Honda Delays New Cars, Spyker Is Back, and F-150 Lightning Cancellation Is Still Costing Ford

Good morning and welcome to The Downshift, or TDS for short.

The Downshift is your place to catch up on all the auto industry headlines you need to know every morning here at The Drive. Each item contains a link to a story where you can dig deeper on every topic. It’s a new week, let’s see what’s cooking.

🚘 What I’m Driving: I’ve had a Mercedes CLA 350 for almost a week now, and it’s one of those cars I very much want to love and probably would, if not for certain confounding decisions. It’s a shame, because I truly enjoy a good compact sedan, and this one has plenty going for it. Keep your eyes peeled for a review in the coming weeks.

⏩ In a move to save money and buy it some time to deliver more efficient next-generation models, Honda has reportedly decided to stretch the lifecycles of the existing Odyssey, Accord, HR-V and the Acura MDX and Integra until about 2030, Automotive News reports citing a supplier memo.

🔋 Volkswagen says it won’t achieve the same profit margins it pulls from gas cars in EVs until its next-generation SSP architecture launches before the end of the decade, per Auto News.

💶 Shares of all German automakers slide from 2% to 3% on average Monday morning following President Trump’s warning of raising tariffs on European auto imports from 15% to 25%, Reuters reports.

Ⓜ️ BMW told Autocar that the forthcoming gas-powered and electric M3 will be priced similarly.

💸 Ford’s cancellation of the F-150 Lightning electric pickup cost it $100 million in December of last year, Ford Authority reported citing the automaker’s first-quarter earnings.

🌷 Reborn Dutch automaker Spyker published a YouTube video over the weekend teasing the return of its C8 Preliator supercar, promising it will be V8-powered and not electrified in any way.

🤑 An R34 Nissan Skyline GT-R that’s undergone Nismo’s highly selective Clubman Race Spec restoration program is expected to go for up to $1 million at the upcoming Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este auction, per Autoblog.

🏁 Weekend Races to Watch:

• NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series at Texas: Carson Hocevar won for Spire Motorsports
• Formula E Berlin E-Prix: Mitch Evans won for Jaguar TCS Racing
• NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series at Texas: Kyle Larson won for JR Motorsports
• NASCAR Cup Series at Texas: Chase Elliot won for Hendrick Motorsports
• Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix: Kimi Antonelli won for Mercedes
• IMSA SportsCar Championship at Laguna Seca: Tijmen van der Helm and Laurin Heinrich won for JDC-Miller Porsche

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