Good morning and welcome to The Downshift, or TDS for short.
The Downshift is our morning summary of all the auto industry headlines you need to know. News is recapped with a few sentences with links to dig deeper if you wish. It goes great with a warm caffeinated beverage of your choosing, or maybe an iced one—fingers crossed the cold finally lets us go up in the Northeast. Let’s get into it.
🔊 The latest episode of The Drivecast, The Drive’s new weekly podcast, will go live later today. Be sure to stay tuned, whether you listen on The Drive, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.
🚗 General Motors is planning a next-gen Chevy Camaro, Cadillac CT5, and even a new Buick sedan, Automotive News has reported citing one of the automaker’s major suppliers. All three cars would theoretically share a platform.
🚙 Hyundai has resumed sales of its Palisade SUV after stopping them due to a power seat issue that killed a two-year-old child in Ohio. According to Reuters, a new software update to affected vehicles makes a number of changes to the way these seats behave, and conditions that must be met in order to stow them; it also improves the seats’ object and occupant detection.
🔋 The BMW i7 will utilize a battery system co-developed by Rimac, that will be manufactured at a Rimac facility in Zagreb, Croatia, both companies announced in a joint release. The i7 will debut later this month in Beijing.
🌴 The man responsible for the design of the last-gen BMW M2, Hussein Al Attar, has left the German automaker to head up GM’s Advanced Design Studio in Pasadena, California, according to BMW Blog.
💺 Ford is recalling 3,170 Maverick trucks and Bronco Sport SUVs due to faulty occupant detection sensors for front-passenger airbags which could result in a failure to deploy when intended, per Autoblog. Ford will replace these sensors in affected models.
💵 Toyota has announced pricing for the 2027 Land Cruiser. The SUV will start at $59,375 including destination, an increase of $280 compared to the previous model year.
🗓️ McLaren’s new CEO, Nick Collins, told Autocar that we can expect some details on the brand’s business strategy and upcoming models this summer. That may even include a concept indicative of the supercar maker’s future design direction.
5️⃣ Mercedes-Benz’s Tuscaloosa, Alabama plant, which opened 31 years ago, recently marked its 5 millionth SUV built.
Got a tip or feedback? Let us know at tips@thedrive.com