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Good morning and welcome to The Downshift, or TDS for short, The Drive‘s news roundup that gathers the biggest automotive headlines from around the globe.
The Downshift summarizes stories into a couple of sentences and provides a link for those seeking more information. Happy first day of July! Here’s what’s happening on this Wednesday morning.
🔊 The latest episode of The Drivecast, The Drive’s weekly podcast, will go live today on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you get your podcasts.
🤝 Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe said that the automaker’s partnership with Nissan is “quite far along, with some aspects close to an announcement.” After the failed 2024/2025 merger, the two companies along with Mitsubishi have sought to collaborate in a more limited capacity, and standardize electronic control units between them. Should the deal to which Mibe’s referring be formally minted, the first vehicles using these shared components will reportedly hit the market as soon as 2029. [Nikkei]
📈 Hyundai and Kia had a very strong June in the U.S., off the back of a hybrid sales boom to the tune of a 74% lift at Hyundai and a whopping 187% at Kia. [Automotive News]
🌍 Speaking of Volkswagen’s impending layoffs, BYD’s advisor for Europe, Alfredo Altavilla, told media that, “It’s the first real wake-up call for the European industry.” BYD is currently looking to establish a second manufacturing site on the continent, after one in Hungary. [Automotive News]
🚙 Ford is recalling 36,046 Bronco Raptors for loose fender flares that can detach while driving. [Autoblog]
🙅 BMW’s Sylvia Neuebauer believes that enthusiasts should sample the forthcoming electric M3 before writing it off, saying, “The haters I cannot really understand because in order to judge something, you should first of all experience it and then decide whether you like it or not. Experience the car, and after that they can decide whether they like it or not, and if they don’t like it, they can still go for the combustion-engined cars.” [BMW Blog]
😈 The Dodge Charger doesn’t have a V8 yet but it is getting a new color called Purple Haze, which feels a little more like an indigo. [Stellantis]
🐂 Lamborghini has just unveiled the wildest Urus to date, the Urus SE Performante, which packs a slight output bump to 800 horsepower and 737 lb-ft of torque along with the Temerario’s 6D drive computer for better dynamics. [Autocar]
🍀 A young, boutique company called SGT Automobili has announced the 5S-SGT, which looks to be an Alfa Giulia Quadrifoglio rebodied to resemble the old 155 V6 TI DTM, with weight savings, a strengthened chassis, and up to 740 horsepower. [Autocar]
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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.
