Hyundai Welcome to The Downshift, a daily sweep of the morning’s top headlines from the auto industry and car culture, curated by The Drive’s editorial team. Each story gets a short summary and a link to the original source if you want to dive deeper. Here’s what’s happening on Friday, September 18, 2026: 🌏 Hyundai CEO Jose Muñoz said on Thursday that the U.S. market would see an influx of cheaper Chinese vehicles undercutting competition, like Europe has faced, without sufficient safeguards. “The U.K., which in the past was a very profitable, very strong market, has become like China. All the top sellers are Chinese because there are no barriers. So I think we could expect similar things to happen in the U.S., at different levels, unless there are certain conditions,” Munoz said. [Reuters] 📱 Volvo Chief Design Officer Thomas Ingenlath recently said that while the automaker will remained committed to touchscreens for the foreseeable future, it will be “reintroducing a couple of more buttons than what we have in today’s cars” for certain functions that need to be displayed all the time, or things that touchscreens aren’t as good at handling. [Motor1] 🔩 Volkswagen Group is recalling 209,000 vehicles in the U.S. for faulty steering rack bolts. The models affected include the 2018 Tiguan, 2018-2019 Atlas, and 2019-2021 Audi Q3. Dealers will replace the failure-prone bolts. [Reuters] 🍁 There is no “sustainable long-term business case” for continued activity at Stellantis’ Brampton Assembly plant where the new Jeep Compass was originally supposed to be built, according to Stellantis Canada CEO Trevor Longley. The company is under fire for moving to sell the facility to defense contractor Roshel while the government and trade union Unifor push it to support the site. [Automotive News] 🍀 Alfa Romeo has teased a car that will be revealed at the Paris Motor Show. Details are slim at the moment, though the company’s press release bills it as “the car every Alfista has long been waiting for,” and that it was “created for those who still love driving and seeking authentic experiences behind the wheel.” Look for it on October 12. [Stellantis] ⛽ Although Subaru has discontinued the gas-only Crosstrek in Japan, leaving only the hybrid, the automaker has confirmed that U.S. buyers will continue to have the choice of both powertrains. [CarBuzz] 🏁 Weekend races to watch (all times Eastern): NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series at Bristol: Friday at 7:30 p.m. on CW/ESPN NASCAR Cup Series at Bristol: Saturday at 7:30 p.m. on USA MotoGP Austrian Grand Prix: Sunday at 8 a.m. on FS1 NHRA Drag Racing Great Lakes Finals: Sunday at 2 p.m. on FS1 IMSA SportsCar Championship at Indianapolis: Sunday at 3 p.m. on NBC
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![Hyundai, Hyundai Ioniq, Hyundai Ioniq 6, Hyundai's IONIQ 6 N looks ready for its US launch [Image]](https://cdn.topcarnews.net/thumb/id/aHR0cHM6Ly9lbGVjdHJlay5jby93cC1j-b250ZW50L3VwbG9hZHMvc2l0ZXMvMy8y-MDI1LzExL0h5dW5kYWktSU9OSVEtNi1O-LUVWLTUuanBlZw/2c8908ffa1da556176e2ba3758ab0497.jpeg?t=20260918&post_id=61807)
