Husskeyy, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia CommonsHappy Thursday! It's August 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 China's push for recalls, and Volkswagen's push for job cuts. We'll also look at Waymo's adventure to Munich, and Dutch regulators eyeing Tesla for recalls. If you'd like a recap of the latest auto news sent to your inbox each weekday, you cansign up for Jalopnik's free Morning Shift newsletter here.AdvertisementAdvertisementRead more: The Ten Dumbest Automotive Design Mistakes1st Gear: China wants automakers to audit their own processes and file recalls for issues中国新闻社, CC BY 3.0 , via Wikimedia CommonsChina wants the vehicles that come from its shores to be "good" or whatever, so the nation is now pushing automakers to audit their own processes and issue recalls for any issues they find. Hopefully this goes better than most self-audits. From Reuters:BEIJING, Aug 27 (Reuters) – Chinese regulators on Thursday ordered automakers to file proactive recall plans for any defects uncovered in self-audits, as part of a year-long campaign to improve vehicle quality and safety in the world's largest auto market.Tesla and eight Chinese electric vehicle makers on August 21 announced fixes affecting a combined 4.3 million vehicles in China's largest-ever automotive recall, prompted by safety concerns involving emergency door-release mechanisms.Under the campaign, automakers are required to conduct comprehensive inspections of product quality, reliability, durability and the testing and validation of new technologies across their operations and key suppliers. They must submit reports to local authorities by the end of 2026, according to a joint statement issued by the market regulator and the ministries of industry, public security, and environment.Companies must promptly file recall plans with the market regulator and carry out voluntary recalls of defective products. Local authorities need to tighten oversight and ensure rigorous safety validation before introducing new vehicle technologies.Usually a self-audit is a way for an organization to check themselves for any wrongdoing and find themselves perfect and flawless. With government oversight in China, though, perhaps self-audits can bring meaningful issues to light. 2nd Gear: Oliver Blume is going to have to fight for the job cuts he wantsAlexander-93, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia CommonsVolkswagen CEO Oliver Blume has been on the warpath recently, trying to cut costs at the automaker anywhere and everywhere possible. He's been big on cutting staff, and is now trying to close factories to get all its pesky workers off his payroll. The workers are, as you might imagine, not psyched about the idea. From Reuters: OSNABRUECK, Germany, Aug 26 (Reuters) – Volkswagen's management and labour leaders dug in on Wednesday ahead of a crucial board meeting next week, with CEO Oliver Blume pushing deeper cost cuts and unions rejecting layoffs and plant closures in the German group's biggest ever restructuring.Europe's largest automaker is considering measures that could double the planned number of job cuts, close factories and carve out parts of the business as it seeks to revive profits and fend off growing competition from Chinese rivals....Daniela Cavallo, head of Volkswagen's powerful works council, told reporters in Osnabrueck that layoffs and site closures would not solve problems caused by tariffs, Chinese competition and weak European demand."A vision for the future must consist of many different elements. It cannot ... be solely about sites, labour costs and staff cuts," she said.AdvertisementAdvertisementThis is a core issue with putting Business People in charge of your company. Business People understand how to look at a spreadsheet and optimize it, cutting costs where they can in order to boost profits — but they lack the ability to actually invest in crucial places. Cavallo is right here, that Volkswagen can't cost-cut its way out of Chinese automakers offering better vehicles for less money, but Blume can't understand that. It's the MBA view of the world, one fiscal quarter at a time, maximizing short-term profits at the cost of long-term readiness. 3rd Gear: Mr. Waymo goes to MunichAnderseidesvik, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia CommonsThe streets of the U.S. are all muddied with a thousand lonely driverless cabs, and the companies behind them are looking to expand. Case in point: Waymo now wants to infect Munich with its robotaxis. From Reuters:Aug 25 (Reuters) – Self-driving technology company Waymo said on Tuesday it would begin testing its autonomous vehicles in Munich in the coming weeks, laying the groundwork for a commercial ride-hailing service in Germany that it aims to launch toward the end of 2027.Here are more details:- Waymo said its vehicles would initially drive manually across Munich to map local roads and test with trained autonomous specialists behind the wheel. - The Alphabet-owned company said the testing period will help its autonomous driving system adapt to Munich's driving conditions before commercial operations begin.I'm personally anti-Waymo in all places, at all times, for all reasons. It's perhaps my most Luddite opinion — until a person can live on this planet without constantly spending money on food, water, and shelter, we should stop automating all the jobs away. Hot take, I know. 4th Gear: Dutch regulators aren't recalling Tesla door handles, at least not yetSteve Jurvetson, CC BY 2.0 , via Wikimedia CommonsChina issued a sweeping recall of cars with electric door handles recently, demanding that companies make their mechanical emergency releases more obvious to occupants. Authorities in the Netherlands have considered the same, but they're not yet issuing a recall — for now. From Automotive News: AMSTERDAM — The Dutch vehicle regulator RDW said there is currently no recall of Tesla cars in Europe over concerns that doors may be difficult to open in an emergency.China last week ordered its largest ever car recall, covering 4.3 million vehicles and 2.98 million Teslas, over worries that emergency door-release mechanisms can be difficult to locate or operate after a crash.The RDW is the key regulator overseeing the safety of Tesla cars in Europe. The agency said it is monitoring the issue but declined to comment on whether it is considering or investigating a recall, only that there is none at present."The RDW believes that vehicles must be capable of being opened under all circumstances — including when electrical systems fail — in an intuitive way, without the use of tools, from both inside and outside," it said.AdvertisementAdvertisementIt sounds like RDW is still weighing its options, so it's possible we'll still see a recall in the future. Reverse: From the U.S. Open to the WNBACan y'all please just allow us to be normal and do normal stuff?The Fuel UpAAAGas prices are starting to look like the quality of the tuna at Toretto's Market. On The Radio: Gorillaz - 'Rhinestone Eyes'I've had this track stuck in my head all morning, so I'm going to get it stuck in yours too. Want more like this? 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