanese touring cars in the late ’80s.

It seems we may not learn more about Spec IV until the Gran Turismo World Series esports competition hits Singapore exactly a month from today, so we’ll have to be patient.

Got a news tip? Reach out to tips@thedrive.com

The post Gran Turismo 7’s Huge Spec IV Update Shows It’s Listening To Players appeared first on The Drive.

Hello and welcome to The Downshift, or TDS for short, The Drive’s morning news roundup bringing you the biggest automotive headlines from around the world.

The Downshift recaps news briefly, with links to full stories for those seeking more info. Here’s your bulletin for Thursday, September 3, 2026.

The latest episode of The Drivecast, The Drive’s weekly podcast, went live yesterday on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you get your podcasts.

Ford has set a target of selling 100,000 examples of its new Fathom electric truck in the model’s first year on the market, according to a new report. That may be a tall order, as the automaker never managed to move more than 33,000 F-150 Lightning pickups in a single year, and needed five years to manage 105,000 vehicles sold. On one hand, the Fathom will start at $30,000, a price much lower than the Lightning was ever offered for. On the other, the Lightning did benefit from a federal EV tax rebate that is long gone for buyers. [Wall Street Journal]

⛐ Spanish rally co-driver Luis Moya, known for his successful career with Carlos Sainz, has poured fuel on the fire that is Toyota’s Celica revival. “Next year will be a bit of a dull year,” Moya said of the 2027 WRC season, “but we already know that the Toyota team is going to have a Celica,” later adding, “they are going to have a Celica as their Rally1 car, and they will have a Rally2 car as well.” [Rally Journal via Autoblog]

Scout has announced two new concepts based on the Traveler that demonstrate the range of performance options and trim customization owners may have at their disposal when the electric SUV goes on sale in 2028. [Scout Motors]

Tesla has issued strangely specific recall of 19 Model Y SUVs that have front suspension fasteners not torqued to specification. [NHTSA]

Volvo recently ranked 24 of 32 brands in a dealership satisfaction survey, 14 spots lower than it placed five years ago. Franchises are facing inventory issues and sales programs that are changing too quickly, and the automaker’s software quality problems haven’t helped things, either. [Automotive News]

Uber will lay off 3,300 employees, or 10% of its staff, as part of its largest cuts since the COVID-19 pandemic. [Reuters]

Tesla is holding a Cybercab launch event in Austin on Thursday at 5:45 p.m. ET, where we may learn more about the curious two-seat robotaxi. [Reuters]

Got a tip or feedback for TDS? Reach out to tips@thedrive.com

The post Ford Wants 100,000 Fathom Sales in First Year. It Took F-150 Lightning Five Years: TDS appeared first on The Drive.

Look back about 12 months, and Subaru WRX sales were not in an enviable spot. 2025 marked the model’s worst-performing trip around the sun ever, though it wasn’t necessarily a byproduct of lagging demand. The WRX suffered as a casualty of Subaru’s manufacturing musical chairs over the last few years, when the new Forester supplanted it in production-line priority. While unfortunate, the move made sense from a business perspective, given that the SUV is a major sales driver for the small automaker.

But that’s in the past now, and since inventory for the sport sedan has recovered, and its base model is back on the menu, the WRX has enjoyed a much more comfortable end to the summer. 191% more comfortable, to be precise.

The WRX closed out August with almost three times the sales it pulled over the same month in 2025—1,778 cars, versus 611. Pack that into the year to date, and the WRX is selling 37.7% better than it was entering September 2025, having already reached 10,324 units sold. That’s just around 600 cars shy of 2025’s total, so the rally-bred sedan is all but certain to outperform last year’s historic low.

Of course, we’re happy to see it. It would seem that Subaru pulled the base WRX because it knew it had to make every sale count, so to speak, over a lengthy period when inventory would be constrained. The base version returned in January at $32,495, about $5,000 cheaper than the six-speed Premium, which was the lowest rung on the WRX ladder last year.

Today, the base WRX has more equipment than ever, though Subaru’s lack of meaningful performance updates beyond better brakes and suspension for higher-end packages like the TR and tS have left the current car feeling a bit long in the tooth. Meanwhile, a limited-slip differential still isn’t an option at any level, and every WRX still rolls off the line with the same 271-horsepower, 2.4-liter turbocharged boxer-four. We want to believe that the special models STI teased in Japan earlier this year will finally surprise us, but we’ve been burned so many times before.

Got a tip? Reach out to tips@thedrive.com

The post The Subaru WRX Is Back With a Vengeance appeared first on The Drive.

Modern car manufacturing is really something. Take the Chevrolet Equinox EV, a rather boring but totally competent electric commuter. Thanks to the modular nature of electric powertrains, General Motors can pop the lid off that SUV, pack in more powerful motors along with some other go-fast nuts and bolts, snap on a more stylish and luxurious body, and create this: The Cadillac Optiq-V. It’s a $70,000 version of a vehicle that Chevy sells for half that.

So, we started with one of the most affordable and popular EVs in America, and we ended up in the territory of a bona fide high-performance electric SUV. The Optiq-V makes 519 horsepower and 650 lb-ft of torque. It has massive six-piston Brembo brakes up front, stiffer anti-roll bars, and adaptive dampers; it also completes the 0-60 dash in 3.5 seconds.

The problem is, I didn’t really enjoy driving it. And that sucks all the wind from the sails of a vehicle like this, wearing the badge that it does, which is typically an initial for fun.

The Basics

An ordinary Cadillac Optiq starts at $52,695 and is powered by a 315-hp motor on the rear axle. For about another $16,000, you can get into the Optiq-V, which considerably boosts not only the power and poise in the corners but also style and luxury.

I think this is a handsome SUV with a nice profile, even if it’s not as dramatic as the Lyriq’s. The Nimbus Metallic paint on my tester here is a bit lighter than I’d probably go for, but it’s unique and still plays off the deeper hues of the interior trim and the graphic pattern along the C-pillar. I’m pleased to report that the panel is not opaque when viewed from inside the car and functions as a typical tiny quarter window.

This particular example came in at $79,270, which is indeed a lot of money. Part of that is because of the paint, which is a $725 option. The $2,555 Charging and Convenience package upgrades the onboard AC charger to 19.2 kW, from the regular 11.5 kW. This has an adverse effect on range, unfortunately, reducing it to all but 250 miles with this configuration, down from the regular 278 miles. More on that later.

Rather, the bulk of extra dollars and cents comes courtesy of the $5,500 (!) carbon fiber exterior package, which clads the trim, including that rather prominent rear diffuser, in the stuff. It probably goes without saying, but I don’t think this option adds much of consequence to the vehicle.

Driving the Cadillac Optiq-V

Here’s the thing about the Optiq-V: Cadillac engineers say they seriously touched every part of this car, well beyond its powertrain, and I fully believe them. It is quick in a straight line, of course, but it’s also rigid, rides confidently but never punishingly so, and can hang on with loads of grip in high-speed corners.

But of course, like many electric SUVs, this one is heavy, and I don’t think enough was done to make it feel otherwise. Interestingly, the steering rack was one of the aspects Cadillac tweaked specifically for the Optiq-V, but they didn’t go far enough—the ratio is just too slow. Couple that with the effort required to turn it, and its unnecessarily large size, and you’re left with a vehicle that paradoxically can hold its own in the twisties, but almost discourages you from finding out how well.

Again, it’s not that this thing doesn’t corner flat, because it very much does, but the disconnect between objective agility and perceived agility almost surprises you when you push it. You almost have to remind yourself that it wants to and is engineered to be driven hard, and I assume Blackwing owners don’t encounter that phenomenon.

In less dynamic situations, the Optiq-V felt every bit the luxury EV it’s billed as behind the wheel, with a ride that lets you feel the texture of the road but is never too harsh, superb sound deadening, and seamless blending between regeneration and friction braking. I still turned off regen—it’s become a GM tradition for me, after all, as I can’t stand the strength with which their cars make the world stop turning the moment you lift your foot off the throttle—but the option is there if you want it. And even if I wish the steering was livelier, it is still nevertheless very accurate.

Interior and Tech

In some respects, the Optiq’s cabin represents everything Cadillac is doing well right now. It’s elegantly simple with fantastic materials, from the heather tweed dashboard upholstery to the matte-metallic pop of electric blue that runs from the driver’s-side A-pillar to just beneath the center stack. The fit and finish of the Optiq-V’s interior is unquestionably my favorite thing about it.

It would be nicer if it were just a bit more intuitive to operate. I’ve whined about CarPlay’s omission in enough reviews of GM EVs, so we won’t retread that ground, but even the climate vents are hard to direct with any kind of purpose. You can’t see the vanes on the vents themselves, and they’re really slender, so you kind of just have to yank the knobs around until a thin blade of air eventually brushes against you, which is never as obvious as you’d think. This trim comes with massaging seats, though they offer exactly one pretty underwhelming mode, and the dial they’re linked up to on the front door cards is very confusing to operate.

The steering wheel, in addition to being too large as we discussed, is entirely controlled through capacitive keys, which is frustrating. And while I know GM’s infotainment system has received high marks from some, I always find myself wishing it were more customizable and that it let me modify gauge cluster widgets with fewer taps.

Although the lack of a frunk is frustrating, there’s plenty of space in here, and rear-seat passengers should be quite comfortable. Compared to the Equinox EV, legroom in the back is trimmed ever so slightly due to the fancier, thicker front seats, but the Equinox was already working with a ton of second-row real estate as it is, so this isn’t a problem at all.

Range and Charging

Range is where the argument against the Optiq-V in particular, compared to other trims, gets pretty damning. Technically, this vehicle can deliver up to 278 miles of range, depending on how it’s configured. Mine was limited to 250, which is simply not enough for a considerably sized SUV you’d haul the family in.

That’s Cadillac’s official estimation, and that’s pretty much exactly what I got, never seeing better than 3 miles per kilowatt-hour. At a time when more and more EVs, even fast ones, are landing in the high 3s or even breaking the 4 mi/kWh mark, efficiency needs to improve.

Of course, the ordinary Optiqs don’t have this problem. The rear-wheel-drive model is rated to return a very respectable 317 miles on a full charge, while the dual-motor non-V flavor calls for 303 miles. Making matters worse, the Optiq inherits the Equinox EV’s peculiar charging behavior, which limits you to 150 kW at a Level 3 DC fast charger, compared to the 250 kW or so that the Hyundai Ioniq 5 achieves. For a bargain, entry-level EV, 150 kW is totally acceptable. For an $80,000 one, though, that performance becomes harder to swallow. At least there’s an integrated NACS port, which means you don’t have to think twice about stopping at a Tesla Supercharger.

Verdict

Cadillac’s mission to take a basic electric crossover and transform it into a grand tourer with the Optiq-V is admirable. Yet, while I take no issue with its luxury credentials, it lacks the vigor you’d hope for at its price and concedes far too much range.

This isn’t a question of “Who is this car for?” because the market has long since proven that there’s an audience for premium SUVs with some sporting pretense. The problem is that Cadillac hasn’t nailed the sporty part of the equation, while other automakers—from Hyundai to Porsche—have.

Cadillac provided The Drive with a seven-day loan of this vehicle for the purpose of writing this review.

2026 Cadillac Optiq-V Specs

Quick Take

The Cadillac Optiq-V feels premium but doesn’t drive with the liveliness that the label commands, and is frustratingly inefficient on a full battery compared to other trims.

The post 2026 Cadillac Optiq-V Review: Premium Design, Premium Price, Mediocre Ride appeared first on The Drive.

Welcome to The Downshift, or TDS for short, The Drive’s morning automotive news roundup bringing you the biggest headlines from around the globe.

The Downshift summarizes stories with a sentence or two, along with links for those who wish to dive deeper. Here’s what’s cooking on Wednesday, September 2, 2026.

A new episode of The Drivecast, The Drive’s weekly podcast, will go live later today on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you get your podcasts.

Mitsubishi has finally revealed the long-awaited Pajero for overseas markets. Built on a ladder frame, powered by a 2.4-liter turbodiesel, and offering Super Select 4WD with four modes including the ability to lock the center differential, it appears to be pretty much everything that fans of the company’s classic SUVs have wanted for some time. It looks good, too, with a purposeful exterior design and a cabin that’s both utilitarian and relatively luxurious. The SUV will launch in Thailand first, before hitting Japan and Australia, with the Middle East and Latin America to follow. It’s unclear if the Montero that Mitsubishi ultimately offers in the U.S. will be this vehicle or a different one entirely, with a closer link to one of Nissan’s products already sold here. [Mitsubishi]

Speaking of Nissan, the company has fast-tracked its first homegrown hybrid SUV in some time, the new Rogue, to the U.S. many months earlier than anticipated. Nissan originally planned to offer the next-gen Rogue in the States beginning midway in 2027. Instead, it’ll introduce the SUV in this market by importing limited quantities of high-trim-level vehicles from Japan to start. [Automotive News]

The Range Rover Electric has debuted, and wouldn’t you know, it looks exactly like a gas-powered one. It’ll offer 333 miles of range via a 119-kWh battery that operates on an 800-volt architecture for fast charging, and start at $140,550. That’s around $25,000 more than the cheapest Range Rover with an engine. The switch to battery power has conceded some towing capacity as well, as the EV version maxes out at pulling 5,500 pounds, rather than the roughly 7,700 pounds of the six- or eight-cylinder models. [Land Rover]

Zoox, the robotaxi company backed by Amazon, will expand to San Diego and Houston, while Google-affiliated Waymo will move into Denver, San Diego, and Tampa, both companies announced this week. [Reuters]

Ford has recalled 10,000 vehicles powered by EcoBoost engines—from both Broncos to the Mustang, Explorer, and Ranger—for improperly manufactured piston domes. This can lead to piston failure and thus, no drive power. Dealers will inspect and replace the engine long block, if necessary. [Ford Authority]

In other Ford news, the company took its upcoming Fathom small electric pickup on a little photo shoot around Vegas. [Road & Track]

The Lexus NX SUV has been refreshed for the 2027 model year, and only conventional hybrid and plug-in hybrid versions will be offered. [Lexus]

Got a tip or feedback for TDS? Reach out to tips@thedrive.com

The post Say Hello to the First All-New Mitsubishi Montero in 20 Years: TDS appeared first on The Drive.

If you’re ever peeking around for public chargers when you’re in an unfamiliar area, dealerships tend to come up a lot. And, indeed, many of them are intended to be used by the public, regardless whether the driver has visited the store before. But if you’re not careful, you could endure the misfortune that one Michigan resident did, when he charged his rented Chevrolet Bolt at a Hyundai dealer, only to learn after the fact that he had been billed at a rate of $5 per kilowatt-hour and $5 per minute.

The grand total? $418.

The Bolt has a 65-kWh battery pack, and the customer in this case—Stanley Kpenkann—told news channel WXYZ that the EV was extremely low on juice, estimating he had about 20 minutes of driving range left. He searched the EVgo app and found a Hyundai dealership on Hall Road in Macomb Township, which would seem to be Elder Hyundai, with a ChargePoint charger.

Kpenkann told the news channel he never saw pricing before initiating the session, which lasted 44 minutes, though it was apparently listed on the charger’s display. EVgo and ChargePoint have a “roaming agreement,” whereby EVgo users can also tap into ChargePoint’s network.

Kpenkann reached out to EVgo, as many would after a bill like that, thinking it was a mistake. EVgo informed Kpenkann it wasn’t, and, seemingly after much hemming and hawing, eventually relented and gave him a “goodwill refund” of $405—a frankly insulting label, though he was surely pleased to get that money back in his bank account. The remaining $13.27 represented what Kpenkann should’ve paid based on the EVgo plan he was subscribed to, which just adds insult to injury; this man paid 31 times the normal rate to recharge the Bolt for as long as he did.

You may be wondering why the Hyundai dealer priced this particular charger this way. It is apparently “reserved for its own customers and vehicles,” based on what the dealer told WXYZ, and priced exorbitantly to deter public use. Surely, the dealer could’ve blocked public use some other way if it really wanted to, or at least attached a disclaimer to ensure that anyone about to use the charger knew what they were signing themselves up for. And it goes without saying that this particular terminal probably shouldn’t be listed on EVgo, or indeed any public-charging map, especially as a public charger.

For some perspective, the average per-kilowatt rate for a Level 3 DC fast-charger nationwide is $0.53, per Qmerit. So not only was the electricity 10 times more expensive, but that’s before you factor in the per-minute fee as well. It’s a sobering reminder to any EV owner or renter, next time you’re on the road and displaced from your typical public charger, to take note that not all public stations are priced with you in mind.

Got a tip or feedback for TDS? Reach out to tips@thedrive.com

The post EV Renter Hit With $418 Charging Bill After Using Dealer’s Public Charger appeared first on The Drive.

If you haven’t been up close to one of Cadillac’s electric SUVs anytime recently, you might not know that the brand does something pretty interesting with the rear-quarter glass near the D pillar of these models. What you see above isn’t a decal; it’s actually an etching, styled after the Mondrian pattern featured in the Cadillac logo, with a pop of blue on the go-fast Optiq-V.

It’s a neat touch of flair, and, at least in the Optiq’s case, it doesn’t adversely impact visibility inside the car. That glass still functions as a window, and the strakes from the pattern are translucent and not too distracting. Cadillac, however, has opted to remove it from the Vistiq for the 2027 model year.

We got in touch with Cadillac to learn why and whether the change to the Vistiq foreshadows the elimination of the graphic across the lineup. According to Cadillac, it doesn’t sound like that’s the plan.

“Cadillac updated the rear quarter-panel etched pattern on the VISTIQ in response to feedback from customers and dealers,” a spokesperson told The Drive. “This change does not represent a broader removal of the design treatment across the lineup.

“On the 2027 model-year Cadillac OPTIQ, the etched pattern will remain, with a subtle tint introduced as a mid-model-year update on all trims except the V-Series,” the statement continued. “The OPTIQ-V will retain the current untinted pattern to preserve clear differentiation for the V-Series model.”

In other words, the Optiq will retain the etching, though it will look different depending on the model you buy. As the brand’s configurator shows, it appears uniquely on the V-badged Optiq compared to the other trims. You get that stripe of blue along the top edge, which neatly corresponds to some interior surfaces and the bright blue Brembo calipers, and there’s a different fade to the Mondrian pattern.

Is this graphic likely to really be a deal-breaker—or car-seller—for a specific buyer? Probably not, though I can say it impressed me when I got an Optiq-V for loan a few weeks back, as an attention to detail that you’d figure Cadillac should want to exercise, being the crown jewel of the GM family and all.

Got a news tip involving car design? Email the author: adam.ismail@thedrive.com

The post Cadillac Could Have Used a $2 Sticker on the Optiq. It Chose to Etch Glass Instead appeared first on The Drive.

Good morning and welcome to The Downshift, or TDS for short, The Drive‘s daily news roundup that gathers the biggest automotive headlines from around the world.

The Downshift summarizes stories into a few sentences and peppers in links for those seeking more detail. August is officially in the rearview, so here’s your bulletin for Tuesday, September 1, 2026.

Mazda enjoyed a string of very successful quarters after fully committing itself to SUVs, but that good fortune has seemingly started to wear out. President and CEO Masahiro Moro told a Japanese publication that the company is planning refreshes to its product line “on a scale unprecedented to date,” in an attempt to turn around a sales slide that’s been deepening for nearly two years. Mazda targeted global deliveries last year of 200,000 units, but only managed about 150,000. [Autoblog]

Ford is recalling just under 150,000 Mustangs, model years 2024 through 2026, for a fault with the ground connections for the engine-compartment wiring harness, leading to a risk of losing drive power or some other functions, like climate control, headlights, and windshield washing. Ford dealers will replace the ground terminals free of charge as part of the recall. [Reuters]

Honda and Hyundai have released their August U.S. sales figures, with Honda up 1% and Hyundai down 1.7%. The auto market was predicted to slow last month, and Hyundai’s slight drop was in line with its expectations, citing a softening in deliveries at the beginning of the summer. [Automotive News]

Porsche is planning a new SUV targeted at U.S. buyers, larger than the Cayenne with three rows of seating, per a new report. This is not to be confused with the canceled, electric K1 SUV that it had been working on earlier in the decade; this new project may share the platform Audi is using for the new Q9. [Automotive News]

Genesis expects to enter four new European markets next year—Austria, Denmark, Poland, and Portugal. Hyundai’s luxury arm only entered France, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands in 2026. [Automotive News]

While U.S. truck buyers still await Ram’s smaller pickup offerings, like the Dakota and Rampage, Brazil is getting a limited edition Rampage, called the Rebel Ignition, with exclusive Pacific Blue Metallic paint, and it looks good. The Rampage is currently built only in Brazil. [Mopar Insiders]

Got a tip or feedback for TDS? Reach out to tips@thedrive.com

The post Mazda Plans to Turnaround Struggles With ‘Unprecedented’ Product Revival Campaign: TDS appeared first on The Drive.

Back in July, a new chain of gas stations called the Freedom Fuel Network popped up in the Northeast, seemingly out of nowhere, with extremely attractive prices. It seemed to have friends in high places right from the very start, with its first retail site promoted by the White House’s official X account, and President Donald Trump lauding the company for “stepping up” as “a VERY smart Retailer.” The federal government denied that it was subsidizing Freedom Fuel or involved with the company on any level, so, naturally, people wondered how it managed to swoop in with gas 30 cents per gallon below the national average.

A new lawsuit purports to have the answer to that question: The gas was stolen.

That’s the claim from the Mansfield Oil Company of Gainesville, Georgia, which has sued New Jersey-based distributor KRSM for allegedly neglecting to pay it for 1.1 million gallons of fuel, valued at $4 million. KRSM then allegedly turned around and sold some of that gas to Freedom Fuel at a discount, which it would’ve been able to do, per the suit, because it never paid Mansfield for it in the first place. That’s the plaintiff’s explanation for why Freedom’s product was indeed so cheap.

“Despite the fact that the last delivery was more than five weeks ago, KRSM has not paid one dollar towards the $4,000,000 that KRSM owes Mansfield,” said Urs Broderick Furrer, the lawyer representing Mansfield, in a statement quoted by The New York Times. While it’s unclear where each of those 1.1 million gallons ended up, Mansfield believes that some of it was delivered to at least 10 of Freedom’s 29 stores across New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

Meanwhile, Mauro Tucci, the lawyer representing KRSM President Syed Kazmi, said that “KRSM disputes the allegations in this case, which is an accounting dispute over fuel invoices mis-priced by Mansfield Oil.” It’s worth pointing out that Mansfield says it wasn’t able to actually invoice KRSM until late July “due to a data error,” and that KRSM ultimately refused the bill. Mansfield claims that Kazmi then told it over the phone in the following weeks that he would pay, but he didn’t.

Making this all even stranger, ever since Freedom Fuel Network’s inception—and despite its social media boost from the Trump administration—nobody has been able to figure out who actually owns the chain. KRSM and Kazmi deny any relationship to it. And a White House spokesperson told the Times that “the Administration has had zero contact or dealings with the defendant: KRSM Inc or Sayed Kazmi.”

Mansfield’s lawsuit was filed August 19 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Judge Gerald Austin McHugh has directed KRSM to hold $2.75 million at minimum in a bank account during litigation, and Mansfield is pursuing “at least $3.998 million plus interest, costs and other damages” from KRSM, per MDM Distribution Intelligence.

Got a news tip? Reach out to tips@thedrive.com

The post Those Sketchy ‘Freedom Fuel’ Gas Stations Were Selling Stolen Fuel: Lawsuit appeared first on The Drive.

Of all of the subjects that get us going here at The Drive, one of the top candidates has to be “unconscionably large amount of obscure vehicles and associated parts for sale in a field.” Oftentimes, we tend to encounter this, unsurprisingly, with classic Americana (are Crown Vics old enough to qualify as “classic” yet?) and, occasionally, we’ll come across something like a paradise for Porsche owners. But Jeremiah Freeman’s “CRX Farm” in Kansas is special, because when was the last time you saw so many golden-era Hondas in one place?

Although CRX Farm obviously has a nice ring to it, Jeremiah is kind of underselling his operation here, because it contains much, much more than CRXs. Sure, there are 67 second-gen hatches, 20 first-gen examples, and 29 Del Sols, by the owner’s count. But you’ve also got various types of Civics, some Accords, Integras, and Preludes, and the odd Acura RSX. If you need something for one of Honda’s more utilitarian models, there are also some CR-Vs, Elements, Odysseys, and a Pilot in stock.

Surveying the field, plenty of these vehicles aren’t in a drivable condition, and Jeremiah says he rarely sells entire cars anyway. Rather, the true value here is for anyone working on their own old Honda or Acura that needs that pesky, hard-to-find component, as some of these machines are getting on 40 years old now, and hundreds of thousands have faded from traffic in the interim. I mean, when was the last time you saw an EF Civic Wagon casually on the road? Meets don’t count.

You might assume that Jeremiah started this business out of a lifelong love for fun Hondas, but it actually unfolded in stages. Over a decade ago, he found himself searching for a fuel-efficient daily after starting a new job that required him to cover 500 miles a week. He learned about the CRX HF—a model that returned 55 mpg when new—and drove the wheels off it.

Eventually, a series of repairs led to acquiring a parts car, and when Jeremiah eventually found little interest in selling both CRXs whole, he began parting them out. “After a few months of selling parts locally on Craigslist I did some quick math and realized that I had made more money in parts than I had paid for the car initially,” he told me over a DM.

One thing led to another, and today the collection has grown to about 275 Hondas in total. Jeremiah works as a registered nurse and told me that he’s “not very mechanical and couldn’t build a car to save my life,” but the way he’s kept his own vehicles running and gotten the proper parts into enthusiasts’ hands would suggest otherwise.

“I have a couple rules for doing business,” Jeremiah told me. “Don’t be an asshole. Don’t waste my time. I’d say about 60% can’t overcome this hurdle.” Anyone who has ever tried to sell anything, especially over the internet, could probably relate. And while the CRX Farm rarely sells complete cars, if one is running with a clean title, it won’t get parted out.

Almost two years ago, YouTuber Caseys Customs ventured out to the farm in Rossville, Kansas, to secure some hardware for his rear-wheel-drive, V8-swapped CRX build. The video, embedded below and timestamped, gives a first-person look at Jeremiah’s inventory at the time, which notably includes a few non-Hondas, including a Dodge Daytona IROC, of all things.

If you can’t make it to Kansas, that’s OK—Jeremiah ships parts all over the world. Surely, the Honda community is very thankful for that. You can peruse his gargantuan list of wares on his Facebook seller page.

Got a tip on a massive collection of cars or parts for sale? Hit us up at tips@thedrive.com

The post There’s a ‘CRX Farm’ in Kansas With a Huge Hoard of Classic Honda Parts for Sale appeared first on The Drive.

Welcome to The Downshift, or TDS for short, The Drive’s morning news roundup bringing you the biggest automotive headlines from around the world.

The Downshift recaps news briefly, with links to full stories for those seeking more info. We hope you had a fine weekend, and here’s your bulletin for Monday, August 31, 2026.

According to a new report, Volkswagen of America is about to undergo a major personnel shift, with current Audi sales chief Marco Schubert expected to take over the role of VW Group’s current top exec in the country, Kjell Gruner, who would depart the company. The automaker’s American branch had staked its hopes new Atlas SUV that went on sale this past summer, but it hasn’t performed to expectations yet, and insiders say it isn’t pulling the same profit margins as the previous generation did. [Automotive News]

Jeep has released a 17-second video teasing the upcoming Cherokee Trailhawk, showing it overcoming obstacles like dunes and rocks. [Carscoops]

In other Jeep news, the Recon EV is finally about to launch, and some have noticed that its spec sheet lists 20 more horsepower than it had previously, for a total of 670 hp. Unfortunately, range remains a paltry 230 miles. Dealers are already offering considerable discounts ahead of sale, as well. [Carscoops]

Toyota and Honda stand to lose out the most in the trade war between the U.S. and Canada, as the two companies combine for three quarters of all vehicles built up north. If the Trump administration’s proposed 50% tariffs on Canadian-built vehicles go into effect on January 1, some of their production lines could become casualties. [Reuters]

Nissan and Honda have announced that they planned to launch their jointly developed ECUs and software by 2029. [Reuters]

General Motors reached a tentative deal over the weekend with Canadian union Unifor to build the next-gen heavy-duty GMC Sierra at an Ontario plant. [Reuters]

Ford CEO Jim Farley stated during the company’s recent earnings call that it is pursuing more U.S. military projects, saying, “We already dominate in that market in the commercial world. We want to offer the U.S. government the same advantages that our commercial customers get.” [Ford Authority]

35% of people who own a vehicle with a front-passenger touchscreen say it has never been used, according to a new study. [Motor1]

Lexus has announced another limited-edition IS for North America with a new “Envious Green” exterior color and black BBS wheels. Only 350 units will be sold. The third-gen IS originally hit the market for the 2014 model year. [Lexus]

Weekend race winners:

• WRC Rally Del Paraguay: Sami Pajari for Toyota
• NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series at Daytona: Ryan Sieg for RSS Racing
• IndyCar at Milwaukee: Pato O’Ward for Arrow McLaren (Races 1 and 2)
• NASCAR Cup Series at Daytona: Ryan Preece for Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing
• MotoGP Aragon Grand Prix: Marc Marquez for Ducati
• GT World Challenge America at Road America: Justin Rothberg and Robby Foley for Turner Motorsport

Got a tip or feedback for TDS? Reach out to tips@thedrive.com

The post VW Poised for US Leadership Shakeup, Report Claims: TDS appeared first on The Drive.

To date, iRacing has primarily been a platform for multiplayer racing. Eventually, the simulator added computer-controlled opponents, and you were always free to hot lap in solitude, but the single-player experience was never really a focus. That’s changing, though, with the addition of a career mode to the platform. It’s been brewing for some time—iRacing says it still needs “a little more time in the oven”—and few details were previously given, until today.

iRacing’s August development update is lengthy, diving into everything on the horizon for the simulator, from the upcoming debut of the Aston Martin Valkyrie AMR-LMH and Caterhams, to track updates, performance updates, and quality-of-life UI enhancements. It’s all appreciated, but our main focus here is the career mode.

As the team describes it, this experience is based around “racing, learning, advancement, objectives, leaderboards, realistic progression paths, and an unprecedented amount of included content.”

That last point is extremely good to hear, given that the recurring complaint against iRacing since its inception is that you pay a monthly or annual fee to use the service—which isn’t cheap, at $14.75 per month for existing members and $124.50 for the year—and then need to buy every car and track on top of it a-la-carte, beyond a limited amount of base content. Career mode will be an exception to that rule though, as “no additional car or track purchases [are] required” for it, and “access [to all content] is exclusive to this mode and does not transfer to the broader iRacing service.”

A great start, then. Beyond that, the experience sounds very broad, with seven unique careers (and more to be added down the line) that the developer describes as “a full game’s worth of content.” These will naturally span many disciplines and steps along the motorsport ladder, so whether you’re pursuing sports car or oval racing, there won’t be one set path to reach the top of your desired category.

Difficulty is adjustable, and rising through the ranks will be based on meeting certain goals, rather than simply winning events—just like in actual racing. That said, this is iRacing after all, so there will be consequences to repeatedly coming up short, including the threat of having to start over from scratch if you choke a few too many times. Fair enough; this isn’t exactly a game known for being forgiving. Frankly, I’m surprised that race length will even be adjustable, to some extent.

iRacing adds that when this feature does eventually launch, it won’t be complete on day one. Deeper elements, like budget and team management, won’t be present, at least not “right out of the gate.” Again, that’d be nice, but it’s so far outside the realm of what the service has historically been that even simply offering the framework of career progression is a big step, not to mention giving players all the content required to enjoy it out of the gate.

In terms of an ETA, iRacing’s Greg Hill wrote in Friday’s blog that “We were so close to making this post an official release announcement rather than another progress update.” While no specific timeline was given, that statement makes this all sound near-imminent, so the fall seems like a reasonable ballpark for launch. Having recently gotten my sim rig sorted again after years off the track, I’ll be ready.

Got a tip? Reach out to tips@thedrive.com

The post iRacing’s Long-Awaited Career Mode Is Nearly Here and Sounds Really Good appeared first on The Drive.

Since the earliest moment anyone ever laid eyes on the Volkswagen ID Buzz, the hope was that the company would lean into its legacy and sense of whimsy and offer the dang thing as a camper. This has taken VW longer than anyone would’ve expected—it’s had quite a bit on its plate as of late, after all—but it’s finally come around. Meet the ID California Cruise.

First off, you’ll notice the German plates on the vehicle in these images. That’s because the ID California Cruise’s first port of call won’t be the Golden State, believe it or not—it’ll be Germany. That said, Volkswagen is planning on introducing a “Tourer” flavor of the Buzz as it returns to the U.S. market for the 2027 model year, and that one will include a bed you can sleep on. All that to say, the Cali Cruise looks to be the same camper we’ll get, just with a lamer name and a more compact footprint.

This particular model is based on the ID Buzz Pro, with a number of tweaks to suit the needs of campers. There’s the aforementioned mattress, fold-out table with two chairs, and blackouts on all windows. This van will also feature an exclusive California mode that allows you to run all power and lighting through the car and use climate control for extended periods when stationary. VW quotes 48 hours of continuous HVAC use on a full battery.

Buyers will also get an electrochromic glass roof, which means it can change from opaque to transparent with the touch of a button. Normally I find these roofs gimmicky, but in a space you’d actually be living in, that seems quite useful.

The ID California Cruise will retail for about 60,000 euros, which works out to about $70,000. As seen here, the package is applied to the short-wheelbase version of the Buzz, which we don’t get on this side of the pond, packing a 79-kWh battery rated for a max range of 285 miles in the Buzz Pro. Considering the U.S. long-wheelbase model effectively started just over $60,000, we’d hope Volkswagen could figure out a way to offer our Tourer counterpart for a reasonable price. A mattress can’t cost that much, right?

Got a news tip? Reach out to tips@thedrive.com

The post VW California Cruise Is the ID Buzz Camper They Should’ve Built Yesterday appeared first on The Drive.

Hello and welcome to The Downshift, or TDS for short, The Drive’s morning news roundup bringing you the biggest automotive headlines from around the world.

The Downshift recaps news briefly, with links to full stories for those seeking more info. Here’s your bulletin for Friday, August 28, 2026.

The cheapest Kia Niro just got about $2,500 more expensive for 2027, now costing $29,890 before destination. Factoring in shipping, you can’t get a Niro for less than $30,000 anymore. Additionally, Kia removed the plug-in and fully electric models from the range, meaning the only one on offer is the standard hybrid. [Autoblog]

The 2027 Ram ProMaster City starts a hair under $40,000—$39,995, to be exact—including destination. [Motor1]

A Honda spokesperson downplayed a suggestion by Automotive News that Honda’s tech-sharing partnership with Nissan could give the brand a body-on-frame pickup truck as “purely speculative.” [Road & Track]

A rise in domestic auto sales couldn’t save Toyota’s July, as sales dipped everywhere else, including China (24.3%), the Middle East (44.5%), and even the U.S. (0.8%). [Reuters]

Lucid has recalled about 27,000 Air sedans for an exterior lighting circuit that could overheat, introducing the risk of a fire. The good news is that this can be solved via an over-the-air update, so, if you own an Air that is affected, please get that installed as soon as possible. Without it, the NHTSA recommends owners park outside and away from structures, as a fire could start at any time, even if the car is off. [Reuters]

Rivian’s Chief Financial Officer, Claire McDonough, is leaving the company after a six-year tenure. She will be replaced in the interim by Derek Mulvey, the company’s Vice President of Finance, until a long-term successor is named. [InsideEVs]

BMW M boss Frank van Meel recently reiterated that the company isn’t interested in Formula 1 because it lacks relevancy to road cars. He also pressed on the importance of IMSA: “The USA, with around 40% of our volume, is the most important single market for BMW M. BMW grew big in the USA through motorsport. That’s why IMSA is extremely important for us,” Meel said. [Motorsport.com]

Weekend races to watch (all times Eastern):

• WRC Rally Del Paraguay: All weekend long on Rally.TV
• NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series at Daytona: Friday at 7:30 p.m. on CW/ESPN
• IndyCar at Milwaukee: Saturday at 2:30 p.m. (Race 1) and Sunday at 1 p.m. (Race 2) on Fox
• NASCAR Cup Series at Daytona: Saturday at 7:30 p.m. on NBC
• MotoGP Aragon Grand Prix: Sunday at 8 a.m. on FS2
• GT World Challenge America at Road America: Sunday at 3 p.m. free streaming on YouTube

Got a tip or feedback for TDS? Reach out to tips@thedrive.com

The post Even the Kia Niro Starts Over $30,000 Now: TDS appeared first on The Drive.

Good morning and welcome to The Downshift, or TDS for short, The Drive’s daily news roundup bringing you the biggest automotive headlines from around the world.

Each item in The Downshift includes a link you can follow for the deeper story. Here’s your bulletin for Thursday, August 27, 2026.

Hyundai has been teasing a new body-on-frame platform for pickups and SUVs for a while now, and CEO Jose Muñoz added fuel to the fire this week, saying that the company may export those vehicles to other markets from the U.S., where they are expected to be built. Hyundai clearly views ladder-frame vehicles as a significant growth driver in the coming years, though the volume of products it sells sharing the platform will depend on whether Kia and Genesis also offer vehicles that utilize it. Its first body-on-frame offering, a midsize pickup, is expected to debut in 2029. [Automotive News]

If you’ve been patiently waiting for the return of the Honda Fit to the U.S. market, don’t hold your breath. American Honda sales boss Lance Woelfer recently told media that there are currently no plans for the Fit’s comeback, though he didn’t completely deny the possibility, saying that it’s “always something we can consider and look at,” and that the automaker is “looking at everything” when it comes to offering cheaper cars. [Road & Track via Motor1]

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s probe into tie-rod failure in some quarter-million Nissan Rogue SUVs has ended with no recall. [Autoblog]

Just over 20,000 Kia EV9 electric SUVs have been recalled due to a risk that the front-passenger airbag may still deploy even if that seat is occupied by a child or car seat. [Autoblog]

After about 3 million Tesla cars were recalled in China for having hard-to-locate or operate backup physical door handles, Dutch auto regulator RDW said that it is not currently pursuing a similar action in Europe, though it declined to say whether it might in the future. [Automotive News]

The Mazda MX-5 Miata will continue to be offered in the U.K., but only with a smaller, 1.5-liter engine that makes 134 horsepower, after the 180-hp 2.0-liter was discontinued in the region due to emissions regulations. [Autocar]

McLaren says it’s upcoming hypercar endurance racer has completed more than 30 hours of testing at the Aragon circuit in Spain, simulating the distance of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and then some. [Motorsport.com]

⛐ Mini is campaigning its first full season in the American Rally Championship, and the company is sending two dealer techs to every rally to work alongside the Mini John Cooper Works Race Team, which is run by LAP Motorsports. [Automotive News]

Got a tip or feedback for TDS? Reach out to tips@thedrive.com

The post Hyundai Wants to Build Trucks in the US for the Whole World: TDS appeared first on The Drive.

Welcome to The Downshift, or TDS for short, The Drive’s morning automotive news roundup, bringing you the biggest headlines from around the globe.

The Downshift sums up stories in short blurbs with links to the source for the full report. Here’s the news worth catching up on for Wednesday, August 26, 2026.

Our weekly podcast, The Drivecast, is on a short break for two weeks and will return September 2. You can find the latest episode here, and on all major platforms including Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Hyundai is prepping a new class of vehicles that sits above “N Line”—mostly given to vehicles with sporty appearance packages—but below proper N models. Hyundai CEO Jose Munoz described it during the company’s Investor Day in South Korea on Wednesday as “a new volume high-performance variant carrying over [the N] powertrain and parts package,” and that it’ll allow customers “who want that feeling every day on the way to work [to] have it without buying a track car.” [Drive]

Hyundai also revealed during this meeting that it’s planning a hybrid onslaught in the U.S., adding 10 new electrified models by 2030, at which point, it anticipates that hybrids will comprise half of its sales volume. [Reuters]

Honda says it’s hesitant to build an eighth North American plant without a new U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement. The company’s Executive Vice President, Noriya Kaihara, said that it’ll have to make a decision on the matter within the next two years, and it would like the plant to be operational by 2030, should it be greenlit. [Reuters]

Meanwhile, Automotive News’ forward-looking Future Product Pipeline report states that the Honda CR-V and Accord may go hybrid-only next decade, with the Accord joining its arch rival, the Toyota Camry, in eliminating purely combustion powertrains. Acura has also been rumored to be adding a new three-row SUV designed to sit above the MDX in 2029, tentatively dubbed “XL.” [Automotive News]

Toyota is recalling nearly 50,000 Tacoma Off-Road trucks for faulty Bilstein shock absorbers, with external oil reservoirs that can corrode and detach. Not every vehicle in the group will necessarily need a part swap, however, so Toyota encourages owners to look up their particular VIN on NHTSA’s website. [Motor1]

As of last week, Lotus Technology—the portion of the company headquartered in China—now wholly owns Lotus UK and Lotus Engineering, which build the Emira and offer consultancy services in England. [Motor1]

Got a tip or feedback for TDS? Reach out to tips@thedrive.com

The post Hyundai Is Going All-In on ‘Volume High-Performance’ Cars: TDS appeared first on The Drive.

There’s something different about the Audi Nuvolari. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that pretty much nobody saw it coming, or maybe it’s the uncompromising Bauhaus ethos toward its design, an aesthetic that almost makes the last-gen R8 look cute by comparison.

Whatever it is, every aspect of the Nuvolari feels purposefully crafted—which is why its ginormous fuel door release and hazard light switches, located at the bottom corners of the slanted infotainment screen, are so strange. Apart from the usual controls on the steering wheel, the engine start/stop, the push-button gear selector, and the window and lock switches on the doors, they’re among the few actual buttons in cabin. Hazard light controls need to be prominently placed, but the fuel door release? That’s odd.

Our editor-in-chief Kyle Cheromcha recently got up close with the Nuvolari during Monterey Car Week. He also had an opportunity to speak to Massimo Frascella, Audi’s Chief Creative Officer and Head of Design, about the influence Audi’s new supercar will have on the rest of the lineup. Naturally, the big button was one of his first questions.

Frascella paused, exchanged a knowing look with the PR person sitting in on the interview, and chuckled. When Kyle pressed again, he gave a very non-specific answer.

“I think that was a place that felt logical and timed in the development of the interior,” Frascella said, shortly before adding that there was “no particular reason” for its location. “It’s interesting. It’s not something that I particularly go to and it’s interesting that you actually pointed it out.”

Interesting indeed. Though he did leave one clue for us to chase: “timed in the development of the interior.” The Nuvolari shares a platform and powertrain with the Lamborghini Temerario, much like the old R8 did with the Gallardo and Huracan. The Nuvolari was also taken from design sketch to final prototype in a ridiculously short amount of time, just 405 days. Could the Lamborghini platform and compressed development timeline have something to do with it?

As it turns out, yes. Most likely anyway. We started digging, and we found that while the Temerario has a completely different interior, it has a fuel door release button in the exact same spot. It just doesn’t look like it at a glance it’s a small button located flat on the horizontal part of the center console, below the floating infotainment screen. In the Audi, it’s that big rocker switch that appears to be on the infotainment panel. But side by side, you can see that the position is the same. The hazard switches to the left also match.

It would appear that Audi didn’t have the bandwidth to rewire the cabin and relocate those buttons as the Nuvolari came together, so it employed an admittedly smart design trick to hide the identical positioning as much as possible. Audi won’t comment on it further, so we can’t say that with 100% certainty, but it’s the only explanation that makes sense.

This is kind of silly, but we’re not trying to throw shade on Audi at all. The Nuvolari is a massive achievement, and if anything, this is just a fun easter egg for nerds like us who wonder about the size and placement of buttons. No one is trying to cover up that the Nuvolari is based on the Temerario. And it’s a credit to Audi that the fuel filler release button might be the biggest tell in the whole car—apart from the screaming V8.

Got a news tip or another weird observation about a car? Hit us up at tips@thedrive.com

The post Solving the Mystery of the Audi Nuvolari’s Massive Fuel Door Button appeared first on The Drive.

Welcome to The Downshift, or TDS for short, The Drive’s morning news roundup serving the biggest automotive headlines from around the world.

The Downshift summarizes news items in a few sentences, with links to other sites to get the deeper story. Here’s your bulletin for Tuesday, August 25, 2026.

Polestar told dealers last week that it doesn’t have an answer for why the U.S. government has effectively banned it from the market while allowing its sister brand, Volvo, to continue operating. “In essence, we are currently focusing on getting the attention of (the Commerce Department) to obtain the requested information and to understand the underlying basis for the denial,” Peter Wexler, the EV maker’s head of product, retail network and government affairs, was quoted. [The Wall Street Journal]

Land Rover has delayed the next-generation Defender by two years, meaning the replacement for the SUV that has been on the market since 2019 is not expected to arrive until the early part of the next decade. Considering its predecessor was sold from 1983 until 2016, that doesn’t seem so bad. [Automotive News]

Tesla has raised the price of the Cybertruck by $5,000, meaning the standard dual-motor all-wheel-drive model starts at $74,990 and the Premium one, at $84,990. Surveying the longer term, however, the price of the cheapest Cybertruck jumped $15,000 since a limited-time offer in February. [Autoblog]

The threat of significantly increased tariffs on Canadian vehicles and parts has had a damaging effect on the share prices of multiple Canadian suppliers, including Magna (down 6.6%), Linamar (8.3%), and Martinrea (9.7%). [Automotive News]

Volkswagen Group CEO Oliver Blume and brand boss Thomas Schäfer addressed some 10,000 workers at a company town hall in Germany on Tuesday, discussing a need for the company to “pull together” through its restructuring, and being met with boos from the crowd. [Bloomberg via Automotive News]

Got a news tip? Reach out to tips@thedrive.com

The post Polestar Still Wants to Know Why It Was Banned and Volvo Wasn’t: TDS appeared first on The Drive.

Late last week, a demo for an indie racing game called Heatwarped appeared seemingly out of nowhere on Steam, and it very quickly began gaining people’s attention. Take one look at the screenshot and gameplay footage, even the menus, and it’s abundantly clear that Heatwarped is going for a very specific vibe that should appeal to many aging gamers and enthusiasts: It’s trying to be Need for Speed: Underground. Even wilder, as far as I can tell, it pretty much is.

The demo contains a few single-player events including a drift competition, a chunk of the open-world city to explore, and some basic customization options for a fictional vehicle that looks like a cross between a Nissan 240SX and a Lexus SC. Heatwarped—which I regrettably keep accidentally typing as “Heatwrapped”—isn’t complete at this stage, and there is no expected release window mentioned on Steam.

Still, what little is present makes quite a statement. The way developer Sealime has nailed the visual makeup of BlackBox’s iconic games demonstrates the touch of a team that has seriously studied why Underground looked the way it did. The motion blur at speed, for example, isn’t the more sophisticated and per-pixel blur more modern games use—it more closely resembles the accumulation blur effect that was common on the PlayStation 2, and Heatwarped’s implementation is a dead-ringer for its inspiration.

The city streets, just like Underground’s, are weirdly glassy and reflective, even when it’s not raining. The colors, neon lights, bloom, and vague bluish cast to everything just screams mid-aughts tuner NFS. It’s all uncanny.

It would already be something if Heatwarped simply looked the part, but I’m more taken by how it handles. There are a couple of behaviors that define BlackBox’s physics engine for me, particularly from Underground through Carbon. Setting off from a stop is like spinning your wheels in mashed potatoes for like three seconds, until the tires grip and your controller stops quaking. Handling after that point is very grippy until the lateral momentum seems to entirely shift to your back wheels, and the steering gets heavy, but still pretty responsive. You never spin, but you can fishtail for days if you want.

Heatwarped gets all that down pat, but it also benefits from the increased framerates and reduced input lag of two decades of technological progress. So it feels better than those games, too, and by a noticeable margin. Of course, the demo lets you drive exactly one car, so who’s to say at this stage how the handling will map onto other vehicles. All the same, I immediately felt comfortable speeding through this alternate-dimension version of Bayview, that’s apparently named Ratfield. Hey, it has a neighborhood called Ashtray!

As for other charming touches, I appreciate the BlackBerry-type cell phone used to explore the map, browse messages, enter photo mode, and find your next event. (Unfortunately, there’s no Cingular Wireless sponsorship, to really couch Heatwarped in its era.) The customization options aren’t super extensive at this stage but they’re definitely appropriate, down to the body kit named “Ab-Smug.” And I dig the music, which appears to come from lesser-known artists, but evokes the ambient techno and trance of early Midnight Club games, as well as some instrumental rock that would’ve been home in pre-EA Burnout.

While I’m usually the last person to hype up an indie project without a clear release date from a lesser-known dev, the fact that we already have a taste of how it’ll play, and the fact what’s here is already so competent, has me hopeful to watch Heatwarped take shape. Need for Speed may be no more, but as long as games like these are being made, its soul is immortal.

Got a tip? Reach out to tips@thedrive.com

The post New Indie Game Feels Like the Second Coming of NFS Underground appeared first on The Drive.

Good morning and welcome to The Downshift, or TDS for short, The Drive‘s daily news roundup that gathers the biggest automotive headlines from around the world.

The Downshift summarizes stories into a few sentences and peppers in links for those seeking more detail. We hope you had a wonderful weekend—here’s your bulletin for Monday, August 24, 2026.

Wondering why BMW’s Neue Klasse models are sticking with touch and voice controls as the rest of the industry has returned to physical buttons? “We can see that voice and touch are becoming more and more common,” BMW Group Australia CEO Vikram Pawah said in a recent interview. “Maybe it’s a generational thing as well. You would see that a lot of the younger generation, maybe 45 or below, they’re tapped into these technologies at a faster pace, using voice, using touch. They want things done quickly and they’re multitasking. And we have to keep that in mind. That’s how customers are evolving. They are multitasking.” [CarExpert]

If you’re wondering why the U.S.-Canada trade negotiations that seemed hopeful midway through last week suddenly failed, the sticking point reportedly came down to Canada’s medium- and heavy-duty-truck exports, which American negotiators reportedly excluded from tariff relief at the last minute. A lack of exemptions for Canadian car parts is also said to have contributed to the talks disintegrating. [Automotive News]

One in four new cars sold in Europe in July were fully electric, per E-Mobility Europe. And in France specifically, the percentage was 35%, due to a new program that makes it more cost-effective for people below a certain income threshold to lease EVs. [Reuters]

A Porsche representative said, in response to recent reports that the Taycan would be discontinued by the end of the decade, that the company “currently has no plans to discontinue the Taycan in the short term,” instead reducing the number of models on offer. “Streamlining the model range does not necessarily mean discontinuing entire model lines,” the spokesperson added. “For the Taycan, we will continue to reduce the number of variants in order to lower complexity.” The Cross and Sport Turismo wagons will be eliminated from the U.S. Taycan roster after 2026. [CarBuzz]

Geely says its next-generation solid-state battery tech could reportedly offer as much as 500 watt-hours-per-kilogram, which is around double the efficiency of its best contemporary lithium-ion pack today. [Electrek]

Weekend race winners:

• NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series at New Hampshire: Layne Riggs for Front Row Motorsport
• Formula 1 Dutch Grand Prix: Lando Norris for McLaren
• IMSA SportsCar Championship at Virginia: Andrew Caldarelli and Sandy Mitchell for Pfaff Motorsports
• IndyCar at Washington, D.C.: Kyle Kirkwood for Andretti Global
• NASCAR Cup Series at New Hampshire: Ryan Blaney for Team Penske
• NHRA Drag Racing Brainerd Nationals Finals: Matt Hagan (Funny Car), Greg Anderson (Pro Stock), and Doug Kalitta (Top Fuel)

Got a tip or feedback for TDS? Reach out to tips@thedrive.com

The post BMW Exec Says Young People Prefer Voice and Screens Over Buttons Because ‘They Are Multitasking’: TDS appeared first on The Drive.

During the summer, the U.S. government typically restricts the sale of fuel to a particular blend that evaporates less to mitigate pollution. But the ongoing war in Iran has wreaked havoc on fuel prices all year, so the Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Energy have issued an emergency waiver that allows E10 gas with a higher evaporation rating to be sold starting September 1, two weeks earlier than it normally enters consumer supply.

Throughout much of 2026, the EPA has allowed the sale of gasoline with up to 15% ethanol content, even during the hottest months when it isn’t usually allowed. The rationale is that diluting fuel helps control prices at the pump. But increased ethanol content, as well as higher Reid Vapor Pressure (RVP) values—that’s a measure of evaporation, or volatility—exacerbates ground-level ozone in high temperatures, which poses cardiovascular and respiratory risks for humans. That’s why this stuff is usually relegated to the fall and winter.

As we’ve explained before, cutting gas with more ethanol can also cause problems for older vehicles that aren’t designed to use it. Even cars that are will see a slight reduction in fuel economy when more ethanol enters the mix, because it’s less energy-dense than pure gasoline.

In its bulletin, the EPA said that it has waived “state level controls in Texas, Arizona, and California that extend beyond September 15, 2026, for the maximum period allowed of 20 days,” and that it will continue to extend these waivers as it has done all year, as long as it deems necessary. The department also called out “blue-state politicians in New York and California” that “have not adopted these standards, driving up prices for their own residents.” Of course, both states include the biggest cities in the country, with tens of millions of residents that feel the effects of worsened air quality far more acutely than those in comparatively rural areas.

Got a tip? Reach out to tips@thedrive.com

The post The Government Is Still Messing With Fuel Formulas to Try to Curb Gas Prices appeared first on The Drive.

All week, an anonymous leaker has been posting snippets of Grand Theft Auto VI gameplay. The footage covers various scenarios, from flying planes to shooting hoops to getting tased, but one video that briefly showed the player tooling around an intersection in a Ford Ranchero-lookalike got plenty of attention from GTA fans who enjoy these games for their driving. Many hope that it teases a return to the weightier, more challenging dynamics of GTA IV.

See, there’s a popular assertion among serious fans that GTA V made driving too easy by giving vehicles additional grip and downplaying aspects like weight transfer and suspension travel. Punch the throttle from a stop in a rear-wheel-drive muscle car in GTA V, and it won’t take very long for the rubber to stick; if you yank the wheel left and right, the car won’t fishtail quite as waywardly, and suspension travel will be dramatically muted compared to GTA IV.

Now, I’m not going to lie: This difference never stuck out to me as egregiously as it has to the rest of the GTA-playing world. Before writing this, I hadn’t touched GTA IV in something like 14 years, while I played GTA V as recently as 2024. In the newer game, you can still very easily spin and lose control if you’re careless with your inputs, or get tagged on a fender in a way that sends you spiraling. GTA physics have always been tuned for comedy, playing up behavior that leads to spins, crashes, and general chaos. It’s the series’ calling card.

I needed to dust off my impressions of GTA IV’s dynamics, so I walked across the street (support your local retro game shops) and grabbed an Xbox 360 copy, which fortunately is still compatible with the latest Xbox consoles. What I found was, yes—cars generally feel more lumbering and slippery in that title, with the kind of rolling and heaving befitting of American barges from four or five decades ago. I don’t think it’s a tremendous difference, though handbrake turns are notably tougher to execute properly.

By contrast, most vehicles in GTA V feel a touch more immediate, and they definitely don’t buckle like jelly when changing direction. That last point, though, is worth unpacking, because I’d argue it speaks to a common misconception about how cars behave in video games.

When we talk about the way digital cars handle, there’s a tendency to ascribe what we see on screen to the physics calculations that we can’t—because, well, that’s how the real world works. Of course, games aren’t bound by such laws. Rockstar can jack up the suspension travel for a particular car while affording it more or less the same level of grip; it can play up the visual drama, without necessarily having that tie back into the math that determines traction and slip angle and so on.

I think that’s part of what’s happening here—at least between GTA IV and V. I don’t think cars are really a whole lot harder to drive in IV, but they certainly look like they are, and it’s hard to extricate the visual evidence from the “physical.”

There’s another wrinkle here too, which is that GTA IV’s car roster is drowning in malaise-era vehicles, and it makes sense that these should handle more sketchily than the more modern roster of GTA V. As Andy Kelly wrote a few years back for The Gamer, “Liberty City is an unpleasant place, smeared in a tangible layer of grime and danger,” and its traffic is a product of that environment.

So, this brings us back to the GTA VI leak. The Vapid Ganado that Jason’s driving is certainly a vehicle drenched in malaise, at least in the rusted-out state of that particular example. I don’t think it’s unwarranted to watch that footage—observing the way the body rolls aft to fore as the player slams on the brakes, the smoke pouring from the tires after a quarter-donut, and how the pickup pirouettes into the side of an ambulance while attempting to flee the scene—and think that Rockstar may have aimed to model GTA VI’s driving physics more in line with its predecessor from 18 years ago. That’s entirely possible.

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I also know from experience that you can only judge so much about the way cars handle in a game solely by watching. Camera behavior defines so much of what we perceive as physics in games, more than people realize. To cite a rather extreme example, that’s the reason I can’t stomach Screamer at all from its chase cam, but I feel extremely comfortable with its weird, twin-stick driving system when playing from the hood or bumper. I’d also be curious to know how GTA VI’s faux-Ranchero behaves at real pace, which we never get to see in this short clip.

At the rate these leaks are coming through, maybe we’ll get that glimpse soon, or maybe we’ll see high-speed gameplay in Rockstar’s “extended look” trailer next week.

Which GTA’s handling do you prefer, and what’s your hope for GTA VI? Let us know in the comments.

The post GTA 6 Driving Physics Hint at Return to the Realism of GTA 4 appeared first on The Drive.

Welcome to The Downshift, or TDS for short, The Drive’s morning news roundup bringing you the biggest automotive headlines from around the world.

The Downshift recaps news briefly, with links to full stories for those seeking more info. This is your bulletin for Friday, August 21, 2026.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has expanded an investigation into General Motors’ L87 small-block V8s off the back of continued complaints from owners despite recalls. Our Byron Hurd has covered this issue extensively, and, in total, the probe covers nearly a million trucks and SUVs that use the engine, from the Chevrolet Silverado to Cadillac Escalade and GMC Yukon, ranging from model years 2021 through 2026. The NHTSA’s new engineering analysis aims to assess the efficacy of GM’s attempts to remedy the problem and mitigate engine failure. [Reuters]

Stellantis is again recalling certain 2021-2023 Dodge Durangos equipped with rear spoilers due to a misalignment issue, that could cause them to fly off at speed. Just under 75,000 SUVs are impacted in total. [The Detroit News]

China just commenced its largest auto recall in history—and one of the largest anywhere in the world, up there with the Takata airbag recall—over emergency door releases in vehicles with electronic handles. The recalls will take numerous forms at 11 different automakers, with some issuing new software and others installing warning labels to highlight the handles’ locations. Tesla alone, for example, will have to make changes to 3 million cars. [Reuters]

Lamborghini CEO Stephan Winkelmann said in an interview at Monterey Car Week that its customers are “very happy” with its decision to recast the Lanzador as a plug-in hybrid, rather than a fully electric vehicle. [CarBuzz]

The Netherlands has fined Uber nearly $1 billion for suspending driver accounts without notice between 2020 and 2022, under GDPR rules. Unsurprisingly, the rideshare company intends to repeal. [Reuters]

Tesla has discontinued its solar roof product, but will continue to offer conventional solar panels. The company first demoed the system publicly a decade ago, before acquiring SolarCity, a company Tesla CEO Elon Musk invested in that was run by his cousins. The product never managed to be as inexpensive or sell as well as Musk touted. [Electrek]

Weekend races to watch (all times Eastern):

• NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series at New Hampshire: Saturday at 1:30 p.m. on FS1
• Formula 1 Dutch Grand Prix: Sunday at 9 a.m. on Apple TV
• IMSA SportsCar Championship at Virginia: Sunday at 12 p.m. on NBC
• IndyCar in Washington, D.C.: Sunday at 1 p.m. on Fox
• NASCAR Cup Series at New Hampshire: Sunday at 3 p.m. on USA
• NHRA Drag Racing Brainerd Nationals Finals: Sunday at 6:30 p.m. on FS1

Got a tip or feedback for TDS? Reach out to tips@thedrive.com

The post Feds Investigate GM’s 6.2-Liter V8s That Keep Failing Despite Fixes: TDS appeared first on The Drive.

Welcome to The Downshift, or TDS for short, The Drive’s morning news roundup bringing you the biggest automotive headlines from around the world.

Every item in The Downshift includes a link you can follow for the deeper story. Here’s your bulletin for Thursday, August 20, 2026.

Are you a legacy automaker that wants to develop new cars as quickly as Chinese manufacturers can? Geely is pitching “reverse joint ventures” that will leverage its technologies and staff to help other companies build more quickly in export markets. Now, imagine an auto exec time-traveling from 20 or 30 years ago and reading that news. [Automotive News]

GM has made inroads into resolving an issue with some of its SUVs that use the eight-speed 8T65 transmission, involving a faulty outputs speed sensor that could confuse the vehicle and leave it stuck in first gear. The issue touches everything from the Chevrolet Equinox to GMC Acadia to Buick Enclave, and a new service bulletin details how techs should diagnose the issue and when to replace that pesky sensor, which is buried deep in the gearbox. [Autoblog]

We’ve heard for some time now that BMW would soon discontinue the XM and 8 Series, and the rumor mill is spinning yet again as the company seeks to reduce costs. [Automotive News]

As the U.S. government dismantles the trajectory of emissions regulations set under the prior administration, Canada has evidently decided to press on with its rules, which align with those the U.S. set before Trump reentered the White House. [Automotive News]

LG built factories in North America to crank out batteries for electric vehicles. Today, they’re mostly used to manufacture batteries for energy storage, which are in demand because of—you guessed it—AI data centers. [Reuters]

Few foreign automakers have tried to conquer Japan’s unique kei market, but BYD is going for it with its new micro EV, the Racco. It’s an especially bold move for a market that has demonstrated a strong preference for hybrids over fully battery-powered vehicles. [Bloomberg]

Got a tip or feedback for TDS? reach out to tips@thedrive.com

The post China Flips the Script, Offering to Help Western Automakers Build Cars Faster at Home: TDS appeared first on The Drive.

Two years ago, Genesis revealed a large SUV concept to the world, dubbed the Neolun. With coach doors and tons of presence, it was a statement of intent for a future flagship. We wondered how close the eventual GV90 would draw to that teaser, and now we have an answer to that question. The 2027 Genesis GV90 is here, and it’s every bit as bonkers as the hyper-luxe SUV we were led to expect.

First off, the GV90 is all-electric, riding on the brand’s bespoke eMP architecture, which it says is exclusive for flagship Genesis products. Its battery is rated at 123.5 kilowatt-hours, a considerable capacity, with a combined 657 horsepower and 590 lb-ft of torque across front and rear motors that are also armed with their own electronic limited-slip differentials. Multi-chamber air suspension and rear-wheel steering ensure a serene and solid ride, and Genesis quotes an estimated range of 310 miles for the seven-seat version.

But performance isn’t really the primary focus here, as the GV90 has a few standout features that you won’t find on many other vehicles, that earn it is vaunted place in Genesis’ lineup. Take its doors, for example. Like the concept, there will be a Neolun version of the SUV that offers rear-hinged doors. Genesis has settled on a suitably space-age name for the system too: the Neolun Arch Gate.

What makes this approach unique, even compared to the way other manufacturers have implemented coach doors over the years, is that they can open simultaneously and independently; you don’t need to latch the rear doors, for example, before the fronts. This is possible because the rear doors actually slide outward before smoothly rotating open, and that explains why a prototype we saw last year had its rear-fender body panel removed. There’s a lot of equipment back there to make all this happen.

Despite lacking a traditional B-pillar, Genesis maintains that the GV90 is very sturdy. The cabin is encased in a frame that’s 50% thicker than that of “conventional vehicles,” and the automaker is adamant that the GV90 performs as well as B-pillared vehicles in collisions. Extensive use of aluminum in the underbody should help offset the weight penalty of all that strength, though given that we’re talking about a big SUV with a big ‘ol battery, we’re not anticipating a sprightly figure when Genesis ultimately publishes the curb weight of this thing.

What else makes the GV90 special? Well, it’s got front seats that swivel, to go along with the odd door situation. It also has an expansive glass ceiling, which isn’t strictly unique among high-end luxury SUVs. What is special about this one, though, is that it also comes equipped with its own airbag in the roof, to shield occupants from shards in the event of a rollover. And those who opt for the most posh GV90—the Neolun Executive Suite—won’t just have regular-old tinted glass up there. They’ll get electrochromic glass with adjustable opacity.

So there’s obviously plenty to cover with the GV90 before we even approach its design which, frankly, I find impressive. There is a seamlessness to the way the body panels blend into each other, conveying a stance that manages to be monolithic and solid without venturing into edgy brick territory. It’s like a giant stone smoothed by water. And, when I compare it to the Neolun concept, the only obvious giveaway that this is a vehicle intended for production is the size and shape of the side mirrors.

One other note about the exterior design: You’ll notice the double lightbar signature up front. Typically, these accent lights would be accompanied with separate projectors that actually do the job of illuminating when driving at night. But the GV90 doesn’t have any additional beams, and those LED strips—called the “Wing Face Micro Lens Array,” per Genesis’ official release—actually serve as the headlights. Neat! (And also probably very expensive.)

Inside, the GV90 is spacey, weird, and elegant all at once, with interior colorways that include green, indigo, purple, and naturally, a more traditional caramel tone for the less daring. You’ll notice there is no typical instrument binnacle, not even a digital one; all of that information is conveyed via heads up display. The central infotainment screen measures 23.6-inches diagonally when driving, but once you park the GV90, it can be extended upward by 3.5 inches, transforming it into an even larger OLED canvas for movies and other content. It also runs the Android Automotive-based Pleos Connect operating system, Hyundai Group’s latest software.

One more oddity: See that weird pylon-looking thing behind the steering wheel in some of these images? It’s obviously a gear indicator, but when the GV90 is parked, off, and unoccupied, it stays at the 12-o’clock position. Once the driver gets inside and closes their door, it rotates down to the 2-o’clock spot, now functioning as a gear-selection stalk. At this point, it probably won’t surprise you to learn that the GV90 does not have a power button.

Take all this together, and the GV90 doesn’t come across like an SUV you’re likely to confuse for an Escalade or a Bentayga. It’s very much its own thing—very future-forward, with that Art Deco attention to detail that Genesis has become known for, and thoughtful user interface touches that may not be revolutionary, but imbue every interaction with a sense of grandiosity and occasion. And isn’t that what big, uber-luxe SUVs are about?

Genesis says the GV90 is slated to hit dealers in 2027. As for precisely when next year and how much it’ll cost, the company isn’t getting that specific quite yet.

Got a news tip? Reach out to tips@thedrive.com

The post Yep, the Backwards Doors Are Real: Genesis GV90 Is a Super-Luxe SUV From Space appeared first on The Drive.

At a time when all the news in the gaming sphere appears to be dim or dire, I’m enormously grateful for the good people at Hamster. They’ve been porting classic arcade games, some of which never received home releases, to modern consoles for many years, and in 2025, they crossed a milestone with the release of the original arcade version of Ridge Racer. Later on we got Rave Racer and Ace Driver, which never launched on consoles in any capacity, and now, we’ll have the chance to enjoy one of Namco’s two-wheeled racers from the era, Cyber Cycles, in the comfort of our living rooms.

I will admit I’ve never played Cyber Cycles before. It’s not a game I recall seeing often in arcades, and it’s an especially rare find now. The fact that it’s one of those motorcycle racers with a bike you actually get on and lean probably makes it a bit harder to service and keep running than, say, a Ridge Racer or Daytona cab. But, like Rave Racer, it, too, was never released for consoles, and that makes Arcade Archives’ resurrection of it special.

Cyber Cycles is a futuristic motorcycle racer that offers three unique bikes (initially) and two tracks. The bikes each behave very differently: The Wild Hog is a cruiser-type ride that drifts through corners, the NVR750R is a contemporary superbike of the era that grips and leans more traditionally through corners, and the Anthias is a futuristic machine that trades top speed for the sharpest handling.

There are also secret bikes that seem to be tied to rather arcane unlock conditions, but fortunately, Hamster always does a good job of explaining how to access hidden content in these AA releases. One of them is apparently a penguin riding a scooter, which might make this the greatest racing game of all time.

The two courses are very different. Green Hill is a short, closes loop that looks a bit like the eastern portion of Suzuka, with its progressively tightening esses and broad first corner. The other track, Neo Yokohama, is a lot longer, more complex, and stylistically on the other end of the spectrum, set in a city with towering skyscrapers at night. It’s very Blade Runner.

Will most people care that a 31-year-old arcade racing game with a couple of bikes and exactly two tracks will soon be playable on modern hardware? Definitely not, but for those who appreciate this era of trailblazing, 3D polygonal arcade racing games, Cyber Cycles’ home release is an important milestone. Rave already was a big deal and, personally, my sights are set on Dirt Dash for Hamster to bring home next. It’s basically a mashup of Ridge Racer and Sega Rally, set on a massive, multi-terrain course you can start on from various points, with wildly different vehicle types. And, like the game we’re talking about today, it also never got the PlayStation port it deserved.

Got a tip? Reach out to tips@thedrive.com

The post Namco’s Cyber Cycles Is Finally Getting a Console Port After 31 Years appeared first on The Drive.

Welcome to The Downshift, or TDS for short, The Drive’s morning automotive news roundup, bringing you the biggest headlines from around the globe.

The Downshift sums up stories in short blurbs with links to the source for the full report. Here’s the news worth catching up on for Wednesday, August 19, 2026.

Our weekly podcast, The Drivecast, is on a short break for two weeks and will return September 2. You can find the latest episode here, and on all major platforms including Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Ford is reportedly planning a Bronco-based pickup truck that would presumably battle the Jeep Gladiator, with an eye toward a debut nearer to the end of the decade. [Automotive News]

Hyundai just previewed the upcoming Tucson over in South Korea, as it tends to with all its new cars before we see them debut Stateside. The design sheds the current generation’s swoopier and more angular aesthetic for a blocky motif and front and rear LED strips. [Car and Driver]

Significantly increased U.S. tariffs on Canada have been delayed for three days as the two countries continue to negotiate new terms. “Substantial progress has been made, although there is important work still to be done,” Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said, while U.S. President Donald Trump posted that the nations “subject to the finalization of documents, have a DEAL!” There’s currently no word on a prospective arrangement regarding auto imports. [Bloomberg]

BMW is recalling 28,000 vehicles in the U.S. across 5, 7, and 8 Series model lines, for defective couplings between the driveshaft and rear differential, which could lead to premature wear and elevate the risk of power loss or rolling away while parked. [Autoblog]

Turns out that the golf course-roving set has some interest in the Fiat Topolino, which is finally making its way to the U.S. now. The standard version of the microcar sold in the U.S. tops out at 19 mph and is not street-legal, but an optional kit raises the top speed to 25 mph and will allow owners to take it into traffic. [Bloomberg]

6⃣ Toyota is bringing a super-rare Corolla to the U.S., and it has nothing to do with Gazoo Racing. The 60th Anniversary model will be limited to 2,500 units and celebrates the compact’s Japanese debut in 1976. It will feature custom badging and machined 18-inch wheels. [Toyota]

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In nine days, Rockstar will premiere an “extended look” at Grand Theft Auto VI via Netflix. But internet sleuths are never satisfied waiting, and so Tuesday afternoon, two clips purportedly showing off a leaked build of the game hit the web.

Each video is a little over a minute long. To get an idea of how closely Rockstar appears to be monitoring things, between when I started to write this and publication, the original uploads were already taken down with a copyright claim. That might say something about their legitimacy. These videos were also plastered with URLs, QR codes, and ads for somebody’s cryptocurrency, which is unfortunately exactly the kind of clout chasing you’d expect to be attached to a GTA leak in 2026.

One of the pieces of footage shows protagonist Jason getting some fresh air at his house by the water, and shooting some hoops. This is the less relevant of the two clips to us at The Drive, though one particular point to note is that when Jason makes a basket, he gains a “Focus” stat. Perhaps GTA 6 will give people a reason to engage in all those frivolous recreational activities that some of us (hi) avoided in the last game, but that’s neither here nor there.

The other clip involves driving, if only briefly, and I’ve already seen some try to extrapolate sweeping inferences about the vehicle physics from it. It all happens at low speed, with the player ripping some handbrake turns in a rusted-out 1970 Vapid Ganado—the Ranchero-looking ride we’ve seen before. At one point, the pickup gets tagged by a mail truck and spins. The driver of the other vehicle can’t let it go, comes back to ram Jason again, and pauses his day of deliveries for a fight he’s bound to lose.

As this brawl happens and Jason very quickly emerges victorious, a naughty devil-emoji-style icon appears on the right side of the screen, perhaps indicating some kind of honor system. And when he walks past the truck’s bed to get back inside, options to modify his loadout appear overhead.

In previous games, you could basically carry as much equipment as you wanted, but GTA 6 appears to be a little more grounded. Similarly, tiny icons for the Ganado’s engine and fuel appear over the mini-map when Jason returns to the driver’s seat, hinting that you’ll have some additional considerations when wheeling about Leonida.

Based on all of these little details, some have inferred that GTA 6 is going in a slower-pace, more methodical, and realistic direction. I personally feel like I can’t make that call after two minutes of rather low-intensity gameplay, and it pretty much just looked like classic GTA 5 to my eye, with more intricate animations and much better lighting and shadows.

Some have said that these captures date back to 2023, suggesting that the final product will benefit from a visual bump. The footage shown with the publisher’s blessing on Netflix is sure to look better than this low-quality stream though—that’s for certain.

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Modern electric vehicles subscribe to one of two philosophies. Some play up the nature of their technology, behaving and operating in ways that are totally foreign to gas-powered cars because they’re not gas-powered cars, and therefore must be used with different considerations in mind. Others are designed to feel mostly traditional, pursuing a sense of familiarity for their owners, and more or less masquerade as normal cars that just so happen to be battery-powered.

There are advantages and disadvantages to both approaches, and neither is perfectly right or wrong, but the 2027 Subaru Uncharted is definitively the second kind of EV. And that’s why I like it.

The Uncharted is the smallest of Subaru’s three electric SUVs, repackaging the guts of the Solterra into a shorter footprint with a sleeker roofline. It starts at $36,445 including destination, and its only drivetrain option is a 221-horsepower electric motor mounted on the front axle.

That’s not the Uncharted you see here, though; I drove the dual-motor, all-wheel-drive GT variant that makes 338 hp and 323 lb-ft of torque. It cost quite a bit more than that—$45,720, to be precise. Every Uncharted comes equipped with a 74.7-kWh battery and, when paired with the dual-motor powertrain, it’s rated for up to 287 miles on a full charge. (It should be said that this GT model, with its larger alloys, promises only 273 miles. They look nice, but they’re not worth 14 miles on a full battery.)

Especially tuned-in readers will note the similarities between Subaru’s smallest EV and Toyota’s smallest EV, the C-HR. The key difference is that Subaru sells a front-wheel-drive Uncharted, while the C-HR starts at a higher price, as it only comes in dual-motor form. A bit odd, since you’d expect Subaru to be the carmaker to exclusively offer an all-wheel-drive version of something, but here we are.

The Uncharted is not a vehicle that’s getting a ton of buzz, and while I don’t think it’s a revelation or anything, it does offer plenty to like. I find it looks quite sharp, particularly from the rear three-quarters perspective, with its kicked-up haunches and tapered roofline. This GT model is also decent fun to drive—it’s nearly a whole second faster to 60 mph from a standstill than a WRX—with a comfortable, quiet ride and eager steering. Yeah, it rolls a lot when changing direction and weighs about 4,500 pounds, so it’s no WRX in the canyons, but it is nevertheless a fun, peppy daily.

It’s also pretty efficient. Sure, there are some people who would scoff at any EV that returns less than 300 miles on a full charge; on that note, the range-obsessed should know that the FWD Uncharted promises 308 miles. But this spicier version still easily delivered 4 miles per kWh on average without breaking a sweat during the week I had it, which is very solid. It also tops up at 11 kW through a Level 2 charger, which is better than the pre-refresh Solterra’s 7.6 kW, and up to 150 kW over Level 3 DC, all through a NACS port. That’s even with the new Chevy Bolt, but well behind the 350-kW Hyundai Ioniq 5.

Inside the cabin is where Subaru (and Toyota) demonstrate the most room for improvement. I don’t hate the positioning of the digital instrument cluster or how simple and easy to parse that display is, but surely they could’ve positioned it in a way where the top of the steering wheel didn’t obstruct it as easily. The Uncharted also heavily relies on its touchscreen for almost everything, including climate, but this infotainment system—which is really Toyota’s—is inconsistent. While I appreciate that it’s pretty straightforward to navigate, it’s also sluggish and messy, with many settings that aren’t explained well. Fonts straight up fail to load in the built-in navigation at times. At least you get those neat dual-zone temperature dials that incorporate the screen.

I like the steering wheel, which I’ve talked about before, and I really like the regen paddles, which let you modulate the strength of off-throttle energy recapture without digging through software menus. No, there’s no one-pedal driving mode in this car, and I suppose if that’s a dealbreaker for you, there are other options on the market. Personally, I’m totally fine with that, and I love the degree of granularity in stopping power the paddles provide.

On the flip side, the football-field expanse of differently textured plastics staring back at you from the driver’s seat is an unavoidable reminder that you’re sitting in a cheap EV, and there was absolutely no need for Subaru to devote so much otherwise useful center-console space to a pair of wireless phone chargers that 1) are anemically slow and 2) don’t keep anything in place. If they’d used the Qi 2 system with its integrated magnets, as Nissan has, I’d be more receptive to the idea.

Overall, though, what I genuinely like about the Uncharted is that it’s not different for the sake of being different. It’s pretty much as approachable as a normal car. Aspects like switching drive modes and nudging regen up or down are all done with paddles and buttons, not rendered in toggles buried in layers of menus. On top of that, it’s efficient, snappy, comfortable, and fairly sharp-looking. It’s not quite the value that the Bolt is—and, as with the Bolt, I wish it had a frunk—but I enjoy driving and using it much more, and I think it’s being slept on. Maybe Subaru doesn’t need three EVs in its lineup, but I’m still glad this one exists.

Subaru provided The Drive with a seven-day loan of this vehicle for the purpose of writing this review.

2026 Subaru Uncharted Specs

Quick Take

The Subaru Uncharted isn’t the best value among entry-level EVs, but it is a fun, attractive, and very solid all-rounder that is remarkably easy to wrap your head around, in a way more EVs should try to be.

The post 2027 Subaru Uncharted Quick Review: The Electric Crosstrek Everyone’s Sleeping On appeared first on The Drive.

Despite its obvious association with Japan, Japan isn’t the only country where you can ride the Shinkansen—colloquially referred to as the “bullet train”—to get around. The same high-speed trains used by JR Central and produced by a consortium of Japanese companies are also used elsewhere in Asia, including in Taiwan. Over the weekend, Taiwan took delivery of the first of 12 brand-new trains, based on the latest Shinkansen, and shipped from Japan via boat.

Each train is composed of 12 railcars, will measure just under 1,000 feet in length, and will travel up to 186 mph, or 300 km/h, according to Railway Pro. This new generation of Shinkansen is designed to be more efficient and operate with less vibration; it also uses lithium-ion backup batteries that allow the train to continue at a reduced speed if power is lost, while keeping the lights on and toilets running.

Taiwan was the first country to borrow Shinkansen tech for its own high-speed rail system 19 years ago. The line runs from Taipei at the north of the island, through the more developed western coast, and terminates at Kaohsiung in the west. It’s a distance of about 210 miles, takes around 90 minutes, and costs less than $50 for a one-way ticket.

This new Shinkansen equipment built by Hitachi and Toshiba won’t complete that journey any faster, but it figures to be a major update all the same, adding to the initial fleet that Japan first sold to Taiwan two decades ago.

It took two days for all 12 railcars comprising the first train to be unloaded off their cargo ship. Through the rest of the week, they’ll be transported by road from the port at Kaohsiung to the depot in Yanchao, where they’ll be assembled before hitting the track next summer. If you’re wondering how much an order like this costs, the invoice was about $840 million. Or, you know, 21 first-edition Ferrari Luces.

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The post Japan Just Shipped a 1,000-Foot Bullet Train to Another Country appeared first on The Drive.

Welcome to The Downshift, or TDS for short, The Drive’s morning news roundup serving the biggest automotive headlines from around the world.

The Downshift summarizes news items in a few sentences, with links to other sites to get the deeper story. Here’s your bulletin for Tuesday, August 18, 2026.

5⃣ While Audi hasn’t signaled that its trademark five-cylinder engine is living on borrowed time, the threat of ever-tightening emissions regulations always puts weird enthusiast engines in jeopardy. Fortunately, Audi Sport boss Rolf Michl is saying all the right things to indicate that the five-pot still has life ahead of it, saying in an interview that, “We’re well aware about the historical meaning of the five-cylinder,” and that, “Evaluations are still running, and people who know me know that I also have a personal relationship to the five-cylinder engine. It’s so characteristic and also deeply rooted in history—so let’s see.” Today, the motor is only used in the RS3. [Autocar]

Another day, another gargantuan backup faulty camera recall. This one is hitting Stellantis to the tune of just under 850,000 vehicles across 15 model lines that touch Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, and Ram. [Autoblog]

Negotiations are ongoing to cut down the U.S.’s tariff rate on Canadian vehicles, which currently sits at 25%. Key to the matter right now is whether North American content could be deducted from the tariff rate, or U.S. content specifically. The goal is a reduction to 15%, but depending on the final content rules, the “effective rate” could even be lowered to single digits. [Reuters]

Honda and Acura don’t currently offer hybrid powertrains in the HR-V subcompact SUV and its more luxurious counterpart, the ADX. Gary Robinson, American Honda product planning boss, indicated in an interview that the primary barrier to such technology is cost, particularly given that it’s an entry-level segment. [Automotive News]

Tesla may be planning to launch its Cybercab robotaxi fleet in Austin as soon as this month, according to a report citing anonymous individuals with knowledge of the company’s plans. [Reuters via The Information]

Additional details about Jaguar Land Rover’s plan to team up with Stellantis and use some of the latter’s production capacity to start building cars in the U.S. has come to ight thanks to a JLR earnings call. Chief Financial Officer Richard Molyneux made it clear that the company is eyeing production in the U.S. strictly—not Canada or Mexico—while stressing how valuable the U.S. market is to the company. “Remember, the US has 40% of the world’s millionaires, has a propensity to SUVs where we’re strong, and has a strong affinity to our brands: Range Rover, Defender, and Jaguar, in particular.” [CarBuzz]

Mate Rimac is not shying away from the possibility of a V16 Bugatti with a manual transmission; quite the opposite, in fact. When asked whether such a vehicle has a place at the storied brand, the chief executive said, “Yes, definitely. Definitely. I agree one hundred percent. Imagine [a] V-16 with a manual. Real manual.” [Road & Track]

Porsche specialist Ruf has shot down a report that the company was negotiating a potential sale to Porsche, saying that it’s “not for sale, and reports suggesting otherwise are false.” [Carscoops]

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When the 2027 World Endurance Championship kicks off in Qatar in March, Ford plans to be right there on the grid with a new prototype, carrying the legacy of the GT40 six decades since its triumphs. Earlier this month, the still-unnamed LMDh racer was testing at Paul Ricard in France, and Ford just released images of the session.

The machine uses a 5.4-liter V8 incorporating a block loosely based on the Coyote’s. It makes a suitably burbly tone you can sample below, and it’s bolted to an Oreca chassis. Genesis, Alpine, and Acura also use Oreca’s platform, and the last of those brands is set to exit IMSA at the end of the 2026 season.

As such, Tom Blomqvist and Nick Yelloly, two drivers who currently field the Acura ARX-06 in that championship, will be joining Ford’s WEC effort next year alongside Matt Campbell. Meanwhile, Logan Sargeant, Mike Rockenfeller, and Sebastian Priaulx will compete in another entry.

The images seen here are from the car’s shakedown on August 5. Earlier today, Campbell and Sargeant were scheduled to drive.

Although LMDh-class cars tend to blend together from a design perspective, Ford’s contender appears to bear more similarity, stylistically speaking, to the Genesis than the Alpine or Acura, with its smoother bodywork and flatter nose. I’m picking up a little Porsche 963 along the front end, and the way the tail kicks up along the rear fender, just below the wing, almost seems like a nod to the Mustang. Also, note the subtle stripe and “FORD” in block lettering along the bottom edge of the profile, referencing the legendary GT40.

Will Ford’s return to Le Mans’ top class be as successful? If it is, it probably won’t happen immediately; it takes some time for teams to get up to speed in endurance racing, after all. Who knows what the future holds, though? At least we can be damn sure it’ll sound good—hear for yourself.

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BMW has taken Mini to some unexpected places since it resurrected the brand in 2000, stretching the iconic hatch into wagons and SUVs and even squishing it down to a “coupe” festooned with a backwards baseball cap. But new insights from the development team indicate that the next act could be even further afield from Mini’s past than any of those examples: It could go rear-wheel drive.

Yes, the famously front-wheel drive Mini—a vehicle intrinsically linked to that drivetrain and the space-saving benefits it afforded, especially when combined with a transversely mounted engine—could become a rear-drive car next go-around, based on comments that BMW officials have made to Autocar.

The reason is apparently down to the hardware BMW currently has on the shelf. According to the publication, BMW’s Gen 6 platform that supports the Neue Klasse models is based around a rear-axle drive unit with a gearbox. While there are dual-motor versions of the i3 and iX3 that add propulsion on the front axle, those motors are supplementary in nature.

BMW engineers reportedly told Autocar that they aren’t working on an equivalent main drive motor for the front axle, so the next Mini EV would likely end up flipping the script. In fact, the upcoming electric BMW 1 Series—formerly a front-wheel-drive car—has been rumored to do the same.

Now, none of that speaks to Mini’s future for internal-combustion cars. Fans will note that the current Cooper EV we don’t get in the States is actually a completely different vehicle from the gas-powered version that looks similar. Great Wall Motor in China produces the electric one, while the contemporary gas Mini is a comprehensive restyling of the previous-gen model.

Could BMW continue that strategy into the future, offering a front-drive, gas-powered Mini alongside a rear-drive, battery-propelled one? Or, will the company elect to offer a hybrid based on the EV? That would have to be all-wheel drive, theoretically, but it’d at least be slightly closer to tradition.

It’s worth stressing that these scenarios are merely speculation based on what Autocar’s heard from BMW brass, but after decades of seeing prominent nameplates trade rear- for front-wheel drive, much to the chagrin of enthusiasts, it’s strange to envision a world in which the opposite bears out. And it’s even stranger to imagine it happening to the Mini Cooper, of all cars.

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The post The Famously Front-Wheel-Drive Mini Cooper May Not Stay That Way for Long appeared first on The Drive.

Hello and welcome to The Downshift, or TDS for short, The Drive‘s morning news roundup that gathers the biggest automotive headlines from around the world.

The Downshift summarizes stories into a few sentences and adds links for those seeking more detail. We hope you had a great weekend—here’s your bulletin for Monday, August 17, 2026.

The sixth-gen Jeep Cherokee only just arrived for the 2026 model year, after the previous generation lasted from 2014 to 2023. But Stellantis is already planning to replace it with a successor in 2029 that will be built at the company’s Belvidere Assembly plant in Illinois—rather than Mexico, as the current SUV is—and use the newer STLA One architecture. [Automotive News]

Porsche North America CEO Timo Resch said in an interview that while the company’s manual transmission and hybrid powertrain are not currently compatible, he “wouldn’t be surprised if at some point [Porsche engineers] come up with a solution.” [Road & Track]

On that subject, if you’re a Lamborghini collector who is waiting for Sant’Agata to jump on the manual bandwagon that so many other high-end automakers have, you probably shouldn’t hold your breath. CEO Stephan Winklemann said in Monterey over the weekend that manuals are “mostly for collectibles, and today we don’t have any plans” to offer a three-pedal car. [CarBuzz]

Toyota is recalling its still very new bZ Woodland battery-powered SUV/wagon due to the risk of an electric short that could disengage electronic stability control and illuminate the brake lights at the same time, even if the brakes are not being used. [Autoblog]

Ferrari Luce “Chassis 0” clad in a bespoke white paint job sold at a charity auction in Monterey over the weekend for $40 million, proving that no matter how deeply some very vocal people hate something, there will always be someone out there willing to throw titanic amounts of money at it. [Reuters]

Weekend race winners:

• NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series at Richmond: Kayden Honeycutt for Tricon Garage
• NASCAR Cup Series at Richmond: Joey Logano for Team Penske
• IndyCar at Ontario: Marcus Ericsson for Andretti Global

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The post The Jeep Cherokee Just Returned Only to Be Replaced in 3 Years: TDS appeared first on The Drive.

Unlike 30 years ago, there’s nothing necessarily forcing the automakers that race endurance prototypes to sell their wares to deep-pocketed clients. Still, some do anyway. Ferrari and Aston Martin make versions of their Le Mans Hypercars for amateurs to take to the track, and Porsche crafted a one-off, road-legal version of its 963 inspired by Count Rossi’s 917 to sell to a Mr. Roger Penske. Cadillac appears to be thinking about doing stuff like this, too, but it’s not making any commitments yet.

This is the V-One. Cadillac calls it a “concept study,” obviously based off the V-Series.R LMDh. In the company’s own words, it “explores how competition hardware can be translated into a driver-focused experience.” On the surface, it’s basically the same machine that earned Caddy the 2023 IMSA team and drivers’ titles wearing different colors. Inside, though, you’ll notice it’s much more friendly to us non-racing drivers, with simplified controls, intentional design that sacrifices some function for aesthetics, and a singular bucket seat that is actually upholstered.

Much of the running gear here is the same as what the competition version deploys, with an 830-horsepower V8 hybrid powertrain, pushrod suspension, and all of the aero components you’re recognize from race day. The wheels are unique, and Cadillac says the gradient on the body isn’t a wrap, but was sprayed by hand.

So, the V-One is basically a V-Series R with creature comforts. It isn’t a clean-sheet design that takes sports prototype tech and refines and optimizes it for road use, like the Ferrari F80 or Aston Martin Valkyrie. It also isn’t, itself, a road-legal, homologation special-type version of a race car, like the 963 RSP. While I support the idea of Cadillac selling a version of its Le Mans racer to entities other than racing teams, as of now, this is just a tease on display at The Quail. Let’s hope it becomes more someday.

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The post Is Cadillac Cool Enough to Sell Its Le Mans Prototype to Private Buyers Like Its Rivals? appeared first on The Drive.

Welcome to The Downshift, or TDS for short, The Drive’s morning news roundup bringing you the biggest automotive headlines from around the world.

The Downshift recaps news briefly, with links to full stories for those seeking more info. This is your bulletin for Friday, August 14, 2026.

Ferrari has pulled the sheet off a new one-off for an anonymous U.S.-based client. Called the CZ26, it’s built on the SF90 Stradale with a new exterior design that pulls equally from the 12Cilindri and Luce. The latter might be triggering for some, but the result looks solid and certainly more aggressive. [Ferrari]

Former JLR Chief Creative Officer has gone on record with Autocar about the drama surrounding his exit from the company, as well as Jaguar’s controversial “Copy of Nothing” rebrand. “I didn’t even know what wokeism meant at the time,” McGovern said on the outlet’s podcast, adding that, “We realized that, from a comms perspective, this is being misinterpreted. So, we had to make adjustments.” McGovern, now an advisor to Norton Motorcycles, also said that he “decided” to leave JLR and was not pushed out, calling the rumor that he was fired “disinformation.” [Autocar, Automotive News]

Detroit’s Big Three are reportedly concerned about the fallout from USMCA re-negotiations, particularly as competitors based outside of the U.S., in Europe and Asia, benefit from flat tariff rates that are more favorable than manufacturing in Mexico and Canada. [Reuters]

The 2027 Lincoln Nautilus has been revealed with a fresh face, a new lightbar out back, and additional interior colorways and trim options. Ford aims to begin producing the Nautilus domestically, as it was previously built only in China. [Ford]

The 2027 Genesis GV80 Hybrid is the company’s first vehicle with such a powertrain, borrowing the Palisade’s 2.5 Turbo setup for a combined 347 horsepower. [Genesis]

As part of the many Monterey Car Week debuts, Czinger has also introduced a roofless version of its 21C hypercar, armed with 1,250 horsepower and more downforce than any open-air production car, according to the company. [Czinger]

A Polestar dealer in New Jersey that is none too happy about the automaker’s U.S. ban is suing the company, alleging that it “orchestrated” its exit from the country because it supposedly already had plans to leave. [The Wall Street Journal]

Weekend races to watch (all times Eastern):

• NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series at Richmond: Friday at 7:30 p.m. on FS1
• NASCAR Cup Series at Richmond: Saturday at 7 p.m. on USA
• IndyCar at Ontario: Sunday at 12 p.m. on Fox

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The post Ferrari CZ26 One-Off Stirs Some Luce Into the SF90 Stradale: TDS appeared first on The Drive.

If anyone truly bears the responsibility of keeping the manual transmission alive, it’s companies like McLaren, Ferrari, and Porsche—manufacturers that famously spare no expense on making their vehicles as excellent as they can be, and can frankly charge whatever they like for the privilege of ownership. But when even Maranello can’t seem to find a way to link up a true manual gearbox to its V12, something is seriously wrong.

Fortunately, this year’s Monterey Car Week has brought about a row-your-own renaissance, and the latest to finally join the party is McLaren. It’s just revealed its first manual supercar since the F1 more than 30 years ago, and it’s called the McL 6GT.

It’s a strange name, mashing up McLaren’s current Formula 1 chassis nomenclature with the spirit of its old Can-Am race cars, like the M6. Technically, what you see here is a concept, but the McL 6GT is promised to enter production in 2028, with its stick and three pedals in tow.

Modern McLarens, from the MP4-12C to the Artura and even extreme examples like the Senna and W1, tend to follow some core design tenets. There’s a familiarity in their rooflines; tapered, curved noses usually incorporating the brand’s swoopy logo as a motif; and rear ends exposed for cooling and airflow. The McL 6GT doesn’t feature any of these things, however, which might make it the company’s most unique design since it relaunched its road-car operation 15 years ago. And honestly, I think it’s perfect.

There are references to the M6 GT abound, from the vertical headlights and Kamm tail to the position and shape of every duct, rendered with a simplicity that we used to see in supercars of the ’90s and 2000s but see less today. And inside, McLaren has transformed the shifter into an art piece itself, its metallic linkages attracting natural light from every angle in a sea of black and carbon fiber. They’re clearly proud of it, and they suitably want it to be the focal point in here.

At the moment, McLaren has revealed precious few details about the McL 6GT under the skin. It’s powered by a V8, as so many of the company’s products are, though we don’t know if it’s turbocharged or naturally aspirated. There’s no hybrid assistance, as you’d guess, with the company promising a “tactile, analogue, and deeply mechanical” experience, and the monocoque and body are all made of carbon fiber.

What’s more, McLaren bills this as a “new type” of supercar “beyond the core portfolio.” Based on that, it sounds like manual transmissions aren’t about to become a standard feature of the brand; that, beyond the delineation of “Sports, Super, and Ultimate” models of the past, McLaren is diversifying into more exclusive offerings that, at least in this particular case, pursue a more analog experience counter to the regular lineup. For now, anyway.

It’s a direction the company teased just weeks back during the Goodwood Festival of Speed, when it restored Bruce McLaren’s personal M6 GT—a Can-Am machine essentially rebodied with a closed cockpit for Le Mans and the like, that never actually competed and was ultimately converted into a road car. That M6 GT is essentially a blueprint for what McLaren seems to want to achieve with this machine, with the benefit of another half-century of technological progress and refinement to pull from. Sign us up.

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The post McLaren Revives Manual in First Stick-Shift Supercar Since F1 appeared first on The Drive.

Welcome to The Downshift, or TDS for short, The Drive’s morning news roundup bringing you the biggest automotive headlines from around the world.

Every item in The Downshift includes a link you can follow for the deeper story. Here’s your bulletin for Thursday, August 13, 2026.

The latest episode of The Drivecast, The Drive’s weekly podcast, went live yesterday on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you get your podcasts.

Global sales of electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids rose 9% in July compared to a year earlier, per analytics firm Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, even though in North America specifically, EV sales have slumped 27% over that same period due to the end of federal incentives. [Reuters]

Over the last six months, the average price of a new EV in the U.S. had been decreasing. That ended in July, when the average rose 1.2% over the previous month and 1.6% year-over-year. This directly correlates to a reduction in automaker incentive spending. [Electrek]

Mercedes’ Chief Software Officer, Magnus Östberg, has announced he will leave the company at the end of August. Östberg joined the company in 2021 and shaped MB.OS, the automaker’s latest operating system that debuted on the new CLA. [Automotive News]

Meanwhile, Merc CEO Ola Källenius is talking up the upcoming AMG GT Black Series that has been spied testing at the Nürburgring, saying, “Sometimes you must allow the engineers to go crazy, and the next car like that is in the making,” and adding that the new track-focused supercar “will be insane, and it will be something completely different that nobody expects.” [Autocar]

Jeep has introduced a new Grand Cherokee variant, called the Laredo Upland, that adds all-terrain tires and off-roady trim pieces at a more affordable price point than the Overland or Trailhawk. [Stellantis]

General Motors’ and LG’s Ohio battery plant has been shut down for the past seven months due to a reported lack of demand, but production is finally expected to resume there next week. [Reuters]

The Cadillac F1 team has announced that Marcin Budkowski will replace Graeme Lowdon as team principal. [Racer]

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The post Global EV Sales Are Still Rising, Even Without America’s Help: TDS appeared first on The Drive.

Over the years, we’ve seen plenty of automakers get cute with the very concept of a steering wheel. Yokes and squircles have become commonplace, despite not a single person ever asking for them. Likewise, when I first saw the pseudo-hexagonal wheel inside the Subaru Uncharted that I tested last week, I was highly skeptical. In time, though, I actually came to realize that none of the frustrations I often associate with non-standard steering devices applied here. To my surprise, I actually liked wrangling the 4,500-pound EV with this thing.

To be clear, that’s not entirely because of this wheel’s shape. The most positive thing I could say about that aspect was that I didn’t hate it nearly as much as I expected to, and it wasn’t the learning adjustment that, say, the Lincoln Nautilus’ even flatter wheel was for me a few years back. There’s a weird sense of pinpoint accuracy I get when grabbing the wheel by one of its “corners,” coupled with the very tight steering ratio and the lack of force required to move it.

That said, I’m way more of a 9-and-3 guy than a 10-and-2, and so that’s how I typically got to grips with the Uncharted, finding the wheel’s outline to be conducive to that positioning. Subaru (and/or Toyota, which sells the same vehicle as the C-HR) also places copious physical buttons to the left and right of the center within easy reach. And this, truth be told, is why I really fell in love with this steering wheel.

These buttons are almost comically huge, and laid out in a way that just makes sense. Volume takes the form of a rocker. Skipping tracks is done using the left and right arrows. (I know that sounds like the most ordinary idea in the world, but apparently not if you designed the Cadillac Optiq I’m testing now!) The directional pad, used to change what’s shown on the tiny digital instrument cluster that’s mounted oh-so-far-away in this car, is similarly spacious, and overall, I was just taken aback by the lack of a learning curve here.

To be fair, this phenomenon is more unique to car journalists than to most people. We complain about the minute differences in automakers’ infotainment systems, ergonomics, or software logic, because we get into different cars on a weekly or monthly basis. This isn’t something most folks have to face; they simply buy a car and learn to use it. That said, I do believe that common-sense design and engineering are ideals worth chasing and, in spite of the off-putting shape of the Uncharted’s steering wheel, it is a remarkably common-sense instrument.

There’s something else I adore about the way this whole thing was designed, and that’s the paddles. In the context of Subaru and Toyota’s EVs, the regenerative braking force can be stepped up or down off-throttle, with four levels of strength available. I know everyone feels differently about regen, but as someone who, frankly, hates one-pedal driving, I love the granularity with which you can modify the car’s behavior, and I definitely appreciate the ease.

Most EVs shuffle you through a menu or three to change this setting, and here, Subaru has put it right in front of the driver, allowing you to adapt the vehicle’s behavior to whatever driving situation you’re in. Honestly, it’s the way all EVs should work.

My only gripe is that the Uncharted doesn’t remember what level of regen you left it at since the last time you used the car, so it always defaults to the lowest strength. Again, that doesn’t really bother me because super-heavy energy recuperation drives me nuts, but there’s no practical reason the vehicle simply can’t retain that choice.

Overall, though, the Uncharted’s steering wheel really surprised me. It has the appearance of something foreign and futuristic, but it’s actually pretty straightforward, and I wish more EVs were designed like this—like normal cars. Too many automakers lose themselves in this convoluted mindset that EVs are spaceships that need arcane, esoteric controls and user-facing software, and all that ultimately turns away potential buyers and frustrates those who decide to take the plunge. Many of the qualities that make a good gas car or hybrid also make a good battery-powered one, and it’s that ethos that has generally left me pretty pleased about the Uncharted. Keep your eyes peeled for my full review in the coming weeks.

Is there a modern steering wheel that you happen to like? Let us know down in the comments!

The post The Subaru Uncharted’s Steering Wheel Is Surprisingly Good appeared first on The Drive.

Welcome to The Downshift, or TDS for short, The Drive’s morning automotive news roundup, bringing you the biggest headlines from around the globe.

The Downshift sums up stories in short blurbs with links to the source for the full report. Here’s the news worth catching up on for Wednesday, August 12, 2026.

The latest episode of The Drivecast, The Drive’s new weekly podcast, will go live later today. Be sure to stay tuned, whether you listen on The Drive, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. After this, the show will take a two-week break as Kyle heads off to Pebble Beach for Monterey Car Week and Joel enjoys a much-needed vacation.

Jaguar has shared the first images—though they’re more like renders—of the interior for the production version of its controversial Type 01 electric coupe. The cabin is rather simple and austere, with a large digital instrument cluster that spans half the dashboard, and a very small central panel between the front seats for climate and media. The steering wheel bears generous controls, though they appear to be capacitive, rather than physical buttons. The Type 01 will fully debut in New York on October 6. [Jaguar]

Dodge CEO Matt McAlear is making noise about the GLH, an upcoming model that sounds like both a compact crossover, in the vein of the short-lived Hornet, and a hot hatch. The body style isn’t exactly clear, but the executive said, “We want to design a Dodge first, and we’ve got some ideas that we’re working on that’s really going to separate it and be unique to market, and some things that make it stand out.” Also, an SRT version is definitely in the cards. [Automotive News]

Auto loans in the U.S. reached a record $211 billion from April through June, according to the New York Fed. Adjusted for inflation, the surge in borrowing for car buyers is lower than it was in 2021 during the pandemic. [Reuters]

Rivian is recalling just shy of 4,000 R1S and R1T vehicles for front turn signals that may not work properly. If this recall sounds familiar, that’s because a similar one was announced last year, but apparently Rivian’s supplier failed to quarantine good replacement parts from bad, causing it to run into the same issue again. [Autoblog]

Porsche will pair its emissions data for Europe with Xpeng, the Chinese EV maker involved with Volkswagen Group, rather than Volkswagen Group itself, as it has done in the past. This will reportedly allow VW to better achieve its emissions targets, and should be easier on Porsche as well, given that Xpeng only makes EVs. [Automotive News]

General Motors will try to guard against future supply chain disruptions through a deal with an third-party firm, Procura Auto Parts, to handle purchasing certain components from suppliers and managing inventory. [Reuters]

Got a tip or feedback for TDS? Reach out to tips@thedrive.com

The post Jaguar Gives Us a Glimpse of Type 01 EV’s Dashboard: TDS appeared first on The Drive.

Welcome to The Downshift, or TDS for short, The Drive’s morning news roundup serving the biggest automotive headlines from around the world.

The Downshift summarizes news items in a few sentences, with links to other sites to get the deeper story. Here’s your bulletin for Tuesday, August 11, 2026.

General Motors and Samsung’s joint battery plant in Indiana won’t involve GM at all, it turns out, as the automaker has decided to sell its 49.99% stake in the $3.5 billion project to its partner, making it fully owned by Samsung. The facility was announced three years ago and is still in development. [Automotive News]

Stellantis decided to bring a Chrysler Pacifica nobody asked for to Roadkill Nights, and it actually looks pretty sick? The VANkulture Pacifica sports a VIS Racing bodykit, 20-inch Vossen wheels, fat track tires, big Rotora brakes, coilovers, matte-metallic red paint to fit it soundly in the SRT family, and…no powertrain improvements whatsoever, aside from a Magnaflow exhaust. So close. [Stellantis]

Car sales within China continue to fall, with July marking the 10th straight month of decline and approximately 21% fewer sales than a year earlier. However, exports by Chinese automakers to other markets soared by 88%, continuing a trend that’s played out through 2026 so far. [Reuters]

Designer David Woodhouse, who previously served at Lincoln and Nissan, has joined McLaren as its Chief Creative Officer. [Ford Authority]

Speaking of which, do you need a new battery pack for your McLaren P1? Fortunately, a company by the name of V Engineering in England has introduced a new battery that is about 50 pounds lighter while also sporting over double the energy capacity of the original unit, specifically for McLaren’s hybrid halo hypercar of a decade ago. It all goes to show how far EV technology has advanced. [Autocar]

A Virginia woman is suing Tesla for $10 million after crashing the Model Y she was test driving into a nail salon because it was allegedly set to “Insane Mode,” which allows it to accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in as little as 3.3 seconds. [Automotive News]

Got a tip or feedback for TDS? Reach out to tips@thedrive.com

The post GM Sells Joint EV Battery Plant to Samsung: TDS appeared first on The Drive.

Automatic License Plate Readers (ALPRs) from a variety of vendors—most infamously Flock, but also products like ELSAG from a company called Leonardo—have been receiving plenty of attention as of late, for good reason. These systems can track individuals through a network of cameras, no warrants required, as my colleague here at The Drive unfortunately discovered first-hand last month. Leonardo has more recently marketed a new product called SignalTrace that isn’t an ALPR but can be paired with them to correlate plates with various wireless signals, including Wi-Fi and Bluetooth as well as frequencies emitted by everything from tire pressure monitoring sensors to pet microchips.

Or, at least, that’s what Leonardo claims, anyway; a security researcher recently dove into SignalTrace’s marketed capabilities to separate what’s feasible from what isn’t, and his analysis is worth sharing.

Ryan O’Horo is an offsec engineer and security consultant. He identified several SignalTrace installations in Oxon Hill, Maryland, courtesy of the Prince George’s County Police Department. As far as O’Horo knows, these are the only real-world deployments of SignalTrace to date, though he’s encouraging anyone who comes across any others to bring them to his attention.

So, there’s reason to believe that SignalTrace tech isn’t sprouting from lamp posts and traffic signals at every intersection in America quite yet. But what’s particularly valuable about O’Horo’s coverage—and something that, frankly, gets lost when us security laypeople talk about what these systems can actually achieve—is that it takes stock of the limitations that companies like Leonardo naturally aren’t talking about.

First off, electronics don’t incessantly broadcast identifiable data, so SignalTrace would need to catch your phone, for example, at the proper time to scoop anything up. Also, transmissions happen across channels, and it’s a challenge for one radio to keep tabs on all of them simultaneously. Leonardo could circumvent some limitations with custom components, but that’s not what the company says it’s using for SignalTrace, having advertised “off-the-shelf” parts, as O’Horo points out.

Those are a few hurdles right off the bat. As O’Horo pokes into the kinds of devices Leonardo says SignalTrace can tap into, however, we see more gaps between the product’s advertised capabilities and what’s realistically possible. Flat-panel antennas like SignalTrace’s cannot pick up the sorts of frequencies that the most common tire pressure sensors operate on. And pet microchips—RFID tags operating on very low frequencies—are usually only readable at a distance of centimeters. O’Horo speculates that what Leonardo’s marketing actually means to refer to in the latter case are Wi-Fi/Bluetooth-enabled pet collars.

That’s really the rub, here, though. Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are everywhere and obviously work at long ranges, making them especially vulnerable to tracking, and presenting the best opportunity for SignalTrace to do damage even if other potential avenues are less feasible. Although there still appears to be some distance between Leonardo’s marketing and reality—O’Horo speculates that it would take multiple passes of the same sensors, or multiple collection points to pick up all possible signals, for example—Wi-Fi and Bluetooth scanning are tools that some Flock cameras already have in their repertoire today.

In some respects, surveillance solutions like SignalTrace are being oversold but, in others, it doesn’t matter, and we’ve already arrived at the problem with what’s commercially available right now. All that said, I encourage anyone especially curious and with a penchant for the technical side of this topic to dig into O’Horo’s blog, which obviously goes into much further detail than this post.

Got a tip? Reach out to tips@thedrive.com

The post License Plate Camera Companies Want You to Believe They Can Track Everything. An Expert Explains Why They Can’t appeared first on The Drive.

Hello and welcome to The Downshift, or TDS for short, The Drive‘s morning news roundup that gathers the biggest automotive headlines from around the world.

The Downshift summarizes stories into a few sentences and adds links for those seeking more detail. We hope you had a great weekend—here’s your bulletin for Monday, August 10, 2026.

The Fathom electric pickup isn’t the only cheap Ford on the horizon, as the automaker reportedly showed attendees at a dealer event in Las Vegas an entry-level crossover with a starting price around $25,000. Such a vehicle would help fill the gap vacated by the Edge and EcoSport at the bottom of the company’s lineup. Ford is also said to have presented a prototype for a four-door Mustang at the event, with a targeted starting price below $40,000. The design of the sport sedan was compared to the Porsche Panamera, and in previous events, the company referred to it as the Mach-4. [Automotive News]

Volkswagen has introduced the second-generation Atlas Cross Sport for the 2027 model year. Compared to the normal Atlas, it’s shorter, has a lower roof, and features two rows of seating rather than three. It’s powered by the Evo 5 revision of VW’s tested EA888 turbocharged four-cylinder, which makes 282 horsepower in this application. [Automotive News]

Porsche SE, the top shareholder of Volkswagen controlled by the Porsche-Piëch family, pledged support for the automaker’s transformative restructuring plan that has already cut tens of thousands of jobs in Germany and threatens to eliminate even more. [Reuters]

A man in Dallas died Friday after being hit by an SUV, which threw him 30 feet into the path of oncoming traffic, where a Waymo robotaxi struck him. Nobody was occupying the Waymo at the moment of impact, according to police. The investigation into the incident is still ongoing. [NBC Dallas-Fort Worth]

Mitsubishi has a new crossover for Australia and New Zealand that admittedly looks quite sharp, called the ASX VR-e, that was penned by Pininfarina. However, it’s really a Foxtron-built EV underneath. [Autoblog]

In one of the oddest headlines we’ve see in quite some time, two Mercedes-AMG owners are suing the company because they were allegedly branded by the metallic AMG badge the automaker places on its front seats. Per the complaint, a dermatologist apparently confirmed that one of the plaintiff’s burns matched the outline of the AMG logo. [Motor1]

Weekend race winners:

• NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series at Iowa: Carson Kvapil for JR Motorsports
• MotoGP British Grand Prix: Raúl Fernández for Trackhouse Racing
• NASCAR Cup Series at Iowa: Ty Gibbs for Joe Gibbs Racing
• IndyCar at Portland: Alex Palou for Chip Ganassi Racing

Got a tip or feedback for TDS? Reach out to tips@thedrive.com

The post Ford Pitched $40K Mustang Sedan and $25K SUV to Dealers: TDS appeared first on The Drive.

Welcome to The Downshift, The Drive’s morning news roundup serving up the biggest automotive headlines from around the world.

The Downshift recaps news briefly, with links to full stories for those seeking more info. Here’s your bulletin for Friday, August 7, 2026.

A “company source” told Reuters that Volkswagen is planning to kickstart its U.S. business with a new CEO—Marco ​Schubert—and even a pickup truck. The objective is for the truck to be on sale before the end of the decade and, as you’d figure, it would be built locally to avoid the chicken tax. [Reuters]

Toyota has announced a recall for more than half a million Camry sedans across the 2025 and 2026 models related to a faulty instrument cluster display that may suddenly go blank while driving. This specifically covers vehicles with the 7-inch version of the display—the larger, 12.3-inch one is fine. The good news is that the fix can be done through a software update; the bad news is that the dealer must perform it, so owners will have to bring their vehicles in for service. [Autoblog]

In other Toyota news, the Prius has continued its downward sales trajectory in the U.S., recording a 40.3% dive through 2026 so far versus the same point last year. What’s interesting about this, however, is that the plug-in model is doing great; it’s the standard hybrid Prius that is underperforming, perhaps because Toyota has electrified so many of its other vehicles, and even the Camry comes standard with a conventional hybrid powertrain today. [CarBuzz]

Once upon a time, Maserati was going all-electric. Those days are in the past, however, and so the Italian luxury marque has raised the subject of selling V8s again. Don’t expect them to import Hemis from the U.S., though—these would be smaller engines made to fit in cars like the GranTurismo and GranCabrio. [CarSales]

Ford has restarted sale of the Chinese-built Lincoln Nautilus Hybrid in Canada. It isn’t known if the automaker is doing this through the recently started quota system, limiting the quantity of vehicles Chinese manufacturers can bring into the country. [Automotive News]

There’s a special edition of the BMW M2 CS now available in Japan called the “Edge.” Rather than being sold in Mystichrome, though, it has special design touches, including a stacked center-exit exhaust you wouldn’t see on the regular sport sedan, as well as a carbon-fiber engine cover. Production is limited to 40 units. [BMWBlog]

Weekend races to watch (all times Eastern):

• NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series at Iowa: Saturday at 5 p.m. on CW
• MotoGP British Grand Prix: Sunday at 8 a.m. on Fox One
• NASCAR Cup Series at Iowa: Sunday at 3:30 p.m. on USA
• IndyCar at Portland: Sunday at 4 p.m. on Fox

Got a tip or feedback for TDS? Reach out to tips@thedrive.com

The post Volkswagen’s US Comeback Plan Involves a Pickup Truck: TDS appeared first on The Drive.

It’s safe to call Forza Horizon 6 the biggest racing game of the year. Released back in May, it peaked at over 300,000 concurrent players on Steam days after launch. And remember—that’s just Steam, not including console and PC players through the Xbox platform, which Microsoft doesn’t publicly share player count logs for. But all hype subsides and everything that is up must come down, so, as of last month, FH6 averaged a hair under 29,000 concurrent players at any given time, a tenth of its record. It may surprise you to know what game is speeding up behind, and could soon be right on its gearbox.

BeamNG.drive, the vehicle physics sandbox that’s been playable, in one form or another, for more than a decade at this point, notched an average of 20,660 concurrent players on Steam in July, an 8.45% rise, per data first spotted by Overtake. The game, while technically still in early access, enjoys a thriving community of modders and just received its biggest update ever, which integrates Gran Turismo’s open-source tone-mapping system for more lifelike colors and lighting.

I will admit that I personally have very limited experience with BeamNG.drive; frankly, I wouldn’t have the slightest idea where to start if I booted it up right now. I’m probably most familiar with it through TikToks where players fling vehicles of various types and sizes off ramps under different gravities. If you ever wanted to know what would happen to a Cybertruck subject to 30 times the forces of Earth, BeamNG’s your game.

Nevertheless, this is an interesting development, one that goes beyond inside-baseball industry relevance. Triple-A games costing $80 are becoming more and more commonplace, and even the ones that technically cost less to get in, like FH6, upsell their audience to premium versions with more goodies for as much as $120. Grand Theft Auto VI notably will launch with an $80 standard release that locks you out of customizing characters and vehicles, which is obviously a huge draw of GTA for many players. To get those privileges, you’ll need to drop $100 on the “Ultimate Edition.”

Are players getting tired of this? I don’t have the data in front of me to prove it, but it’s generally not a trend you’d figure most consumers would probably love. So it might mean something that a game that costs $25 and offers a billion different ways to have fun, so long as you are willing to get your hands dirty, is finding a similarly sized audience, at least on PC.

It’s also worth pointing out how completely different these two games are. BeamNG is an in-the-weeds simulation sandbox that everyone sets up differently to deliver the experience they’re looking for; Horizon is a pick-up-and-play open-world racing game that is pretty much as frictionless as they come, but still much more rigid in its format. FH6 also, like so many modern, big-budget games, operates on a FOMO loop, with limited-time rewards available to those who pour the most time in, to keep that active player count high.

These titles couldn’t be more unlike each other if they tried, and yet, they took the top two spots for the racing genre on Steam last month, with a massive gap to Assetto Corsa behind them.

SteamDB’s data since BeamNG’s release doesn’t indicate that this is attention is an aberration, either. Surveying the past decade, the game has trended up and up, first seriously gaining pace midway through 2020 into 2021. Its concurrent-player peak also occurred just last month immediately after that big update, when it notched 47,424 users. It’s clearly in a very healthy spot now, which is very impressive, particularly as it’s made by a modestly sized, independent team of 70 people, located all around the world. Maybe all the publishers charging big money yet closing studios could stand to learn a thing or two from them.

Got a news tip? Let us know at tips@thedrive.com

The post An Obscure Physics Sim Is Reeling in Almost as Many Players as Forza Horizon 6 on Steam appeared first on The Drive.

Welcome to The Downshift, or TDS for short, The Drive’s morning automotive news roundup bringing you the biggest headlines from around the globe.

The Downshift summarizes stories with a sentence or two, along with links for those who wish to dive deeper. Here’s what’s cooking on Thursday, August 6, 2026.

The latest episode of The Drivecast, The Drive’s weekly podcast, went live yesterday on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you get your podcasts.

Mercedes-AMG has introduced a less-powerful electric four-door GT, the GT53, making 536 horsepower from two electric motors instead of three, which is less than half of the GT63’s titanic output. On the flip side, though, it has better range—up to 503 miles under the WLTP testing criteria, against the pricier model’s 432 miles. [Mercedes]

Honda doesn’t expect to restart production at its two plants in Japan until August 19 at the earliest, as one of its key suppliers works to restore activity following the July 28 earthquake that also disrupted Toyota, Mitsubishi, and Nissan. [Automotive News]

The 2027 Toyota bZ Woodland is just $80 more than last year’s version, starting at $45,380. However, Subaru’s version, the Trailseeker, which also has standard dual-motor all-wheel drive but begins around $5,000 cheaper with less equipment, has demonstrated it’s the clear favorite for buyers. From the start of deliveries in the spring through June, Subaru moved 2,436 examples of the wagon, while Toyota sold 554 units. [Autoblog]

EVgo will soon deploy hundreds of Tesla V4 Superchargers with its own branding, as part of its own network. We don’t exactly know where they’ll pop up first, but the first sites will begin emerging through the back half of this year. [Electrek]

Bugatti’s got another one-off built on the bones of the Bolide. This one is called the Destrier, and it carves a unique silhouette, inspired by the Type 57SC Atlantic. [Autocar]

Earlier this year, the Netherlands approved Tesla’s Full Self-Driving semi-autonomous driving software for use after a safety review. However, the contents of that review are being kept private, reportedly due to pressure from Tesla, over concern about sharing commercial secrets. [Reuters]

Rockstar Games will offer “an extended look” at Grand Theft Auto VI at 3 p.m. Eastern on August 27…on Netflix. Six hours later, though, at 9 p.m., Rockstar will publish the same footage to its YouTube channel. [Rockstar Games]

Got a tip or feedback for TDS? Reach out to tips@thedrive.com

The post Entry-Level Merc GT53 Trades Triple-Motor Power for Big Range: TDS appeared first on The Drive.