Happy Wednesday! It’s March 25, 2026, and this is The Morning Shift — your daily roundup of the top automotive headlines from around the world, in one place. This is where you’ll find the most important stories that are shaping the way Americans drive and get around.
In this morning’s edition, we’re looking at the death of Afeela, and the FTC’s crackdown on dealership employees’ false advertising in social media posts. We’ll also look at a recall from Lexus, and another from Volkswagen.
1st Gear: Sony and Honda take Afeela back behind the shed
For a while now, we’ve all been wondering how Sony and Honda plan to make Afeela actually competitive. The EV market has progressed pretty rapidly since the car was announced, and its specs have remained the same. Now, we’re getting the answer: The two companies can’t figure it out either, so they’re killing the car. From Afeela:
Sony Honda Mobility Inc. (“SHM”) today announced that it has decided to discontinue the development and launch of its first model, AFEELA 1, and its second model of AFEELA vehicles that had been under development (collectively, the “Models”). SHM’s decision comes following discussions between its parent companies, Sony Group Corporation (“Sony”) and Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (“Honda”).
Since its establishment in September 2022, SHM has aimed to develop and sell high value-added mobility products and to provide mobility-related services by combining the technologies, expertise, and development capabilities of Sony and Honda. However, as a result of Honda’s reassessment of its automobile electrification strategy announced on March 12, 2026, SHM will not be able to utilize certain technologies and assets that were originally planned to be provided by Honda at the time of SHM’s initial business planning. In light of this change, SHM has determined that it does not have a viable path forward to bring the Models to market as originally planned.
It sounds like the Sony-Honda partnership isn’t actually over, it just doesn’t have anything to work on. Maybe next time it can hasten that development cycle a little bit.
2nd Gear: The FTC is cracking down on dealer employees’ false advertising on social media
Car dealer employees love to post on their personal social media profiles to advertise cars and deals. As it turns out, those posts are still subject subject to false advertising laws — laws the Federal Trade Commission is looking to crack down on. From Automotive News:
Dealership employees who post about vehicles for sale on their personal accounts could put their stores in legal jeopardy if they don’t follow certain rules.
The Federal Trade Commission will treat advertising generated by employees as though it came from the dealership itself.
“Social media posts with offers are advertising,” Barrett Beaty, an attorney with the Charapp & Weiss law firm in Reston, Va., wrote in a February article for dealers. “If a salesperson’s posts violate federal or state laws applicable to advertising, your dealership could be liable in a government regulatory action. If an employee’s posts contain false or misleading information, your dealership could face a lawsuit by a disappointed prospect who responded to it.”
Dealership advertising has come under intense scrutiny since March 13 when the FTC announced Christopher Mufarrige, director of the agency’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, sent letters to 97 dealership groups on the suspicion that they violated at least one of six “illegal” advertising practices.
As people increasingly shop for cars on social media, this is a good step up in enforcement. No one should get to lure you in to a dealership with false numbers, only to to switch them around on you once you arrive — whether on official channels or a personal TikTok.
3rd Gear: Toyota is recalling 144,000 Lexii for backup cameras that don’t work
With the sightlines on modern cars, you sometimes really need a backup camera to ensure you’re not backing over curbs, pets, or small children. Lexus shipped a bunch of cameras that don’t work, so the company now has to fix them. From Reuters:
March 25 (Reuters) – Toyota is recalling 144,200 vehicles in the U.S. as rearview camera images may not display when the vehicle is placed in reverse, increasing the risk of a crash, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said on Wednesday.
Here are some details:
* The recall includes certain 2022-2025 Lexus NX350, NX250, 2023-2026 RX350, and 2024-2026 TX350 vehicles, according to the NHTSA.
* NHTSA said that dealers will update the software or replace the rearview camera, as necessary, free of charge.
These issues are often caused by software, not hardware, so it’s interesting to see that Toyota is considered replacement of the backup camera unit in some cases. I wonder what the actual core cause really is.
4th Gear: Volkswagen is recalling 100,000 EVs for fire risk
Volkswagen is issuing its share of recall notices too, but for something a bit more serious than backup cameras: EVs that can catch fire. They can also just have less range than advertised, which is also bad, though not nearly as bad as the whole fire thing. From Reuters:
BERLIN, March 24 (Reuters) – Volkswagen is recalling nearly 100,000 electric vehicles, of which some 28,000 are in Germany, citing problems linked to battery modules, according to the German motor vehicle authority KBA.
The recall notices affect nearly 75,000 vehicles from Volkswagen’s ID. series as well as nearly 20,000 Cupra Borns that were rolled off the line between February 2022 and August 2024.
According to the notices issued earlier this month, modules in the high-voltage battery that do not meet specifications can result in reduced range, and there is a risk of fire.
Can companies stop making EVs that catch fire? They’re giving the personal transport of the future a bad name.
Reverse: Thank a union today
Did you know that the Triangle Shirtwaist workers tried to strike, and the owners hired cops to beat them and break the strike?
The Fuel Up
Only a small increase today, but an increase nonetheless. We’ll likely hit four dollars a gallon soon.
On The Radio: Mannequin P*ssy – ‘I Got Heaven’
The climbing gym was playing wall to wall Mannequin P*ssy last night, and it was a fantastic vibe. The band’s name isn’t actually censored like this, but digital media can be so dumb sometimes.
