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Welcome to The Downshift, or TDS for short, The Drive’s morning news roundup serving up the biggest automotive headlines from across the globe.

The Downshift gets you up to speed with quick recaps of stories, fit with links for those who want to dive deeper into the news. Here’s your bulletin for Tuesday, June 2, 2026.

Hyundai has announced its May sales figures, and while overall sales have increased by 3% against May 2025, the biggest story is that the company sold 39% more Sonatas compared to that same period one year ago—8,456 examples, versus 6,082. It echoes similar gains for the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord, as sedans are showing signs of life again in the U.S. [Hyundai]

Toyota has given the GR86 a slight update with improved throttle calibration, shifter feel, and new interior trim options. [Toyota]

United Auto Workers at GM’s axle plant in Three Rivers, Michigan, ​owned by Dauch Corp, walked off the job on Monday. According to individuals said to be familiar with the matter, the company has about two weeks of axle inventory currently on hand. [Reuters]

Ferrari CEO Benedetto Vigna backed up the decision to offer the Luce in an interview, saying, “There are clients that are telling us, ‘I will become your client if and only if you have an electric traction car. Otherwise, I will not take an [internal-combustion vehicle] because I have to be consistent with the messaging that I’m giving to my son and my daughter.’” The chief executive also restated a commitment to support a diversity of powertrains, and that Ferrari will never offer a Level 3+ autonomous car. [Drive]

The Mazda MX-5 Miata has received a new color called “Zinc Green,” which barely qualifies as green and is so flat and gray that it’d be more at home on a Bronco. [Mazda]

Mini is reportedly reintroducing dual exhaust tips and adding more quirky colors to its repertoire in an effort to “get back to how it was launched in the U.S,.” in the words of one dealer that attended a BMW retailer meeting last month. [BMW Blog]

BYD’s sales finally rose for the first time in nine months in May, up precisely 0.3% from the same period one year earlier. [Bloomberg]

Foxtron—the EV-making arm of Foxconn, the electronics manufacturing giant best known for making iPhones—has announced a Tesla Model Y rival powered by an LFP battery pack that looks a little more minivan than SUV. It’ll go on sale first in Taiwan. [InsideEVs]

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Electric cars are changing faster than ever. Usually, if you want new features in your car, you have to buy a new one. But Leapmotor is showing that EVs can get better while they sit in your driveway. Only six months after the Leapmotor B10 first hit the streets, the company has released a major software update, sending new tools directly to the car using the internet, and proving that this young car brand is serious about keeping its technology fresh.

The biggest news in this update is the arrival of “One-Pedal” driving. This feature lets drivers speed up and slow down using only the gas pedal. When you lift your foot, the car uses its electric motor to brake and turn that energy back into electricity for the battery, making driving in heavy traffic much easier. It also helps the car go a little further on a single charge.

Leapmotor B10

Drivers who love their phones will also be happy. The Leapmotor B10 now supports Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. You can connect your phone with a wire or through a wireless connection. This way you can use your favorite maps, music, and messaging apps directly on the car’s big screen. Before this update, drivers had to rely on the car’s built-in systems, which were not always as easy to use as the apps on a smartphone.

Leapmotor also listened to people who wanted a faster computer in their car. A new “Quick Start” feature helps the infotainment system turn on much quicker when you get inside. No one likes waiting for a screen to load when they are in a hurry to leave. The company also added a split-screen view for the navigation. This means you can see your map on one side of the screen while controlling your music or looking at car settings on the other side.

Leapmotor B10

The steering wheel buttons are now more useful, too. Owners can pick which shortcuts they want on the buttons. For example, you can set a button to quickly turn on driver-assist tools or change how the car feels when you drive. These small changes make the B10 feel more personal and easier to manage while you keep your eyes on the road.

Safety received some attention in this update as well. The car’s Adaptive Cruise Control and Lane Centering Control now work better when the road turns. The car will slow down more naturally as it enters a turn, which feels much safer for the people inside. The car also has a better system to remind you if a person or a pet is still in the back seat after you park.

If you are new to this model, it is a small SUV that packs a lot of value. The Leapmotor B10 is 14.83 ft long, 6.2 ft wide, and 5.45 ft tall. It has a wheelbase of 8.99 ft, which gives it plenty of room inside for a family. In most markets, the price starts at around $39,000 for the Style trim and goes up to about $43,000 for the Design trim.

The car comes with two different battery sizes. The smaller 56.2 kWh battery offers a range of about 224 miles. If you need to go further, the 67.1 kWh battery can travel up to 270 miles on a full charge. Both versions use a rear-wheel-drive motor that delivers 160 kW of power. This is enough to get the car from 0 to 62 mph in 8 seconds flat. Charging is also quite fast – you can go from 30% to 80% battery in about 20 minutes at a DC charging station.

Leapmotor B10

Owners do not need to visit a mechanic to get these new features. The software started rolling out in early February 2026. Drivers will see a message on their dashboard when the update is ready for their specific vehicle. They just need to tap a few buttons on the screen to start the installation.

Source

LEAPMOTOR has rolled out an over-the-air (OTA) update for its B10 compact electric SUV, bringing wired and wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity, one-pedal driving, user interface tweaks and greater customisation of driver assistance systems.

 

When the B10 went on sale in November last year, it arrived without the popular smartphone mirroring applications but Leapmotor has now come good on its promised OTA update.

 

While the B10 is now compatible with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, its larger C10 stablemate – which was released in Australia in late 2024 – is unlikely to receive a similar update, as it is not equipped with the required hardware.

 

Instead, a November 2025 OTA update for the C10 added Android compatibility for the QDLink screen mirroring application, although no similar solution was provided for Apple iPhone users.

 

Further user interface updates include a quicker start-up time for the infotainment system along with navigation split-screen functionality.

 

The B10’s voice control capability has also been expanded to operate the windows, exterior lights, vents, and media and infotainment functions via the ‘Hey Leapmotor’ feature.

 

Custom memory shortcuts round off the user interface improvements, enabling easier access to personalised settings for active safety and driver assist functions, regenerative braking level and acceleration responsiveness. 

 

One-pedal driving – which calibrates the regenerative braking system to enable acceleration and deceleration to be handled with just the accelerator pedal – has also been added to the B10’s repertoire. 

 

While a hallmark feature on many electric vehicle offerings, one-pedal driving is absent on some of the B10’s immediate rivals such as the BYD Atto 2 and the Chery E5. 

 

Like the larger C10, which received active safety and driver assistance tweaks via the OTA update last year, the B10’s equivalent systems have also been refined.

 

In the B10’s case, lane centring and adaptive cruise control have now been fine-tuned for smoother deceleration when approaching corners. 

 

Also included among the safety enhancements is the ‘life detection reminder’, which triggers a warning if a passenger or child is left behind in the vehicle after it has been locked or powered off. 

 

Finally, the charger connector locking logic feature has been added to the B10’s list of features. When the B10 reaches a full charge, the connector will either be locked or unlocked depending on whether the vehicle itself is locked or unlocked.

 

Leapmotor B10 owners can install the new update by connecting their vehicle to a WiFi network to download it before following prompts to install the software via their infotainment system.

BYD is planning to refresh its luxury Yangwang U7 sedan, which comes in fully-electric and PHEV variants. Regulatory filings reveal the updated BEV version sports a massive 150 kWh LFP battery and 17.7 kWh per 62 miles consumption.

The Yangwang U7 EV model year 2026 will be offered in two powertrain versions – 1,287 hp and 1,341 hp, both of which will adopt the 150-kWh LFP battery. That’s a significant upgrade over the previous 135 kWh battery.

According to CLTC, the top-tier variant’s range on a single charge is 534 miles, while the regular 1,287-hp iteration can run 625 miles before requiring a recharge. The documents also reveal an impressive 17.7 kWh per 100 km consumption, a 10% improvement over the previous Yangwang U7 generation with the 135 kWh pack. What makes it even more impressive is the fact that the newer version is 220 lb heavier.

The car is expected to hit the market very soon, likely in the next few months.

Via