Good morning and welcome to The Downshift, or TDS for short.
TDS is your daily one-stop shop for all the auto industry headlines from around the world fit to print. In the old days, before the internet, a kid on a bicycle would throw a rolled-up copy at your door, and you’d sit and read it at your breakfast nook with coffee in hand and get ink all over your fingers. The modern version’s a lot less romantic, but just as informative. Let’s get into it.
🎱 Lotus has doubled back from its all-EV business plan, as so many have, and now intends to launch a hybrid V8 sports car by 2028, tentatively called “Type 135.” The automaker is also planning an update to the current, gas-powered Emira that will make it both more powerful and lighter than ever before. [Autocar]
🔋 Ford has decided to use its excess battery production to prop up a new business, called Ford Energy, that will sell energy storage systems built in the U.S. to utilities, data centers, and industrial customers. [Barron’s]
🖥️ General Motors is laying off 500 to 600 workers in its IT department globally in an effort to trim costs and “better position the company for the future.” [Bloomberg]
🚙 Audi will unveil the new Q9, an SUV that is supposedly very much geared for the American market, on July 29. Our own Joel Feder got to see a prototype in person, and you can read about his impressions, particularly about the interior, here.
🚕 Waymo is recalling 3,800 robotaxis due to a fault the company has identified that could result in the vehicles choosing to enter flooded roads that have higher speed limits. [Reuters]
🏁 As questions spiral around Max Verstappen and his future, Ford Performance director Mark Rushbrook has gone on record saying that the team has had conversations with the four-time world champion about him piloting its WEC hypercar down the stretch. Verstappen is notably interested in sports car and endurance racing, so the two would make a great match. [Motorsport.com]
⛺ Honda and Acura will start selling Thule active lifestyle accessories, like roof boxes and bike racks, directly through their dealerships. [Autoblog]
🏭 Tesla plans to invest $250 million into its battery plant outside Berlin to increase production capacity. [Reuters]
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