Tesla Dodges 2-Million-Car Recall
Happy Friday! It's March 20, 2026, and this is The Morning Shift — your daily roundup of the top automotive headlines from around the world, in one place. This is where you'll find the most important stories that are shaping the way Americans drive and get around.
In this morning's edition, we're looking at Tesla avoiding a multi-million-car recall, and Chrysler's new boss needing to actually do something with the nameplate. We'll also look at Xiaomi investors' response to a price hike, and Hyundai's Palisade recall.
1st Gear: NHTSA won't force Tesla to recall all cars since 2013
Back in 2023, a contingent of Tesla owners asked the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to recall every Tesla made since 2013. The reasoning had to do with one-pedal driving, but it seems it wasn't enough to sway NHTSA — the administration has decided not to pursue a recall of over two million cars. From Reuters:
The U.S. auto safety regulator on Friday rejected a petition seeking a sweeping recall of about 2.26 million Tesla vehicles, saying it had found no evidence of a safety-related defect.
The decision removes the immediate risk of a large-scale recall for Tesla, but regulatory overhang remains as authorities continue to scrutinize its Full Self-Driving driver-assistance system.
A petition in March 2023 alleged Tesla vehicles could increase the risk of pedal misapplication, potentially leading to unintended acceleration due to differences in controls such as one-pedal driving.
NHTSA said it found no evidence of a defect or safety risk, citing very few relevant incidents and data showing vehicles responded as intended.
I'm no Tesla fan, but one-pedal driving being too confusing isn't really the car's fault. That's user error. Skill issue, git gud, et cetera. Tesla still faces plenty of investigations and lawsuits into its hit-or-miss Level 2 driving system and doorhandles that seem to trap owner inside burning vehicles.
2nd Gear: Chrysler's new boss has to make something of the brand
Chrysler has a new dad, in the form of former Dodge head Matt McAlear. His job? Do something with Chrysler. Anything, really. Just make it a halfway viable brand, one with perhaps even two cars. From Automotive News:
Four years ago, Chrysler unveiled an electric crossover concept, the Airflow, at the CES tech showcase and declared plans to drop gasoline engines by 2028.
Chrysler parent Stellantis had just brought in Chris Feuell to lead the brand in a new direction after years with little product: the aging 300 sedan and a minivan sold under two different names.
The Airflow was supposed to suggest bigger things on the horizon for Chrysler, as Feuell worked to clear away the murkiness that had clouded its future.
But Chrysler's first EV, set to debut in 2025, never arrived, and Feuell is now out as the brand's CEO. Stellantis is reworking its broader strategy under new leadership, and Chrysler is back in a familiar place — surrounded by questions about its identity and product timeline.
Dodge chief Matt McAlear this month took charge of Chrysler, which has dropped its all-EV strategy and let its lineup dwindle to nothing beyond the Pacifica.
Stellantis CEO Antonio Filosa told reporters at the Detroit Auto Show in January that the company will invest in Chrysler. What those investments will yield remains to be seen, but dealers have ideas about what the brand can be.
McAlear told Automotive News that Stellantis' investor day on May 21 will have more information about Chrysler's direction. It would sort of be tough to have less information, so we'll see what comes up by then.
3rd Gear: Xiaomi investors balk at price increases on the SU7
Xiaomi recently refreshed its SU7 EV, and included a small price bump as part of the change. Investors aren't happy, but the price increase itself isn't the issue — they don't think the price increased enough to cover the new features. From Bloomberg:
Xiaomi Corp.'s Hong Kong-listed shares fell in Hong Kong trading amid concern the company's freshly updated electric vehicle will hit profitability after an only minor price increase.
The stock dropped 8.6% on Friday, making it the worst performer on the Hang Seng Tech Index. The shares worst plunge since April came after a 9% rally earlier this week in anticipation of the debut, with sentiment also buoyed by Xiaomi's rollout of new AI models.
Xiaomi's refreshed SU7 sedan, which comes with hardware and safety upgrades, will start from 219,900 yuan ($31,869) — about 1.9% more than the first generation version, Xiaomi Chief Executive Officer Lei Jun said during a live-streamed launch event in Beijing on Thursday. The slim price increase isn't enough to offset rising input costs, according to market watchers.
"Lei commented after the event that with all the upgrades, the material costs for the second-generation SU7 increased by 20,000 yuan, while the price only increased 4,000 yuan," said Eugene Hsiao, strategist at Macquarie Capital Ltd. "This essentially implies a potential margin decline for the newer version."
Cutting profit margins isn't great for a company's profitability — shocking, I know — but keeping prices low as consumer buying power wanes can help a company remain competitive. Would you rather make more profit on the few cars you do sell, or less profit but move more units?
4th Gear: Hyundai recalls 61,000 Palisades after power seats kill two-year-old girl
Earlier this week, Hyundai issued a stop sale for the Palisade after its seats crushed a two-year-old girl to death. We knew the company would be issuing a recall then, and now it's officially come out: 61,093 Palisades are headed back to Hyundai for repair. From Reuters:
Hyundai Motor is recalling 61,093 Palisade SUVs in the U.S. following a fatal accident linked to a power seat issue, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said on Friday.
Hyundai said last week that it would stop sales of some new Palisade SUVs in the U.S. and Canada, and would recall them over the issue with power seats following an incident in which a two-year-old girl was killed in Ohio on March 7.
Hopefully, this recall allows Hyundai to make the cars safe for children again. Losing your kid to a car seat sounds like an unimaginable pain to bear.
Reverse: Not quite how it works any more
State cops still attack protestors to this day, but the feds protecting protesters seems to be a long-abandoned tradition.
On The Radio: The Mountain Goats - 'The Ballad of Bull Ramos'
I've been learning a new type of rock climbing (sport climbing) recently, and I'm on a run of consecutive days going hard at the gym. I'm feeling a lot like broken-down old Bull Ramos this morning. I should figure out some better ways to recover after climbing.