Good morning and welcome to The Downshift, or TDS for short.
Short, snappy, and to the point, TDS gathers the latest automotive news from around the globe and places it in one spot. Stories are summarized in a single sentence accompanied by a link for those seeking more information.
And we’re back! Welcome to TDS and happy new year. It’s true, I had spine surgery two weeks ago to the day. Feels amazing to be back at the desk and here with you. While life still has limitations and there’s a road to recovery ahead I am (literally) back behind the wheel. Truly I’m thankful and excited to be back at work and ready for the team to tackle the biggest stories heading into the new year.
The first cup of coffee is gone, already onto the second here, and it’s time to kick the tires and light the fires!
🚘 What I’m driving: Believe it or not, I was back on the road one week after a chunk of my spine was removed, albeit with limitations. I spent the last week with the 2025 Toyota 4Runner Trailhunter, and have to tell you a body-on-frame SUV with ARB Old Man Emu suspension bits and 33-inch all-terrain tires is an interesting vehicle to pilot after spine surgery.
🇯🇵 Don’t call it a comeback, but the Mitsubishi Montero’s debut, and thus return, seems imminent based on a teaser video from the automaker.
⌨️ Volkswagen stuck to its promise and has brought back buttons, along with retro gauges and controls in digital form, with the debut of the ID Polo; the buttons and retro interfaces are sure to spread across the lineup as models receive refreshes.
🇨🇳 China’s BYD won the EV sales race in 2025 as Tesla fell behind with the U.S.-based automaker experiencing a sales decline for the second year in a row.
🪦 The Fisker Karma, which was reborn as the Karma Revero, is now finally dead and its bones will now live on in the form of the Karma Gysera, which is still a familiar-looking EREV with a new name.
🎛️ BMW has taken over full control of the Alpina performance brand and will now own the iconic nameplate’s switchboard.
💰 Rolls-Royce plans to rev up custom cars for the super rich as EV demand drops for its electric Spectre coupe.
🧾 Porsche’s stake in Bugatti could be sold off in the coming weeks to HOF Capital and BlueFive Capital for more than €1 billion ($1.2 billion).
🚨 Audi recalled 27,768 vehicles including certain 2025 SQ6 E-Tron, SQ6 Sportback E-Tron, Q6 Sportback E-Tron, A6, A5, A6 Sportback E-Tron, Q6 E-Tron, S5, and S6 Sportback E-Tron models because the automatic locking retractor mail fail to engage when a child seat is installed using the seat belt.
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