Good morning and welcome to The Downshift, or TDS for short.
The Downshift is The Drive‘s weekday early morning quick-hit news rundown of all the automotive stories bubbling round the globe. Grab a Pop-Tart and coffee.
Feedback on TDS is both welcomed and encouraged via the comments section or email (tips@thedrive.com).
Tight, light, and right, TDS is not a full-featured story or in-depth reporting, rather it’s a rundown where stories are summarized in a single sentence accompanied by a link for those looking to go deeper.
Already on the second cup of coffee here, so let’s get into it.
🚘 What I’m driving: The 2025 Lincoln Navigator L Black Label left yesterday and was replaced by a sporty electric crossover. More on that tomorrow.
💻 In the race into the future of software-defined vehicles Gartner Vice President of Research Pedro Pacheco said Tesla, the Chinese automakers, Rivian and Lucid are all winning while Toyota, Mazda, and JLR are losing.
🛻 Ford recalled more than 103,000 F-150 trucks due to axle bolts that may break and result in vehicle rollaways or loss of drive power.
🔌 Funding for America’s EV charging infrastructure is not dead, and is now coming back online with a claim the slashing of “red tape” along the way.
👨💼 Tesla’s executive exodus continues with the director of service leaving the company after nine years.
🚙 The Ford Escape is being killed off to make way for the automaker’s new $30,000 mid-size electric truck at the company’s Louisville, Kentucky plant.
🤖 General Motors reportedly plans a renewed push into self-driving cars.
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