In today's issue:
Tesla quietly rewrote owners' FSD purchase agreements after they signed them
The BMW M2 gets all-wheel drive for the first time, starts at $74,950
USMCA renegotiation kicks off July 1 with a 50% US-content proposal on the table
DOCUMENT TAMPERING
Tesla rewrote "Full Self-Driving" purchase agreements to insert "supervised" language that did not exist when owners originally bought the product, and in some cases made the original documents entirely inaccessible, per Electrek, which confirmed the issue with multiple owners.
The change matters legally: buyers who paid for "Full Self-Driving" got a product with that name in their contract; the retroactive edit shifts liability language without buyers' consent or a re-signing.
Tesla separately renamed its FSD branding in China to "Tesla Assisted" after Chinese regulators objected to the prior name implying full autonomy, per Autoline Daily.
The company is simultaneously stripping FSD from used Cybertruck Foundation Series models being resold, removing perks that were part of the original purchase, per autoevolution.
Owners who paid thousands for what was sold as a self-driving capability now hold contracts whose terms were changed unilaterally, with no disclosed compensation, alternative, or opt-out.
The original FSD pitch was that buyers were pre-paying for full autonomy. Retroactively rewriting those contracts to say "supervised" doesn't change what the product does; it changes what Tesla owes if it never delivers.
Also worth knowing
BMW M2 Gets AWD For the First Time, Starts at $74,950: The 2027 BMW M2 xDrive carries the same 473 hp S58 twin-turbo as the rear-drive car but shaves 0-60 to 3.3 seconds, per Carscoops; a button switches it back to rear-drive-only mode. Production starts this summer in San Luis Potosí, Mexico, per Car and Driver, which puts the car squarely in the spotlight as USMCA content negotiations begin July 1. #enthusiast
Plug-In Hybrids Emit Five Times Their Certified CO₂ in Real-World Use, ICCT Finds: A new International Council on Clean Transportation study found that PHEVs in Europe emit, on average, five times more CO₂ than official test values, per Electrive. Regulators have treated PHEV compliance figures as credible while automakers have used them to meet fleet CO₂ targets; the gap between the lab and the road undermines both. #analyst
GM Has Two Weeks Before a Supplier Strike Kills Silverado and Sierra Output: Nearly 1,000 UAW workers at Dauch Corporation's axle plant in Three Rivers, Michigan walked out after contract talks failed, per autoevolution. GM has an estimated two-week axle supply buffer before Silverado and Sierra assembly lines go dark, per CBT News, and talks have not resumed, per Reuters via Autoblog. #analyst
USMCA Renegotiation Starts July 1 With a 50% US-Content Demand on the Table: The US is pushing for vehicles in the North American trade zone to contain at least 50% American-made components, a requirement Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney told reporters would hit Mexico harder than Canada, per Just Auto. Industry leaders told Automotive News they expect major content-rule changes and are prioritizing supply-chain flexibility before formal talks open. #analyst
Reveals & culture
Rolls-Royce Spectre Series II Adds 16% More Range, Switches to NACS: The updated Spectre hits 308 EPA-estimated miles, up from 265, and adopts the NACS charging standard for the US market, directly addressing the two loudest owner complaints about the original, per Electrek. A new Black Badge variant rated at 671 hp becomes the most powerful Rolls-Royce ever built, per Carscoops, and the interior gains 8,108 individually addressable lights in the dashboard.
2027 Bentley Flying Spur Drops 60 Years of Quad Headlamps: For the first time since 1962, a Bentley sedan ditches the signature four-headlamp front end, switching to a twin-lamp layout that matches the Continental GT, per Autoblog. The new S variant produces 671 hp and reaches 60 mph in 3.6 seconds, per Autocar UK, with a Naim audio system standard on the Mulliner grade.
Recalls & legal action
Ford Recalls 419,967 Expeditions and Navigators Over Seat Belts That May Fail in a Crash: The recall covers certain 2018-2022 Ford Expedition and Lincoln Navigator models; a pretensioner defect means front seat belts may not restrain occupants properly in a collision, per AutoGuide and Reuters. NHTSA confirmed the campaign. #news
Lucid Recalls 2,039 Air Pure Models Over Inverter That Can Cut Drive Power Mid-Trip: NHTSA Campaign 26V309000 covers 2024-2025 Lucid Air rear-wheel-drive models; the Gen 4 inverter's internal switching components can degrade over time, interrupting the drive signal and causing sudden loss of propulsion, per InsideEVs and the NHTSA filing. #news
Quick links
Stellantis Commits €1B to Peugeot Production at Its Mulhouse Plant: Three new electric and hybrid Peugeot C-segment models will be assembled at the Mulhouse site from 2029 on the STLA One platform, per Automotive News Europe and Just Auto.
Tata Motors Will License Chery-JLR's Freelander Platform for Its Avinya EV Brand: Tata dropped the previously planned JLR EMA architecture to accelerate the delayed Avinya premium EV program, tapping Chinese-origin platform tech instead, per Electrive and Autocar India.
Mercedes CLA 350 EV Drove 385 Miles in Edmunds's Real-World Test, 73 Miles Past Its EPA Rating: The result is one of the largest positive spreads between EPA estimate and independent real-world range testing on record for a mass-market EV, per InsideEVs and Electrek.
Dodge Raised the Charger EV's Price to $72,495 Without Adding Power: The 2027 Charger EV starts at $72,495 — up sharply from last year — with no performance change, per Autoblog and Carscoops, which headlined it as Dodge "basically begging people not to buy the EV." The gas Charger starts lower; the pricing spread is a quiet platform pivot.
Hybrids Carried Honda, Hyundai, and Kia in May as Toyota Slipped: U.S. light-vehicle sales rose in May for the first time in 2026 after four consecutive monthly declines, per Automotive News, with hybrid demand the primary driver at Honda, Hyundai, and Kia. Toyota slipped while Subaru and Mazda rebounded; the Subaru WRX was up nearly 150% year-over-year after a pricing reset, per Subaru's pressroom.
Leclerc Signs a New Multi-Year Deal With Ferrari Ahead of the Monaco Grand Prix: The contract has no publicly stated end date; Ferrari's press release says Leclerc will "continue to wear the team's colours for the coming seasons," per the Ferrari Media Centre.
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