you are welcome downshiftor TDS for short, of drive Morning News Roundup brings you the biggest automotive headlines from around the world.
in every thing downshift It includes a link you can follow to a deeper story. Here is your bulletin for Friday, July 17, 2026.
🧑🏭 Ford CEO Jim Farley explained in a recent interview how the automaker has raised its initial quality, and offered some particularly notable insights into how the manufacturing culture differs between its facilities in Mexico, China, the US, and elsewhere. “There are cultural variations between different countries and even within Ford and the manufacturing culture within different countries, there is different commitment to process, and problem-solving is a skill,” Farley said. “I would say the American plants have progressed the fastest. The most consistent have been some of our foreign plants that I mentioned.” (detroit news through ford authority)
📲 The Rivian R2 is still fresh on the scene but has already received its first software update, which adds Launch Mode, Pet Comfort, and Gear Guard, which is like Rivian’s version of Tesla’s Sentry Mode. (autoblog)
🌏 Volvo CEO Hakan Samuelsson recently responded to comments from White House senior trade adviser Peter Navarro, who claimed 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.” “We’re living in a new competitive landscape, and we have to respect those who have been successful in electric vehicles,” Samuelson said, adding that China’s manufacturers have “done a lot of things right.” (automotive news)
📉 On that topic, Volvo sales in China dropped 35% in the second quarter, though the company believes profits will recover in the back half of 2026. (reuters)
🪫 Honda has officially confirmed that its electric Prologue SUV will not see another model year, which we originally knew about back in March, when news started emerging about the company shutting down all of its EV investments and the end of its partnership with General Motors. (automotive news)
🍁A new story exploring Stellantis’ struggles in Canada shows how dealerships are desperate for new product. The automaker enjoyed a 15.4% market share north of the border in 2015; After 10 years, it reached 6%. (automotive news)
🫸 Foxconn had planned to sell its Model C EV in the US through an American brand, but now the Taiwanese tech and auto maker is saying the deal is on ice as the unnamed distributor in question assesses the impact of the tariffs. (automotive news)
🐎 Ferrari apparently wanted to give the 849 Testarossa pop-up headlights, but it had to go for fixed units because it realized that regulations in China and especially the US would disallow such a design feature. (car expert)
✓ Geely has introduced a new electric motor dubbed “Thunder” that is remarkably efficient, compact and lightweight, substantially reducing the number of wiring and components to offer 328 horsepower in a small footprint. (InsideEVS)
🏁 WEEKEND RACING TO WATCH (ALL TIMES EASTERN):
- WRC Rally Estonia: all weekend 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 9am on Apple TV
- IndyCar at Nashville: Sunday 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 10PM on FS1
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