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A daily hot lap of headlines from the auto industry and car culture, curated by The Drive’s editors.
Good morning, happy Tuesday, and welcome to The Downshift, which is a lap of today’s top stories from around the auto industry and car culture, curated by The Drive‘s editorial team. Each story gets summarized into a sentence or two accompanied by a link to the source for those seeking more information. Senior Editor Adam Ismail is out on assignment and I’ll be your driver today, but he’ll be back behind the wheel on Thursday so don’t fret.
Here’s what firing on Tuesday, October 13, 2026 as cool fall air continues to roll in:
🐆 The Jaguar Type 01 that is supposed to reboot the brand and broke the Internet might be a larger success than Internet armchair critics think. Jaguar managing director Rawdon Glover said, “We’ve had over 50,000 people say to us I’m really interested in what you’re doing.” And of those people four out of five prospective customers have never owned a Jaguar. [Drive]
🚌 Volkswagen isn’t giving up on the reborn Bus. The ID. Buzz will continue on and see a new generation that moves to the automaker’s new SSP platform. The next-gen bus should benefit from its new platform in every way including faster charging times, different battery chemistry, more range, and better packaging. All of this should hopefully also lead to a lower price. [Auto Express]
🇨🇳 A new report by Mobility Global Inc.’s automotive analysts concluded that legacy automakers will lose the mass market to China while retaining premium brands, safety-based engineering and fleet sales. China has legacy automakers beat on price and first-mover advantage on EVs, according to the report. [Bloomberg]
🪖 GM’s Defense department and its Infantry Squad Vehicle program unveiled a driverless Silverado 3500 HD. The unmanned ground vehicle is said to begin Army trials in 2027. The driverless vehicle is said to be built for silent logistics runs and casualty evacuation, not combat. [Motor1]
🔌 America now has more than 80,000 public fast chargers for EVs, but Tesla still leads growth of charger deployment in the U.S. market. [InsideEVs and Electrek]
🚙 The 2027 Jeep Wrangler Switchback debuted as the final special edition in the 12-month Twelve 4 Twelve special edition run. The Switchback features a contrasting color scheme with gray and black body panels and components set against bright green trim. Both two- and four-door models will be available and cost $66,695 and $69,995 while being based upon the Rubicon X trim. [Car and Driver]
🤝 Stellantis CEO Antonio Filosa rejected the idea of splitting up the automotive Goliaths 14 brands, which span America and Europe. Filosa said that each of the 14 brands are “playing their unique role.” [Bloomberg]
🙅♂️ Porsche CEO Michael Leiters continues to lay out Porsche’s turnaround plan including higher margins, less volume, more high-end 911 variants, and a more even split of electric- and gas-powered models. But Leiters continues to double down on saying there will never be an electric 911. Notably, BMW once said it would never build an SUV. Never is a long time. [Top Gear]
🦸 Porsche is preparing to unveil its new mid-engine sports car, or maybe it’s a supercar, on Thursday. The model is expected to have a mid-mounted gas engine and no electrification. It might even be a flat-eight engine. [Autocar]
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As Director of Content and Product, Joel draws on over 15 years of newsroom experience and inability to actually stop working to help ensure The Drive shapes the future of automotive media. He’s also a World Car Award juror.
