Good morning and welcome to The Downshift, or TDS for short.
Quick, tight, and dense, TDS gathers the latest automotive news bubbling around the globe and places it all in one spot. Stories are summarized in a single sentence accompanied by a link for those seeking more information.
The first cup of coffee is gone and I’m ready for a second, so let’s get into it.
🚘 What I’m driving: Currently I’m driving a 2026 Nissan Armada Pro-4X and adore the chunky buttons, knobs, and toggles on the dashboard.
🪦 Orders for the Subaru WRX will cease in Japan on May 18 with the current car winding down due to not meeting upcoming emissions and noise regulations in its home country; Subaru has only said there’s no news to share in terms of the WRX in the U.S., and the nameplate isn’t expected to be discontinued, but its fate both in Japan, and America, are not yet clear.
🔋 Lamborghini CEO Stephan Winkelmann said the automaker has not killed its EV plans, rather the timeline has shifted with development still taking place and the first electric model now arriving after 2030; the Lanzador 2+2 concept, which was supposed to be a preview of the automaker’s first EV, will go into production but will now feature a plug-in hybrid powertrain.
🔋 Mercedes-Benz AMG showed its upcoming lineup to dealers in Sindelfingen, Germany and it includes three electric AMGs including a low-slung coupe, a crossover SUV, and a sporty, sloped-roof SUV variant; the convertible G-Class was also reportedly shown.
🚙 Ineos has entered the rental car fleet game as Hertz prepares to stock the Grenadier SUV at 21 airport locations in the U.S. starting this spring.
🚨 Volkswagen recalled 48,165 Jetta sedans due to a fire risk related to possibly having an unconnected transmission ground wire.
🪦 BMW will kill the current i4 as the new i3 sedan launches.
🔋 BMW product boss Bernd Körber said the company “will always look into sports cars; EVs have a space in sports cars. So I would say not unlikely, but not something that will be imminently launched next year.”
💰 Koenigsegg is preparing to possibly go public with an IPO to raise cash to boost production.
✨ The first new Alpina models from BMW will be based on the 7-Series and X7.
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