After throwing its support behind Pres. Donald Trump’s 25% tariffs on imported autos and auto parts, the United Auto Workers admits is coming up empty handed in the administration’s new deal with Japan, which offers nothing for workers and could lead to lower wages. Headlight.News has more.
Headlight News for the Week of 7-21-25 includes Ford setting a recall record, President Trump’s next move could cripple Tesla, plus Subaru makes moves in Uncharted territory. Plus we review the 2026 Genesis GV70 and we travel through this week in automotive history.
Ford has launched two electrified versions of the Bronco, an EV and a range-extender. Both are set to go on sale later this year. Unfortunately for EV fans, the only place they’ll be available is in China. Headlight.News has more.
Detroit’s Big Three automakers are among those cheering the Trump administrations decision to end penalties for missing federal fuel economy mandates. Not so Tesla, however. The automaker stands to lose billions of dollars in revenues earned selling mileage credits. Headlight.News explains.
It’s been a bad year for Ford Motor Co. – and, in this case, that’s bad for customers who have had to cope with a record flood of recalls. Add to the list another one announced Tuesday covering nearly 700,000 recent SUVs at risk of catching fire. For Ford, the service action will result in a $570 million charge to earnings. More from Headlight.News.
While Ford may be doing well from a sales perspective this year, there’s another number it can’t be proud of. Detroit’s second-largest automaker launched 89 separate recalls during the first six months of 2025 – surpassing the previous full-year record set by General Motors. And there may be more coming. More from Headlight.News.
Ford is recalling more than 850,000 vehicles due to a faulty fuel pump issue. It’s about to notify customers – but there’s a bigger problem. It still doesn’t have a fix. What happens next? More from 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.
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.
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.
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.