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Welcome to The Downshift, or TDS for short, The Drive’s morning automotive news roundup bringing you the biggest headlines from around the globe.
The Downshift summarizes stories with a sentence or two, along with links for those who wish to dive deeper. Here’s what’s cooking on Wednesday, September 2, 2026.
🔊 A new episode of The Drivecast, The Drive’s weekly podcast, will go live later today on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you get your podcasts.
♦️ Mitsubishi has finally revealed the long-awaited Pajero for overseas markets. Built on a ladder frame, powered by a 2.4-liter turbodiesel, and offering Super Select 4WD with four modes including the ability to lock the center differential, it appears to be pretty much everything that fans of the company’s classic SUVs have wanted for some time. It looks good, too, with a purposeful exterior design and a cabin that’s both utilitarian and relatively luxurious. The SUV will launch in Thailand first, before hitting Japan and Australia, with the Middle East and Latin America to follow. It’s unclear if the Montero that Mitsubishi ultimately offers in the U.S. will be this vehicle or a different one entirely, with a closer link to one of Nissan’s products already sold here. [Mitsubishi]
🚢 Speaking of Nissan, the company has fast-tracked its first homegrown hybrid SUV in some time, the new Rogue, to the U.S. many months earlier than anticipated. Nissan originally planned to offer the next-gen Rogue in the States beginning midway in 2027. Instead, it’ll introduce the SUV in this market by importing limited quantities of high-trim-level vehicles from Japan to start. [Automotive News]
🔋 The Range Rover Electric has debuted, and wouldn’t you know, it looks exactly like a gas-powered one. It’ll offer 333 miles of range via a 119-kWh battery that operates on an 800-volt architecture for fast charging, and start at $140,550. That’s around $25,000 more than the cheapest Range Rover with an engine. The switch to battery power has conceded some towing capacity as well, as the EV version maxes out at pulling 5,500 pounds, rather than the roughly 7,700 pounds of the six- or eight-cylinder models. [Land Rover]
🚕 Zoox, the robotaxi company backed by Amazon, will expand to San Diego and Houston, while Google-affiliated Waymo will move into Denver, San Diego, and Tampa, both companies announced this week. [Reuters]
🔧 Ford has recalled 10,000 vehicles powered by EcoBoost engines—from both Broncos to the Mustang, Explorer, and Ranger—for improperly manufactured piston domes. This can lead to piston failure and thus, no drive power. Dealers will inspect and replace the engine long block, if necessary. [Ford Authority]
🛻 In other Ford news, the company took its upcoming Fathom small electric pickup on a little photo shoot around Vegas. [Road & Track]
⚡ The Lexus NX SUV has been refreshed for the 2027 model year, and only conventional hybrid and plug-in hybrid versions will be offered. [Lexus]
Got a tip or feedback for TDS? Reach out to tips@thedrive.com
Backed by a decade of covering cars and consumer tech, Adam Ismail is a Senior Editor at The Drive, focused on curating and producing the site’s slate of daily stories.
