Good morning and welcome to The Downshift, or TDS for short.
Light, tight, and right, TDS gathers the latest automotive news from around the globe and puts it in one place. Stories are summarized in a single sentence accompanied by a link for those seeking more information.
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The first cup of coffee is gone and it’s definitely time for a second, so let’s get into it.
🔋 Despite spending billions on a next-generation V8 engine family and pouring money into truck development GM CEO Mary Barra said that battery-powered vehicles are still “the end game;” the comment came from Barra after noting that with the Trump administration gutting the EPA regulations and loosening fuel-economy rules the automaker “had to make some fairly significant changes,” which resulted in cutting billions of dollars’ worth of EV investments.
🔌 While the end game might be battery-electric vehicles GM CEO Mary Barra said the automotive giant is still planning to sell plug-in hybrids in the U.S. and is studying which market segments and vehicles will get the technology.
📈 Despite the Trump administration killing the $7,500 federal EV tax rebate Kia’s dealer council head said demand for the three-row electric EV9 is expected to remain strong.
📉 Mercedes-Benz fell further behind BMW in the electric-vehicle sales race.
💰 California Governor Gavin Newsom wants to fill the gap left by the cancellation of the federal EV tax credit with $200 million in electric vehicle rebates.
⚙️ The refreshed 2027 Mercedes-Benz S-Class will be available with a flat-plane crank V8 engine.
🚕 Hyundai’s planning to launch its own robotaxi service to compete against Waymo and aims to succeed where GM failed with Cruise.
🪲 Lucid’s interim CEO Marc Winterhoff acknowledged the Gravity SUV launched with software issues and it resulted in him replacing the software team.
🪑 The three-row seven-seat Tesla Model Y has returned with a set of seats in the trunk for passengers that have very short legs.
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