Good morning and welcome to The Downshift, or TDS for short.
TDS is all about getting you the automotive industry headlines you need to know every morning. Bulletins are summarized in a sentence or two with links to dive deeper if you wish.
It’s Monday and fully allergy season for my fellow sufferers. It’s alright, we’ll get through it together. Let’s go.
⬇️ Volvo’s U.S. sales are down 32% in the first quarter and dealers seem positively frustrated, per Automotive News. “They don’t care about building value in the brand or raising transaction prices—it’s just ‘take more cars,'” one anonymous dealer told the publication, frustrated that the brand is reportedly sitting on over 90 days of inventory.
⛽ With all the recent panic surrounding gas prices, Ford is now offering gas cards with the purchase of certain new models, in specific markets, per CarsDirect. The promotion offers buyers the opportunity to save as much as $3,500 on fuel, but reportedly can’t be stacked on top of other incentives.
📉 Volkswagen’s global first-quarter figures are in, and they’re down 4% compared to last year due to—surprise—lagging demand in the U.S. and China, Reuters reports.
🛻 Speaking of VW, the automaker’s American branch is aware that its competitors are getting into the pickup game and has considered doing the same, according to Autoblog, but currently has no firm plans.
🤖 Jeep is going ’90s with its new Wrangler and Gladiator Rewind special editions, based on an Easter Jeep concept with synthwave-style decals that also look appropriate for Solo cups of the era.
🚙 Bentley says the next-generation Bentayga, due in 2028, will be a plug-in hybrid and not an EV, as it abandons its prior plans to introduce five fully electric models by the end of the decade, per Autocar. The new Bentayga will share a platform with the Porsche Cayenne and Audi Q9.
🔧 Stellantis has chosen to lay off 40 percent of Opel’s engineering workforce in Germany, according to Auto News.
🏁 Weekend Race Results:
- NASCAR Cup Series at Bristol — Ty Gibbs won for Joe Gibbs Racing
- NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series at Bristol — Connor Zilisch won for JR Motorsports
- NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series at Bristol — Christopher Bell won for Halmar Friesen Racing
- WRC Rally Croatia 2026 — Takamoto Katsuta won for Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT
- Formula Drift at Long Beach — Conor Shanahan won for Jerry Yang Racing