Good morning and welcome to The Downshift, or TDS for short.
TDS is all about getting you the top automotive industry headlines from around the world in one short bulletin that’s easy to scan, and best served with a cup of tea or coffee. Each item contains a link for you to follow along for a deeper read, if you wish. I’m just settling in with a cuppa myself, so let’s get into it.
🚘 What I’m driving: A Subaru Ascent, which is quite an old vehicle at this point, having gone on sale in 2018. But I’m enjoying it. Maybe some of it has to do with the absolutely horrendous weather in the Northeast for the past week. It’s a cozy place to be in the rain.
📹 Ford is recalling just under 890,000 vehicles, including the Escape and Explorer, as well as the Lincoln Corsair and Aviator, for infotainment systems that may display inverted images; it’s also recalling about 850,000 Edge and Bronco SUVs for overheating infotainment system control modules. Both issues have the side effect of impeding proper rear-view camera functionality, which is the specific concern listed in their NHTSA recall reports. Last fall, Ford recalled about 1.4 million vehicles for faulty backup cameras, but that pertained to the camera hardware itself, prompting replacements; by contrast, the automaker intends to remedy these newer recalls with an over-the-air software update.
🪑 Some musical chairs at Stellantis this morning, with Chrysler CEO Christine Feuell leaving the company “for personal reasons,” per a press release. She’ll be replaced at her post by Matt McAlear, who already runs Dodge. McAlear isn’t departing Dodge for Chrysler; he’ll serve in dual roles and even a third, as the new head of Alfa Romeo North America.
⚡ Denso, which itself is a supplier for Toyota vehicles, has bid $8.3 million for Rohm, a semiconductor maker based in Japan that specializes in power control chips, Reuters reports. It’s an important strategic play as automakers continue to shore up their own silicon supply chains in the wake of the pandemic shortages and threats of new ones.
🐹 The supply of 2025 Kia Souls nationwide has dwindled into the double digits, according to Automotive News, about five months after Kia announced the discontinuation of the model.
🔌 Speaking of Kia, we shared in TDS yesterday that sales of the quick-accelerating EV6 GT would be paused in the U.S. due to tariffs. Well, Kia has confirmed to the media that you can add the EV9 GT-Line to that list. This, of course, comes days after Hyundai announced that the Ioniq 6 N would be the only version of the electric sedan to continue sales here in the States.
🇩🇪 Audi is no longer accepting orders for its A8 sedan in Germany, per Motor1, signaling an uncertain future for its once flagship nameplate.
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