Hyundai Is Going All-In on ‘Volume High-Performance’ Cars: TDS

Welcome to The Downshift, or TDS for short, The Drive’s morning automotive news roundup, bringing you the biggest headlines from around the globe.

The Downshift sums up stories in short blurbs with links to the source for the full report. Here’s the news worth catching up on for Wednesday, August 26, 2026.

🔊 Our weekly podcast, The Drivecast, is on a short break for two weeks and will return September 2. You can find the latest episode here, and on all major platforms including Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

🏁 Hyundai is prepping a new class of vehicles that sits above “N Line”—mostly given to vehicles with sporty appearance packages—but below proper N models. Hyundai CEO Jose Munoz described it during the company’s Investor Day in South Korea on Wednesday as “a new volume high-performance variant carrying over [the N] powertrain and parts package,” and that it’ll allow customers “who want that feeling every day on the way to work [to] have it without buying a track car.” [Drive]

🔋 Hyundai also revealed during this meeting that it’s planning a hybrid onslaught in the U.S., adding 10 new electrified models by 2030, at which point, it anticipates that hybrids will comprise half of its sales volume. [Reuters]

🌎 Honda says it’s hesitant to build an eighth North American plant without a new U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement. The company’s Executive Vice President, Noriya Kaihara, said that it’ll have to make a decision on the matter within the next two years, and it would like the plant to be operational by 2030, should it be greenlit. [Reuters]

🆕 Meanwhile, Automotive News’ forward-looking Future Product Pipeline report states that the Honda CR-V and Accord may go hybrid-only next decade, with the Accord joining its arch rival, the Toyota Camry, in eliminating purely combustion powertrains. Acura has also been rumored to be adding a new three-row SUV designed to sit above the MDX in 2029, tentatively dubbed “XL.” [Automotive News]

🔧 Toyota is recalling nearly 50,000 Tacoma Off-Road trucks for faulty Bilstein shock absorbers, with external oil reservoirs that can corrode and detach. Not every vehicle in the group will necessarily need a part swap, however, so Toyota encourages owners to look up their particular VIN on NHTSA’s website. [Motor1]

💯 As of last week, Lotus Technology—the portion of the company headquartered in China—now wholly owns Lotus UK and Lotus Engineering, which build the Emira and offer consultancy services in England. [Motor1]

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