Good morning and welcome to The Downshift, or TDS for short.
Dense, succinct, and quick, TDS gathers the latest automotive headlines from around the globe and puts them in one place. Stories are summarized in a single sentence accompanied by a link for those seeking more information.
It’s dark, it’s cold, and it was a heavy emotion-filled weekend here in Minneapolis, so let’s get into it.
🚘 What I’m driving: Spent the weekend with the 2026 Mazda CX-50 Hybrid, which feels like a mashup of an underwhelming Mazda with the soul of a Toyota RAV4 Hybrid. It’s really a shame since it looks great. This could have, and should have, been better.
⛽️ A BMW spokesperson confirmed the German automaker will continue producing vehicles with V8 and V12 engines as the core lineup moves to EVs; “High-performance engines remain a central part of our strategy,” a BMW spokesperson said pushing back against rumors of the automaker ending V8 engine production, which started because production of the V8 at the Steyr plant in Austria ended in 2025, but the move simply marked a relocation to BMW’s Hall facility in the U.K. where three- and four-cylinder engines have been produced alongside large-displacement engines since 2022.
🧑⚖️ Michigan is suing oil companies for “suppressing” EVs as the state alleges that BP, Chevron, Exxon, and others acted as a “cartel” to “suppress innovation” around electric vehicles.
🏭 Volkswagen Group might pull plans for a U.S. Audi plant unless the Trump administration reduces auto tariffs, according to CEO Oliver Blume.
🇨🇳 The Trump administration reportedly pushed out the head of the Commerce Department who was responsible for barring nearly all Chinese cars from the U.S. market.
🔌 A judge ruled that the Trump administration unlawfully suspended EV charger infrastructure program funds, which Congress enacted in 2021.
🧥 Ford and Carhartt’s partnership is starting to take shape with dealership uniforms and a co-branded Super Duty pickup truck.
🇨🇦 Toyota started production of the 2026 RAV4 at its Canadian plant, which the automaker spent $1.1 billion retooling for the new hybrid-only model, while dismissing tariff risks tied to its best-selling North American model.
🤥 The Donkervoort P24 RS debuted with a 600-horsepower engine sourced from the Ford GT and a five-speed manual transmission along with a dash-to-axle ratio that would make the Batmobile blush.
📈 The BMW iX3 is racking up an eye-raising amount of orders, including many from first-time BMW buyers who haven’t even test-driven the EV.
📺 Audi’s Chief Creative Designer Massimo Frascella said “big screens are not the best experience,” and “tactility is very important” noting that big screens are “technology for the sake of technology.”
😎 The Bertone Runabout concept from the 1960s has finally reached production five decades after being shown thanks to the Lotus Exige with a 25 unit production run planned, no two cars are set to be the same, and a price of about £400,000 (about $546,000).
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