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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
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.
