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Good morning and welcome to The Downshift, or TDS for short, The Drive‘s daily news roundup that gathers all the biggest automotive headlines from around the globe in one place.
The Downshift summarizes stories into a few sentences and provides links for those seeking more information. Here’s what’s happening on Tuesday, July 28, 2026.
🪖 Ford is competing with General Motors to supply the U.S. Army’s new tactical truck. The automaker will submit three prototypes based on Super Duty pickups for the Department of Defense to survey. Should Ford get the contract, the army is seeking 600 units. [The Wall Street Journal]
🍃 BMW plans to build a convertible version of the i4 electric coupe with a folding fabric roof, according to a new report. Convertible EVs are still rare, and if all goes according to plan this will be one of the only options available on the market by the time it goes on sale in 2028, beside the Maserati GranCabrio Folgore which costs north of $150,000. [BMW Blog]
🪪 Porsche plans to cut one in five employees by 2035, amounting to 9,000 jobs in total, as Volkswagen Group’s massive restructuring effort touches all of its brands. [Reuters]
🚙 Land Rover is retiring the Discovery Sport in various European markets, the automaker has confirmed. [Autocar]
📈 Mercedes-Benz posted an improved profit in the second quarter of the year, even though sales in China specifically fell by 30% year-on-year. Still, the company’s stock was trading nearly 6% up on Tuesday. [Reuters]
🚖 Stellantis has sold its Free2move car-sharing business to a German private equity firm. The company is currently active in 14 cities across the U.S. and Europe. [Stellantis]
🤏 BYD is coming for Japan’s electric kei car market with the new Racco, which costs the equivalent of $12,213 after subsidies. [Reuters]
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Backed by a decade of covering cars and consumer tech, Adam Ismail is a Senior Editor at The Drive, focused on curating and producing the site’s slate of daily stories.
