Good morning and welcome to The Downshift, or TDS for short.
Light, tight, and right, TDS is a quick-hit gathering of all the latest automotive news bubbling from around the globe. Stories are summarized in a single sentence accompanied by a link for those seeking more information. Highly recommend TDS gets paired with Pop-Tart and a cup of coffee.
The first cup of coffee is gone here, so let’s get into it.
🚘 What I’m driving: The 2025 Ford Expedition Platinum is being put to work as my kids get shuttled to and from the bus stop and evening activities, and both kids love all the space inside this thing.
⛽️ BMW board member Jochen Goller said “ICE and combustion will never disappear. Never,” making clear the company’s belief that electrification and combustion will coexist into the future, this comes despite the fact the automaker’s poured billions into its next-gen EVs.
🔨 Tesla is now redesigning its door handles after intense scrutiny over safety concerns about passengers getting trapped inside the vehicles.
🛻 Hyundai said it will build a new midsize pickup truck for the U.S. market and it will arrive before 2030, though it’s expected to be a body-on-frame vehicle rather than a unibody design like today’s Santa Cruz.
‼️ Ford recalled 100,900 Ranger pickups due to a defective side curtain airbag.
⚙️ The man in charge of the Porsche 911, Michael Rösler, said the automaker is “thinking about all the possibilities to get the customers a manual.”
🎉 Bugatti celebrated the 20th anniversary of the Veyron supercar, which changed the automotive landscape.
‼️ Hyundai recalled 568,580 Palisade SUVs due to an issue with the seat belt buckles, which may not properly secure passengers in a crash.
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