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Are fastback pickups the next big thing? Not long after CarBuzz found three different patents for a fastback truck from Ram, the CarBuzz research team has now found one from Ford. It blows Ram’s out of the water with extras like a rear window. Plus, it has automatic actuation to help maximize aerodynamics. Automatic Cover Turns Your Truck Into A Fastback Ford Tonneau PatentFord Plenty of pickup truck owners want their truck’s bed to be enclosed, not open. A tonneau cover is the usual go-to, and there is no shortage of options, ranging from one-piece hard covers to roll-up fabric…

It’s not too wild a thought to assume that consumers are exhausted from serving as beta testers for unfinished software and finicky powertrains. So when they’re in the market for a genuinely dependable small SUV, it’s not about the Audi badge on the nose or a brand driven by the entire family. It’s about what the data backs up and how it translates into the real world. The BMW X1 and Land Rover Velar have bad reputations for their reliability issues, but are there any small luxury SUVs that buck this trend? We put a few to the test. The…

Copart, the online car auction platform, has agreed to acquire ACV for $10.50 per share in cash, valuing the digital wholesale marketplace at about $1.9 billion. The deal gives Copart an immediate position in the dealer‑to‑dealer auction channel and expands its footprint across the vehicle remarketing lifecycle, from trade‑ins and wholesale resale to salvage and international markets. The purchase price represents a 45 per cent premium to ACV’s closing stock price on Aug. 10, 2026, and a 41 per cent premium to its 30‑day volume‑weighted average price. Copart plans to fund the transaction with cash on hand. The boards of…

The Drive 🤝 your inbox. Every weekday The Daily Brief wraps up the biggest stories and our exclusive reporting on the auto industry and car culture. Welcome to The Downshift, a daily sweep of the morning’s top headlines from the auto industry and car culture, curated by The Drive’s editorial team. Each story gets a short summary and a link to the original source if you want to dive deeper. Here’s what’s happening on Friday, September 18, 2026: 🌏 Hyundai CEO Jose Muñoz said on Thursday that the U.S. market would see an influx of cheaper Chinese vehicles undercutting competition,…

BYD vice president Liu Xueliang presents the Denza Z9GT at its Thailand launch in Bangkok on September 16, 2026. Credit: Denza The Denza Z9GT brings flash charging and BYD’s second-generation Blade Battery to Thailand for the first time. Denza now operates in 13 Asia-Pacific markets. BYD’s (HKEX: 1211) premium brand Denza has launched the Z9GT in Thailand, bringing flash charging to the local market as it expands its Asia-Pacific presence. The flagship shooting brake debuted in Bangkok on September 16, introducing BYD’s flash charging technology and second-generation Blade Battery to Thailand for the first time, Denza said in a statement…

On the morning of June 9th, Laura Lin was working from her home in Lanesville, a rural southern Indiana town about 15 miles from the Kentucky border. She was on a Zoom call, unaware that the heavy rain outside was beginning to flood her yard.“I look over to where the barn is over there, and I see pieces of my wood floating, and I was like, ‘What?’ And I immediately was like, ‘I have to go.’ Close my laptop, and I get my kids up, and I’m like, ‘Something’s wrong,’” Lin recalls.Lin and her family got out safely and sheltered…

The 2026 Subaru WRX returns with its most buyer-friendly pricing in years and one of the most significant lineups in the model’s recent history. Subaru’s own January 20, 2026 press release confirms the WRX returns to a $32,495 starting MSRP with the return of the base trim, and delivers price cuts of $2,710 to $3,685 across the GT, tS, and Limited trims versus 2025. KBB live listings confirm current inventory ranging from $36,980 below sticker to $38,322 above sticker on Premium configurations, reflecting the wide variance in dealer pricing that makes multi-dealer comparison essential on the WRX. TrimAtlas…

This week, the US House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly in a bipartisan vote to renew funding for the Diesel Emissions Reduction Act (DERA), passing the measure 343-79 and extending federal funding for cleaner medium- and heavy-duty vehicles through 2029. Proving once again that everyone can get behind reducing air pollution, saving money on fuel, and AM radio, the House passed 14 bills this week, including House Resolution 2140 that amends section 797(a) of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to extend the authorization of the Diesel Emissions Reduction Act grant program to 2029. Introduced by Reps. Doris Matsui (D-CA), Ken…

But the company has yet to reveal what It’s working on. Chesnot/Getty Images Anthropic has established a biology research lab in the San Francisco Bay Area to conduct physical experiments, according to Reuters. Eric Kauderer-Abrams, the company’s Head of Life Sciences, has confirmed the lab’s existence to the news organization. “We believe that to do biology, the final test is still and will be for a while in real lab work,” he said. “We absolutely are doing that today…” He also said that while Anthropic is doing lab work in-house, it’s also working with external partners when…

Volvo Cars executives this week shared their automotive outlook with investors, and the broader picture was a bleak assessment of how geopolitics, trade, and tariffs are fundamentally changing what is now a fully global auto industry. But the best solution for tough times is the same as it’s always been: new product. The Swedish automaker promises a bevy of new vehicles, including region-specific vehicles for Western markets and China, all coming by 2030, representing Volvo Cars’ largest product offensive ever. 2026 Volvo XC90 Black EditionVolvo Volvo Platforms For The West, Shared Platforms For China While we wait for more details…