Volvo Can Keep Selling Cars In The U.S.

Happy Wednesday! It’s May 27, 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 new rules allowing Volvo to keep selling cars in the States, and Ferrari’s reputation hit from the Luce. We’ll also look at yet another set of U.S. trade talks, and a big Toyota recall. 

Volvo is mostly a Chinese company now, and it wants to sell cars in the U.S. that use connected services. This isn’t an idea the U.S. government has loved, with the Biden administration shutting down Chinese tech, but the Trump admin has allowed Volvo to keep up its U.S. operations. From Reuters: 

WASHINGTON, May 26 (Reuters) – Volvo Cars, majority owned by China’s Geely Holding, said on Tuesday it received approval from the U.S. ​government allowing it to continue selling vehicles.

In January 2025, President Joe Biden’s administration finalized rules ‌effectively barring nearly all Chinese cars and trucks from the U.S. market, as part of a crackdown on vehicle software and hardware from China.

The rules included a ban on most Chinese-developed and maintained software that took effect in March ​2026 for the 2027 model year and covered companies with significant Chinese ownership. Lawmakers have ​proposed making the rules even tougher.

“Given our ownership Volvo Car USA was required ⁠to follow a process with the U.S. Department of Commerce to obtain a specific authorization for ​the continued import and sale of connected cars in the U.S.,” the company said. “With this specific authorization, Volvo ​Cars can continue its growth plans in the United States.”

Hey, China can’t have tech in cars on American roads! Only American companies can steal data from their customers, to then sell to Chinese corporations. This is so dumb. 

The Ferrari Luce, Ferrari’s first EV, suddenly appeared over the weekend. That’s what we in the media industry would call “burying a story,” and it seems Ferrari was right to give it a shot — no one seems enthused by the brand’s foray into electrification. From Reuters: 

ROME, May 26 (Reuters) – Ferrari shares plunged by more than 8% on Tuesday as investors ‌and critics reacted coolly to the Italian luxury sports carmaker’s new Luce electric car, questioning whether it remained true to the brand’s identity.

The four-door, five-seat family car, costing €550,000 ($640,000), is a radical departure for the prancing horse marque. It was developed with the help of former Apple (AAPL.O), opens new tab design chief ​Jony Ive and his collective LoveFrom.

Ferrari’s Milan-listed shares closed down 8.4%, while its New York-listed shares were down ​by 5.1% as of 1550 GMT.

Fabio Caldato, portfolio manager at AcomeA SGR, which owns Ferrari ⁠shares, told Reuters the share reaction reflected broader market worries. “Ferrari is currently being penalised for an aesthetic disappointment, which follows ​the significant concerns over the expansion of its range to include electric models,” he said.

Everyone else has gotten their dunks in on Ferrari, but now I get my turn. The Luce would be a really fun design if it were a Honda! Unfortunately for Ferrari, the brand is held to a slightly different standard. The Luce is chunky, smooth, and has a front end reminiscent of a Ford Maverick — not exactly what you want when you spend $640,000 on an EV with middling specs just to show off. Ferrari cars are supposed to be immediately recognizable as something incredible, something beyond mortal ken, and the Luce is just another electric family car. 

After last year’s tariff madness, the U.S. government is now negotiating newer tariffs that are marginally less mad. We’ve already inked deals with a number of nations and economic blocs, but two important countries are still on the table: Canada and Mexico. Never mind that we renegotiated our trade deals with them last time Trump was in office, this is totally different. From Automotive News: 

Automakers and suppliers hope the 15 percent tariff on vehicle and parts imports from the European Union, Japan and South Korea will serve as a baseline for upcoming North American trade negotiations with Canada and Mexico.

Deals the Trump administration reached with the EU, Japan and South Korea in 2025 reduced U.S. auto tariffs on vehicles and parts from those countries to 15 percent, from 25 percent, while a deal with the United Kingdom lowered tariffs on most imports to 10 percent.

The American Automotive Policy Council, which represents the Detroit 3, has said the deals give imports from those countries a relative advantage over imports from Canada and Mexico, where some vehicles and parts are subject to tariffs as high as 27.5 percent.

The deals’ terms and the edge they give companies outside North America may shape the July review of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, said Mark Wakefield, global automotive market lead for AlixPartners.

American carmakers love to import vehicles from Canada and Mexico, so this matters to them. It also matters to you, as someone who has to pay for those cars if you want to get anywhere. 

Toyota is recalling 43,566 Tundras for engine debris that can cause a stall. All affected models are from 2024, and equipped with the V35A engine. From NHTSA: 

Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (Toyota) is recalling certain 2024 Tundra vehicles equipped with a V35A engine. Debris from the manufacturing process may contaminate the engine and cause a main bearing to fail, which can result in an engine stall and loss of drive power.

…

The remedy is currently under development. Once the repair is available, repairs will be performed free of charge. Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed July 6, 2026. Owners may contact Toyota’s customer service at 1-800-331-4331. Toyota’s numbers for this recall are 25TB14 and 25TA14. This recall expands previous NHTSA recall numbers 24V381 and 25V767.

Sounds like there isn’t a fix yet, so if you own a Tundra, just hope it doesn’t blow up until Toyota can figure out a solution. There isn’t much else you can do right now. 

The fact that Johnson figured this out while working as a nuclear engineer at NASA’s JPL is wild. 

You know the drill. Prices are mildly down today, a dip in their upward trend, so it’s time to fill your garbage cans with gasoline. 

This one may not be as high energy as some of Sprints’ earlier stuff, but it’s no less relevant.