BMW Is Planning a Mercedes G-Class Rival: TDS

The BMW-badged rock crawler is set to be built in America and arrive in 2029.
Mercedes-Benz G-Class

Good morning and welcome to The Downshift, or TDS for short.

The Downshift is The Drive’s weekday early morning quick-hit news rundown of the latest automotive stories bubbling around the world. Grab a cup of coffee and a Pop-Tart.

All feedback on TDS is and has been appreciated via the comments section and email (tips@thedrive.com).

Right, tight, and light, TDS is a quick-hit piece that is not a full-featured story or in-depth reporting. Stories are summarized in a single sentence accompanied by a link for those seeking more information.

The first cup of coffee is gone here, so let’s get into it.

🚘 What I’m driving: The 2025 Chevrolet Blazer EV SS is in my driveway and it’s quick with a 0-60 mph time of 3.4 seconds.

🚙 BMW will expand its lineup to include a Mercedes G-Wagon rival based on the mid-size X5 platform built in America arriving in 2029 to serve as a halo model.

🇸🇪 Volvo’s bringing back a front-wheel-drive turbo-4 version of the XC40 crossover to lower the price of the model lineup.

🇰🇷 The Genesis G70 sport sedan is now predicted to disappear after the 2027 model year with no direct replacement.

🇺🇸 Czinger’s CCO said the American hypercar maker will not expand the lineup with a GT or SUV, rather it’ll stick to more variants of the 21C hypercar.

🏁 It took a mere month for Koenigsegg to steal the 0-249-0 mph record back from Rimac.

🪫 The Polestar 3 electric SUV set a Guinness World Record for the longest distance traveled by an electric SUV on a single charger covering 581.3 miles before running out of juice.

✨ Rivian created its first one-off with a custom R1S Quad Pebble Beach model, which will be auctioned off this week during Monterey Car Week as the automaker’s only factory-made one-of-one vehicle.

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Joel Feder Avatar

Joel Feder

Director of Content and Product