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Welcome to The Downshift, or TDS for short, The Drive’s morning news roundup bringing you the biggest automotive headlines from around the world.
The Downshift recaps news briefly, with links to full stories for those seeking more info. This is your bulletin for Friday, June 26, 2026.
🤖 Hyundai has pulled the cover off the next-generation Avante, which is the Korean-market name for what we know as the Elantra—and, boy, does it look different. The design seems to roll in cues from the latest Ioniq models, the new Sonata, and a bit of the N Vision 74 concept from years back. The Avante will enter domestic showrooms in weeks time, and we should expect it to make its way to the U.S. in 2027. [Autocar]
🍁 Chinese automakers, like Chery and Geely, are viewing imminent Canadian auto sales as a way to test the waters for U.S. expansion one day—if the U.S. government’s policies that recently doomed Polestar in the country ever relent, that is. “We definitely have the idea of selling cars in the United States,” Chery International president Zhang Guibing is said to have told media in China last month. [Reuters]
👔 Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe was reappointed as the automaker’s CEO by the board on Friday, defeating a motion to remove him after the company posted its first annual loss in nearly 70 years. [Automotive News]
💡 If you still don’t like the Ferrari Luce, perhaps you just need more time to “digest” it, in the words of Maranello’s Chief Product Development Officer, Gianmaria Fulgenzi. “A car like this needs to be seen—and seen a lot—it needs to be digested, right? Otherwise your mind rejects certain solutions, it shuts them out,” the executive said at a tech forum in Milan on Thursday. [Reuters]
⚡ There’s a new recall for the 2026-model-year Toyota bZ, Subaru Solterra, and Lexus RZ concerning faulty ECUs, which could lead to a loss of drive power. The problem can’t be fixed with an over-the-air update, so owners will need to bring their vehicles in for service. Just under 21,000 cars are affected in total. [Autoblog]
🖥️ In other recall news, Hyundai has issued a notice for 96,000 Tucson SUVs regarding potential instrument cluster failure, however this is a problem that can and will be fixed via a software update for owners. [Reuters]
🏭 Volkswagen may close as many as four plants in Germany and raise its layoff total to 100,000, according to a new report citing two individuals familiar with the automaker’s plans. [Reuters]
🚕 Waymo has registered a new business in Germany to begin offering autonomous taxi services in the country. [Bloomberg]
🐈⬛ The Jaguar Type 01—the production version of the controversial Jaguar Type 00 concept that will relaunch the British brand—is poised to debut in New York in October, a Jaguar Land Rover representative has confirmed. [Automotive News]
🏁 Weekend racing schedule (all times Eastern)
- WRC Acropolis Rally Greece: All weekend long on Rally.TV
- 78th 24 Hours of Spa: Saturday at 9:30 a.m. on YouTube
- IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge at Watkins Glen: Saturday at 1 p.m. on YouTube
- NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series at Sonoma: Saturday at 5:30 p.m. on CW
- MotoGP Dutch Grand Prix: Sunday at 8 a.m. on MotoGP Video Pass
- Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix: Sunday at 9 a.m. on Apple TV
- IMSA SportsCar 6 Hours of Watkins Glen: Sunday at 12 p.m. on Peacock
- NASCAR Cup Series at Sonoma: Sunday at 3:30 p.m. on TNT
- NHRA Drag Racing Summit Nationals Finals: Sunday at 5:30 p.m. on FOX
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.
