Happy Friday! It’s July 17, 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 Tesla trying to worm its way out of a recall, and Volkswagen workers’ response to hearing over 100,000 of them will lose their jobs. We’ll also look at Volvo’s goals for the second half of 2026, and Hyundai buying out all of Boston Dynamics.
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1st Gear: Tesla petitioned to simply not fix overly-bright Model 3 and Model Y headlights, and NHTSA isn’t having it
Tesla is known for its relatively painless recalls, which often consist of a simple over-the-air update. This is good for buyers, who don’t have to trudge into a dealership, as well as for Tesla itself — it doesn’t need to replace physical parts on cars, or spend its money on shop time. What happens when the company is faced with an issue that can’t be fixed over the air, though? Well, it tries to convince the NHTSA that everything’s fine, actually, and no fix is needed. From Reuters:
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on Thursday said it was denying a 2024 petition filed by Tesla to avoid a recall fix for nearly 20,000 vehicles with headlights that may exceed maximum lighting levels.
Tesla argued the issue was inconsequential to motor vehicle safety and did not require a recall or notification to consumers. NHTSA said it disagreed with Tesla’s conclusion that there is no increased risk of glare for surrounding traffic or the driver of the vehicle. The recall covers about 19,900 2017-2023 model year Tesla Model 3 and Tesla Model Y vehicles, NHTSA said.
The agency noted in 2022 it rejected a similar petition from GM to avoid fixing 820,000 vehicles over a lighting issue.
Tesla’s argument is that overly-bright headlights don’t make its cars less safe. That’s true, unless you consider that other drivers — blinded by LEDs — could crash into the Tesla.
2nd Gear: Volkswagen workers don’t love the plan to cut 140,000 jobs
Volkswagen, the on-and-off biggest automaker in the world, wants to shrink. It wants to scale back its staff by 140,000 workers, a number those workers don’t seem super thrilled with. Now, they plan to give CEO Oliver Blume a piece of their minds. From Reuters:
The works council of German carmaker Volkswagen said on Friday it will host extraordinary staff assemblies in August with CEO Oliver Blume, giving workers the opportunity to grill him on plans threatening up to 140,000 jobs.
Blume will attend meetings with staff at the company headquarters in Wolfsburg on August 25, and the plants in Emden and Zwickau on August 26, the works council said in an update to staff seen by Reuters.
Emden and Zwickau are two of the four plants faced with closure in the coming years if no alternative is found.
The thing about products — and this goes for pretty much every company that sells products — is that they need to be built. Without people to build your products, engineer them, design updates, check quality control, and more, you don’t really have a company any more. Just a stock.
3rd Gear: Volvo thinks it’s all uphill from here
2026 has been rough for pretty much anything that involves the concept of “money,” and Volvo is no exception. As we approach the second half of the year, though, all that experience doesn’t appear to have informed the company’s CFO’s plans. Instead, he thinks the back half of 2026 will be an upswing in Volvo’s fortunes. From Reuters:
Volvo Cars on Friday forecast that profits would recover in the second half, even as the Swedish carmaker warned of rising key raw material costs and an unexpectedly steep slowdown in China which sent its shares down 8%.
The Swedish automaker had previously warned the second quarter would be weak, pressured by high raw material and freight prices and tough discounting.
But the downturn in China was worse than the carmaker, and the whole industry, had feared, CFO Fredrik Hansson told Reuters.
“Everyone, including us, was thinking (the first quarter) is going to be a bit rocky, but I think in Q2 it has taken the industry by surprise,” Hansson said.
Surely the crazed authoritarian ruler of one of the world’s largest automotive markets will simply chill out, and Chinese buyer tastes will change back away from domestic vehicles. Also, I will win the Powerball.
4th Gear: Hyundai will fully own Boston Dynamics
You know those deeply evil gun-toting robot dogs that police forces around the U.S. are increasingly using as a somehow even more dystopian take on the panopticon? Well, those are Hyundais now. Per the company:
Hyundai Motor Group is building an End-to-End (E2E) AI Robotics Value Chain that combines Boston Dynamics’ expertise in AI Robotics with the Group’s manufacturing capabilities, mobility technologies and global value chain. Through this integrated approach, the Group aims to accelerate the development, validation and commercialization of Physical AI technologies and robotics solutions.
Recent demonstrations of Boston Dynamics’ Atlas® humanoid robot have highlighted progress in mobility, whole-body coordination and object manipulation, including the delivery of the ceremonial match ball during a FIFA World Cup 2026™ match and the lifting and transport of a 23-kilogram compact refrigerator. These demonstrations are expected to support the continued validation of Atlas across a range of potential industrial use cases.
Hyundai didn’t disclose exactly what the roughly 10% stake it’s buying from SoftBank Group would cost, but Reuters reports it’ll be around 500 billion won ($335 million).
I know, I know, no ethical consumption under capitalism, but did the company that makes cool EVs really have to also make the evil cop dogs?
Reverse: Is it just me, or does he look so much like Sean from ‘Tokyo Drift’?
You look this photo of Joe DiMaggio in the eyes and tell me Lucas Black wouldn’t be perfect casting for a biopic. I understand that he’s a weird PureFlix chud now, but I’m choosing to ignore it.
The Fuel Up
Nearly four cents in a day! It’s like the dumb weekend war is still happening or something. Who woulda thought?
On The Radio: Femtanyl – ‘SICK OF IT’
There’s a sample, or at least some style of modulation, in this track that sounds so familiar. I can’t place it, but it definitely sounds like something from the ’90s or ’00s? I love it.
