Porsche States It Has ‘Gained Valuable Insights’ From the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N: TDS

      Hyundai

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

      TDS is designed to bring you up to date with all the essential automotive news of the morning, and it pairs nicely with a cup of coffee. In my opinion, it really enhances those citrus flavors. With our usual TDS creator, Joel, taking a well-deserved break for a couple of days, the rest of The Drive team is stepping in to bring you the roundup for this holiday week. Let’s get started.

      🙌 Frank Moser, the head of Porsche’s 718 and 911 model lines, recently shared some positive remarks about the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N, reflecting our views. “We learned a lot from that [Ioniq 5 N]. I drove it several times. They made it really, really good,” Moser reportedly stated to the media during a recent event, as noted by Australia’s Drive (unaffiliated).

      🙅 It seems that interest in Tesla’s Full Self-Driving software is lacking, despite CEO Elon Musk offering to license it to anyone who wants it. Musk acknowledged this himself on X on Monday, via Electrek, stating that “When legacy automakers do reach out, they vaguely discuss implementing FSD for a small program in 5 years with unworkable requirements for Tesla, making it pointless.”

      🚙 Volkswagen’s Scout is currently in the preproduction testing phase and is on track to start production in its South Carolina facility by the end of next year. “I drove my first test vehicle a few weeks ago,” said Ryan Decker, Scout’s vice president of strategy and brand, to Automotive News. “A super special moment. It’s dynamic for a vehicle that has our capability.” Scout has yet to reveal the final production versions of its vehicles, so expect some design adjustments before they are on the road.

      ⛽ October marked a significant milestone for Europe’s automotive industry, as registrations of new plug-in hybrid vehicles exceeded those of diesel cars for the first time ever, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association.

      🌏 Volkswagen has announced it will begin exporting vehicles developed in and for China to other markets, such as Southeast Asia and the Middle East, but notably not to Europe, reportedly due to differences in electronic architecture and software technology for smart vehicles, according to Reuters.

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