Tesla Dodges 2-million-car Recall

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Happy Friday! It's March 20, 2026, and this is The Morning Shift — your regular roundup of nan apical automotive headlines from astir nan world, successful 1 place. This is wherever you'll find nan astir important stories that are shaping nan measurement Americans thrust and get around.

In this morning's edition, we're looking astatine Tesla avoiding a multi-million-car recall, and Chrysler's caller leader needing to really do thing pinch nan nameplate. We'll besides look astatine Xiaomi investors' consequence to a value hike, and Hyundai's Palisade recall. 

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Back successful 2023, a contingent of Tesla owners asked nan National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to callback each Tesla made since 2013. The reasoning had to do pinch one-pedal driving, but it seems it wasn't capable to sway NHTSA — nan management has decided not to prosecute a callback of complete 2 cardinal cars. From Reuters: 

The U.S. car information regulator connected Friday rejected a petition seeking a ‌sweeping callback of astir 2.26 cardinal Tesla vehicles, saying it had recovered nary grounds of a safety-related defect.

The determination removes nan contiguous consequence of a large-scale callback for Tesla, but regulatory overhang remains arsenic ​authorities proceed to scrutinize its Full Self-Driving driver-assistance system.

A petition successful March 2023 ​alleged Tesla vehicles could summation nan consequence of pedal misapplication, perchance starring ⁠to unintended acceleration owed to differences successful controls specified arsenic one-pedal driving.

NHTSA said it ​found nary grounds of a defect aliases information risk, citing very fewer applicable incidents and ​data showing vehicles responded arsenic intended.

I'm nary Tesla fan, but one-pedal driving being excessively confusing isn't really nan car's fault. That's personification error. Skill issue, git gud, et cetera. Tesla still faces plentifulness of investigations and lawsuits into its hit-or-miss Level 2 driving strategy and doorhandles that look to trap proprietor wrong burning vehicles.

Stellantis

Chrysler has a caller dad, successful nan shape of erstwhile Dodge caput Matt McAlear. His job? Do thing pinch Chrysler. Anything, really. Just make it a halfway viable brand, 1 pinch possibly even two cars. From Automotive News: 

Four years ago, Chrysler unveiled an electrical crossover concept, nan Airflow, astatine nan CES tech showcase and declared plans to driblet gasoline engines by 2028.

Chrysler genitor Stellantis had conscionable brought successful Chris Feuell to lead nan marque successful a caller guidance aft years pinch small product: nan aging 300 sedan and a minivan sold nether 2 different names.

The Airflow was expected to propose bigger things connected nan sky for Chrysler, arsenic Feuell worked to clear distant nan murkiness that had clouded its future.

But Chrysler's first EV, group to debut successful 2025, ne'er arrived, and Feuell is now retired arsenic nan brand's CEO. Stellantis is reworking its broader strategy nether caller leadership, and Chrysler is backmost successful a acquainted spot — surrounded by questions astir its personality and merchandise timeline.

Dodge main Matt McAlear this period took complaint of Chrysler, which has dropped its all-EV strategy and fto its lineup dwindle to thing beyond nan Pacifica.

Stellantis CEO Antonio Filosa told reporters astatine nan Detroit Auto Show successful January that nan institution will put successful Chrysler. What those investments will output remains to beryllium seen, but dealers person ideas astir what nan marque tin be.

McAlear told Automotive News that Stellantis' investor time connected May 21 will person much accusation astir Chrysler's direction. It would benignant of beryllium reliable to have less information, truthful we'll spot what comes up by then. 

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Xiaomi precocious refreshed its SU7 EV, and included a mini value bump arsenic portion of nan change. Investors aren't happy, but nan value summation itself isn't nan rumor — they don't deliberation nan value accrued capable to screen nan caller features. From Bloomberg: 

Xiaomi Corp.'s Hong Kong-listed shares fell successful Hong Kong trading amid interest nan company's freshly updated electrical conveyance will deed profitability aft an only insignificant value increase.

The banal dropped 8.6% connected Friday, making it nan worst performer connected nan Hang Seng Tech Index. The shares worst plunge since April came aft a 9% rally earlier this week successful anticipation of nan debut, pinch sentiment besides buoyed by Xiaomi's rollout of caller AI models.

Xiaomi's refreshed SU7 sedan, which comes pinch hardware and information upgrades, will commencement from 219,900 yuan ($31,869) — astir 1.9% much than nan first procreation version, Xiaomi Chief Executive Officer Lei Jun said during a live-streamed motorboat arena successful Beijing connected Thursday. The slim value summation isn't capable to offset rising input costs, according to marketplace watchers.

"Lei commented aft nan arena that pinch each nan upgrades, nan worldly costs for nan second-generation SU7 accrued by 20,000 yuan, while nan value only accrued 4,000 yuan," said Eugene Hsiao, strategist astatine Macquarie Capital Ltd. "This fundamentally implies a imaginable separator diminution for nan newer version."

Cutting profit margins isn't awesome for a company's profitability — shocking, I cognize — but keeping prices debased arsenic user buying powerfulness wanes tin thief a institution stay competitive. Would you alternatively make much profit connected nan fewer cars you do sell, aliases little profit but move much units? 

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Earlier this week, Hyundai issued a extremity waste for nan Palisade aft its seats crushed a two-year-old woman to death. We knew nan institution would beryllium issuing a callback then, and now it's officially travel out: 61,093 Palisades are headed backmost to Hyundai for repair. From Reuters: 

Hyundai Motor is recalling 61,093 Palisade SUVs successful nan U.S. ​following a fatal mishap linked ‌to a powerfulness spot issue, nan U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) ​said connected Friday.

Hyundai said past week ​that it would extremity income of ⁠some caller Palisade SUVs successful ​the U.S. and Canada, and ​would callback them complete nan rumor pinch powerfulness seats pursuing an incident successful which ​a two-year-old woman was killed ​in Ohio connected March 7.

Hopefully, this callback allows Hyundai to make nan cars safe for children again. Losing your kid to a car spot sounds for illustration an unimaginable symptom to bear. 

State cops still onslaught protestors to this day, but nan feds protecting protesters seems to beryllium a long-abandoned tradition. 

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