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Good morning. Welcome to The Downshift, or TDS for short, The Drive‘s morning news roundup that gathers all the largest automotive stories from around the globe and places them in one spot.
Here’s a distillation of what’s bubbling accompanied by links for full stories for those seeking more information as we shift into Thursday, June 18, 2026.
🔊 The latest episode of The Drivecast, The Drive’s new weekly podcast, is now live on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you get your podcasts.
📱 Mazda, the automaker that swore up and down touchscreens were dangerous and distracting while buttons were safer, has changed its tune; the Japanese automaker’s program manager for the CX-5, Koichiro Yamaguchi, said, “Air conditioning, you can operate with a finger, and if we have to put the physical button, that will be at the lower position. Then the driver has to look down, and [there are] 15 similar looking switches. That means that you rather have to look down and select the correct button—actually, requires the driver [to take eyes] off the road. So rather than that, it’s better to have this control on the screen—minimize this change [distraction].”
🐏 Ram is aiming for 60% sales growth by 2030 as part of Stellantis’ turnaround efforts; this would have the truck maker top Jeep as the company’s volume leader in North America and become its most important brand.
🇺🇸 Jaguar Land Rover is reportedly looking at building vehicles at U.S.-based Stellantis factories including a U.S.-focused Defender to avoid import tariffs.
🇺🇸 Ford’s latest Super Duty debut features a Proud to Honor Package that is a rolling tribute to America if America was a stick-on graphics package.
🐴 Ferrari, shocking no one, is reportedly nudging its clients to buy the Luce EV if they want to move up and make the wait lists for its more exclusive gas-powered models.
🔋 The Jeep Recon’s EPA rating surfaced as 222 miles of range per charge; shocking no one, it appears the Recon will not be efficient, or have impressive range, despite its large 100-kWh battery pack.
🔌 Telo’s tiny electric truck is going to have the ability to charge surprisingly fast thanks to tech that will split the 400-volt battery pack in a parallel configuration enabling a 400-kW peak charge rate on an 800-volt charger.
🏎️ The first GMA T.50s Niki Lauda supercar debuted, and it’s a stunner.
🚕 Waymo recalled nearly 4,000 self-driving robotaxis to stop them from driving into highway construction zones.
🚖 Uber plans to bring its premium robotaxi service to Houston, Texas in 2027.
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As Director of Content and Product, Joel draws on over 15 years of newsroom experience and inability to actually stop working to help ensure The Drive shapes the future of automotive media. He’s also a World Car Award juror.
