The biggest car news and reviews, no BS
Our free daily newsletter sends the stories that really matter directly to you, every weekday.
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 Friday, July 17, 2026.
🧑🏭 Ford CEO Jim Farley recently delved into how the automaker has bolstered its initial quality in an interview, and offered some particularly noteworthy insight into how manufacturing culture differs between its facilities in Mexico, China, the U.S., and elsewhere. “There are cultural changes between different countries and even manufacturing culture within Ford and different countries that have a different commitment to the process, and problem-solving is a skill,” Farley said. “I would say the U.S. plants have caught up the fastest. The most consistent have been some of our overseas plants that I mentioned.” [The Detroit News via Ford Authority]
📲 The Rivian R2 is still fresh on the scene but has already received its first software update, adding Launch Mode, Pet Comfort, and Gear Guard, which is sort of like Rivian’s version of Tesla’s Sentry Mode. [Autoblog]
🌏 Volvo CEO Hakan Samuelsson recently responded to comments by White House senior trade advisor Peter Navarro, who claimed that Chinese automakers are “plundering global car markets” and called BYD “a microcosm of China’s pirate business model: copy, absorb, subsidize, scale, dump and dominate.” Samuelsson said that “we are living in a new competitive landscape, and we have to respect those who have been successful in electric vehicles,” adding that China’s manufacturers “have done a lot of things right.” [Automotive News]
📉 On that subject, Volvo’s sales in China plummeted by 35% in the second quarter, though the company believes that profits will recover in the back half of 2026. [Reuters]
🪫 Honda has officially confirmed that its electric Prologue SUV won’t see another model year, which we basically knew back in March, when news began to emerge about the company shuttering all of its EV investments and the end of its partnership with General Motors. [Automotive News]
🍁 A new story tracing Stellantis’ struggles in Canada illustrates how dealerships are desperate for new product. The automaker enjoyed a 15.4% market share north of the border back in 2015; 10 years later, it sat at 6%. [Automotive News]
🫸 Foxconn had planned to sell its Model C EV in the U.S. through an American brand, but now the Taiwanese tech and auto manufacturer is saying that deal is on ice as the unnamed distributor in question weighs the effect of tariffs. [Automotive News]
🐎 Ferrari had apparently wanted to give the 849 Testarossa pop-up headlights, but had to go for fixed units as it realized that regulations in China and the U.S. in particular would disallow such a design feature. [CarExpert]
⚡ Geely has introduced a new electric motor, called “Thunder,” that is remarkably efficient, compact, and light, paring down wiring and the number of components by a significant degree to offer 328 horsepower in a small footprint. [InsideEVs]
🏁 Weekend racing to watch (all times Eastern):
- WRC Rally Estonia: All weekend long on Rally.TV
- NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series at North Wilkesboro Speedway: Saturday at 12:30 p.m. on FS1
- Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix: Sunday at 9 a.m. on Apple TV
- IndyCar at Nashville: Sunday at 5:30 p.m. on Fox
- NASCAR Cup Series at North Wilkesboro Speedway: Sunday at 7 p.m. on TNT
- NHRA Drag Racing Sonoma Nationals Finals: Sunday at 10 p.m. on FS1
Got a tip or feedback for TDS? Let us know at 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.
