Good morning and welcome to The Downshift, or TDS for short.
Quick, tight, and dense, TDS gathers the latest automotive headlines from around the globe and places them all in one spot. Stories are summarized in a single sentence accompanied by a link for those seeking more information.
The first cup of coffee is gone and it’s almost time for the kids to get up for school, so let’s get into it.
🚘 What I’m driving: Spending the week with the 2026 Subaru Crosstrek hybrid, and frankly this makes for a pretty ideal daily driver for getting from point A to point B. My kids haven’t even complained about rear-seat space and the pint-sized lifted hatchback is averaging about 30 mpg in mixed suburban driving.
🛻 Kia said it will launch a body-on-frame truck with hybrid and range-extended variants in North America by 2030; the announcement, which was made at Kia’s annual investor day, gives insight into which powertrains we might possibly expect from Hyundai’s midsize body-on-frame pickup as the two are likely twinned together.
⚠️ A new forecast puts production of the Scout Traveler SUV now out to September of 2028 with the Terra pickup now reportedly slated for production in March of 2030, which is four years away.
🔋 Tesla is reportedly developing a smaller, cheaper EV.
🚗 Volkswagen claimed it will not ditch sedans or hot hatches anytime soon.
🚕 Volkswagen’s ID. Buzz robotaxi is now hitting the streets of LA.
💸 Polestar is offering up to a $21,000 discount on its Polestar 3 and up to $14,000 off the less expensive Polestar 4 to current Tesla drivers.
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