New Stellantis CEO Antonio Filosa isn’t wasting time. He’s shaking up the automaker’s executive ranks – the latest move seeing Ram boss Tim Kuniskis expand his roll to include North American Marketing and Retail Strategy – while also reviving the old Street and Racing Technology division better known simply as SRT. More from Headlight.News.
As electric vehicle sales continue to rise, albeit slowly, those increases apparently are coming at the expense of the segment leader: Tesla. The Texas-based EV maker reported its second quarter deliveries dropped 13.5% compared to the same time last year. Find out what’s crimping sales at Headlight.News.
“The party’s over,” said one key analyst. While domestic carmakers reported a modest upturn boost in sales for June, the U.S. auto market largely stalled out as buyers began pulling back due to price increases caused by the Trump tariffs on imported autos and auto parts. Headlight.News has more on the winners and losers.
After seemingly declaring a truce last month, Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Pres. Donald Trump went after each other again on Monday, the president threatening to trash federal subsidies for Tesla and SpaceX. It didn’t help the automaker’s stock as analysts warned of a sharp downturn in sales when Tesla reveals its second-quarter results on Wednesday. More from Headlight.News.
Chinese domestic automakers are becoming a major threat as they gain acceptance around the world with new, low-cost products, Ford CEO Jim Farley warns. But that’s not the only challenge facing Ford and other traditional manufacturers – particularly those in the U.S. There are Trump’s tariffs, for one thing, as well as a shortage of the skilled workers automakers depend on. More from Headlight.News.
On this week’s Headlight News podcast: Cadillac Delivers Most Expensive Model Ever, A New Oil Crisis, a Honda CR-V TrailSport Review, and This Week in Automotive History. Check it out at Headlight.News.
It’s been nearly three decades since the Honda CR-V made its U.S. debut. Back then, folks derisively dubbed it a “soft-roader,” capable of handling not much more than a bit of gravel – if anyone ever chose to take it off pavement. Now, however, Honda is rolling out a new CR-V TrailSport package that, it claims, adds more off-road capabilities. Just how much more? Headlight.News headed into the San Jacinto Mountains near San Diego to find out. Here’s our review.
Between heat waves and major storms, the number of blackouts and brownouts has increased sharply in recent years, but a start-up launched by a former Tesla exec plans to use as many as 100,000 old EV batteries in “second-like” backup energy storage systems to minimize the risk of grid outages. More from Headlight.News.
A good craftsman uses the right tool for the job, according to the adage. And if you want to help friends move or need to get gardening supplies to spruce up your home this summer, then the Toyota Tacoma would be an excellent option. However, if you want to climb rocks, ford streams, and head out to the middle of nowhere, you need the 2025 Toyota Tacoma TRD Pro, which we spent a week with. Check out our review at Headlight.News.
Yet again, Tesla sales stumbled by double-digits in May, marking the fifth monthly decline in a row. Meanwhile, the man appointed to run operations and sales in Europe and the U.S. has left the automaker, as has its head of human resources. Tesla has seen a flood of senior execs leave in recent months, including the head of its Optimus robot program. But it did manage to snag the former head of autonomy from GM’s now shuttered Cruise subsidiary.
Looking for the brands delivering the highest levels of initial quality? Lexus and Nissan rose to the top in this year’s J.D. Power Initial Quality Study, while General Motors had more top-ranked models than any other manufacturer. There were some surprises in this year’s IQS by Jaguar and Ram. But, yet again, motorists pointed to onboard technology as the biggest source of trouble. More from Headlight.News.
Mercedes’ AMG performance arm has a history of rolling out ever faster and more powerful supercars. But the new GT XX Concept takes things to a new level, delivering 1,340 horsepower and setting a top speed of 223 mph. Did we mention it is all-electric and previews a new model set to soon enter production? More from Headlight.News.