Downshift: VW Wants a Pickup in US, Big Camry Recall, Maserati Mulls V8s Again

Welcome to The Downshift, The Drive’s morning news roundup serving up the biggest automotive headlines from around the world.

The Downshift recaps news briefly, with links to full stories for those seeking more info. Here’s your bulletin for Friday, August 7, 2026.

🛻 A “company source” told Reuters that Volkswagen is planning to kickstart its U.S. business with a new CEO—Marco Schubert—and even a pickup truck. The objective is for the truck to be on sale before the end of the decade and, as you’d figure, it would be built locally to avoid the chicken tax. [Reuters]

⏱️ Toyota has announced a recall for more than half a million Camry sedans across the 2025 and 2026 models related to a faulty instrument cluster display that may suddenly go blank while driving. This specifically covers vehicles with the 7-inch version of the display—the larger, 12.3-inch one is fine. The good news is that the fix can be done through a software update; the bad news is that the dealer must perform it, so owners will have to bring their vehicles in for service. [Autoblog]

🪫 In other Toyota news, the Prius has continued its downward sales trajectory in the U.S., recording a 40.3% dive through 2026 so far versus the same point last year. What’s interesting about this, however, is that the plug-in model is doing great; it’s the standard hybrid Prius that is underperforming, perhaps because Toyota has electrified so many of its other vehicles, and even the Camry comes standard with a conventional hybrid powertrain today. [CarBuzz]

🔱 Once upon a time, Maserati was going all-electric. Those days are in the past, however, and so the Italian luxury marque has raised the subject of selling V8s again. Don’t expect them to import Hemis from the U.S., though—these would be smaller engines made to fit in cars like the GranTurismo and GranCabrio. [CarSales]

🍁 Ford has restarted sale of the Chinese-built Lincoln Nautilus Hybrid in Canada. It isn’t known if the automaker is doing this through the recently started quota system, limiting the quantity of vehicles Chinese manufacturers can bring into the country. [Automotive News]

📏 There’s a special edition of the BMW M2 CS now available in Japan called the “Edge.” Rather than being sold in Mystichrome, though, it has special design touches, including a stacked center-exit exhaust you wouldn’t see on the regular sport sedan, as well as a carbon-fiber engine cover. Production is limited to 40 units. [BMWBlog]

🏁 Weekend races to watch (all times Eastern):