Ford Joins The Fight For Its Biggest Military Contract Since The Cold War

Good morning! It's Tuesday, July 28, 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, Ford is looking to build the next U.S. Army truck, Mercedes-Benz is cutting how many cars it plans to sell this year because of China, Stellantis sells its car-sharing unit to focus on the actual business of building cars and there's a wacky new Ford recall impacting nearly 80,000 crossovers.

Oh, and if you want a recap of the latest auto news delivered to your inbox each weekday morning because life is busy and you can't always head to our website, you can sign up for Jalopnik's free The Morning Shift newsletter right here.

The Trump administration has been pushing hard for the Big Three automakers to get in on the war machine. We've already seen General Motors take up the task, and now Ford looks to be getting in on the action. The Blue Oval said it has joined the race to build the U.S. Army's newest tactical truck — a pickup that would double on the battlefield as a stealthy power bank of wheels, and it would be in direct competition with GM for the project.

The Army is looking to build about 600 of the trucks, and earlier this week, it confirmed that it had awarded contracts to GM, Ford and a Utah-based off-road vehicle manufacturer called BC Customs. They're being tasked with delivering prototypes sometime in 2027. It'll certainly have some catching up to do, though, because it sounds like GM is well ahead of the pack. The two companies have also done their best to butter up Trump in recent months. From The Wall Street Journal:

GM is years into developing its own version of the infantry squad vehicle, dubbed the ISV-Heavy. Military officials recently purchased some of the GM prototypes, built off the heavy-duty version of the automaker's Silverado pickup, for field testing.

Ford's contract with the Defense Department will see the automaker develop a trio of prototypes for the truck project based on its F-Series super-duty pickups.

Ford, in a statement, said it was excited to work on the project and looked forward to "delivering several incredibly capable vehicle prototypes that demonstrate the value Ford can provide to the Army and soldiers."

The Army has said it needs a truck that can operate as a mobile charging unit for equipment such as drones and command-and-control systems, in addition to moving troops quickly over potentially rough terrain.

Officials haven't said how much the trucks will cost; the smaller, GM-made tactical trucks cost $330,000 apiece.

Military leaders have been lobbying automakers and their suppliers to help scale up defense production and leverage the industry's manufacturing capacity to meet crucial military shortages brought on by wars in the Middle East and Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Ford Chief Executive Officer Jim Farley said this spring that the 120-year-old automaker was in talks with the Pentagon about multiple defense-related projects. He said he expected Ford would have a role in onshoring production of critical minerals and components, such as semiconductors.

Ford on Monday said that its ready-made, commercially available products were capable of meeting the U.S. military's needs.

If Ford can pull it out, it would be the largest military contract it has secured since the Cold War. During Korea and Vietnam, Ford proposed its own take on a Jeep to the military, but it pretty much exited the defense business in 1990 when it sold Ford Aerospace, which equipped military and space programs with missiles, drones and other products. I suppose you can only stay away from blood money for so long.

The vibes are a bit off-kilter at Mercedes-Benz right now. The German automaker just reported solid carmaking earnings that actually beat expectations, but deliveries still fell because of a seemingly never-ending slump in China. Adjusted return on sales in the cars unit declined to just 4% during the second quarter from a year earlier, Mercedes said, and that actually beat analysts' expectations.

Efforts to cut costs and lower spending on development were a driver behind the returns, and strong performance from its financial services unit certainly helped as well. It kept its 2026 carmaking margin outlook at 3 to 5%, even as it cut its forecasts for revenue and vehicle deliveries to a number slightly below where it was last year. The move comes after a 30% cliff drop for sales in China. From Bloomberg:

Chief Executive Officer Ola Källenius on Tuesday pledged more cost cuts, particularly in Germany, to help underpin returns. The carmaker is facing a difficult environment for its push to move further upmarket, making it more dependent on wealthy buyers just as China's economy is losing momentum. The world's biggest car market is a major buyer of its high-end S-Class and Maybach sedans.

For the second quarter, adjusted operating earnings from carmaking slumped 26% from a year earlier to €909 million ($1 billion). The average selling price fell by 4.4% to €64,700 from a year earlier, underscoring the pressure from weaker pricing and product mix.

The worsening outlook in China also prompted Mercedes to take a €704 million write-down on investments in businesses there.

Mercedes-Benz Vans offset some of the broader weakness in cars, posting an adjusted return on sales of 10.2%. The business is benefiting from steadier demand from commercial customers that need to renew their fleets, as well as recurring revenue from maintenance and other aftersales services.

[...]

Mercedes also raised its forecast for electrified vehicles to account for 23% to 25% of car sales this year, up from 21% to 23%, supported by models including the electric CLA and GLC. That's welcome news after models including the EQS, EQE and electric G-Class undershot internal expectations, raising concerns about the appeal of Mercedes' electric cars.

Because of the struggling demand, Mercedes has been looking for ways to reduce costs and streamline efficiency. The company has been using voluntary severance programs to get its headcount down, and that has helped bring general administrative expenses down 14% in the quarter.

At the same time, research and development spending is down 12% from last year's investment peak for Mercedes' product-launch plan. That is sort of in line with the ebbs and flows of product launches. Mercedes is on a heater of new car launches at the moment, meaning development costs don't need to be as high as they previously were. If I had to guess, they'll spin up again in a year or so.

Stellantis is trimming the fat, and that means it's selling its Free2move car-sharing unit to Mutares, a German investment company. The deal is expected to close by the end of the year. The move is part of the disciplined plan laid out in May by CEO Antonio Filosa that is meant to focus the transatlantic automaker on core automotive activities as well as partnerships in manufacturing and technology. From Reuters:

"By sharpening our focus on ​core automotive activities, we strengthen our capacity to deliver long-term ‌performance," ⁠Stellantis' head of business development and partnerships, Virgilio Cerutti, said in a statement.

Created by Peugeot maker PSA in 2016 before its merger with Fiat Chrysler, Free2move ​was part ​of former ⁠CEO Carlos Tavares' push into mobility services beyond vehicle manufacturing.

After Stellantis was formed ​in 2021, the business continued to operate ​alongside ⁠the group's leasing and mobility activities.

Munich-based Mutares said the acquisition would establish a new platform in the mobility ⁠sector ​and that it intends to ​continue developing the business, including its transition to battery-electric vehicles.

Free2move offered both short- and long-term free-floating car-sharing services through its frees across 14 cities in Europe as well as the United States. One could assume it hasn't really taken off — in the States, at least — the way Stellantis had initially hoped.

Ford, baby, please stop this foolishness. Enough is enough. Your recalls are hurting me at this point.

I mean, c'mon. 79,579 2026 and 2027 Explorers and Lincoln Aviators are getting recalled because the driver's seat could recline when the owner activates the remote unlock or remote start? What the hell is going on, big dog? That's just nutty. From the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration:

Unexpected movement of the driver's seat back may trap a second-row occupant, increasing the risk of injury.

[...]

The remedy is currently under development. The owner notification schedule has not been provided.

The fact you folks haven't found a fix yet isn't super great, either. In any case, this is Ford's 61st recall of 2026, and so far 13,518,991 vehicles have been impacted. We're still a far cry from the 153 recalls Ford issued last year, but technically more cars have been impacted, since that number came out to 12,958,128 total. Good job, guys!

History.com

My God, what an unmitigated disaster. At the very least, the Democratic Party learned its lesson, and we never had to hear from Donald Trump or establishment neolibs ever again following this debacle — ushering in a new era of progressive politics in America. That's what happened, right? Right? Please tell me that's what happened. I've been asleep for nine years. If you want to learn more about HillDog '16, head over to History.com.

Good news! The average price of a gallon of gas actually went down overnight. It may have something to do with the "good talks" President Trump just had over the Strait of Hormuz, or it could just be a momentary blip. Either way, we can enjoy it while it lasts. Oil is also down, with WTI Crude Oil futures and Brent Crude prices sitting at $81 and $84, respectively, at the time of publication.

Here's where national average prices stand right now, according to AAA:

AAA

This all shakes out to the average price of a gallon of gas dropping an entire cent overnight to $4.10, according to AAA. It's a move in the right direction away from our 2026 high of $4.56 — that's for sure.

Folks, Charli xcx is back with her follow-up to "Brat," and coming up with something to follow an album as huge as that is no small task. She knocked it out of the goddamn park if you ask me, because an existential crisis is good for you every once in a while.