Good morning and welcome to The Down Shift, or TDS for short.
The Downshift is The Drive‘s new weekday early morning quick-hit news rundown that brings the latest automotive stories bubbling around the world in one place. Pair TDS with a Pop-Tart and coffee. No, we aren’t sponsored by Pop-Tarts, they are just delicious.
We are nearing the back half of the second week of TDS and just want to say a quick thank you to everyone that has submitted feedback via the comments and email (tips@thedrive.com). The feedback has been invaluable and modifications have been made accordingly. We’ll continue to evolve the series based on continued feedback.
TDS is light, tight, and right, going heavy on news and short on words. It’s not a full-feature story, not in-depth reporting, and certainly not something that will take long to scan through. Stories are summarized in a single sentence with a link providing the option to go deeper for those seeing more information.
The first cup of coffee’s gone here, so let’s get into it.
🚘 What I’m driving: Now in the back half of the week with the 2025 Lincoln Navigator L Black Label and the feelings on the new steering wheel, controls, and interfaces is mixed.
🔋 Ford plans to have a “Model T moment” on Monday according to CEO Jim Farley, and sources leaked the announcement isn’t a product reveal, rather it’s about a new line of affordable EVs and cheaper batteries.
🚙 Infiniti revealed the 2026 QX80 with a more expensive price, new range-topping Sport trim, and teased some Monterey Car Week “concept” introductions including a QX65 Monograph and twin QX80s.
🚕 The NHTSA issued an exemption for Amazon’s Zoox driverless taxi for public demonstrations despite the pod-like EVs not having a steering wheel or pedals.
🚙 Cadillac changed course and will refresh the mid-size XT5 with a gas-powered model continuing in the lineup.
🚐 GM and Hyundai formalized their partnership, which will include an electric van for the U.S. market.
⚫️ The Land Rover Range Rover Sport SV Carbon debuted with less weight, more carbon fiber bits, and a larger price tag as the model’s range topper ahead of a formal introduction next week at 2025 Monterey Car Week.
Have feedback on the formatting of TDS? Send us a note: tips@thedrive.com
