Good morning and welcome to The Downshift, or TDS for short.
Tight, light, and right, TDS gathers the latest automotive news from around the globe and places it in one spot. Stories are summarized in a single, sometimes long, sentence accompanied by a link for those seeking more information.
It’s now the evening in Japan and I spent the day at the 2025 Japan Mobility Show, so let’s get into it.
🚘 What I’m driving: Nothing, but I rode in a bus today.
🚕 Robyn Denholm, the chair of Tesla’s board of directors, said “If we have to have a steering wheel, it can have a steering wheel and pedals,” referring to the Tesla Cybercab; the statement contradicted what CEO Elon Musk said said last week noting the Cybercab will not have a steering wheel or pedals and will go into production in eight months.
👨💼 Denholm also said the Tesla board is eyeing an internal candidate at Tesla to take over as CEO if Elon Musk leaves the company, if shareholders won’t agree to his $1 trillion pay package; a new report indicates Musk’s political antics cost Tesla over 1 million in EV sales.
🚢 The Trump administration announced that Toyota would export some of its U.S.-made vehicles to Japan, but a Toyota executive quickly said no such promise has been made.
✨ Porsche’s EV limbo has put the Audi A8’s future in peril without confirmation on what happens next for the luxury automaker’s flagship sedan.
📉 Mercedes-Benz reported a plunge in operating profits for Q3, hit with redundancy in payroll and job cuts.
‼️ Ford recalled nearly 175,000 Expedition and Lincoln Navigator SUVs due to a sunroof defect that could lead to the wind deflectors detaching.
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