Sales of new vehicles remained steady in May. But despite conventional wisdom that the battery-electric market is dying, buyers showed renewed interest in electrified models, including EVs and hybrids. Headlight.News has more.
Kia
Dogfight Coming in the Midsize Truck Market
Once given up for dead, the midsize pickup segment is booming — but faces a real battle as more players get set to enter the game. Get the story at Headlight.News.
Review: 2027 Kia Seltos is a Little Wonder
Since its rolled into the market in 2019, the Kia Seltos has become one of the Korean carmaker’s major product lines. But, in a highly competitive segment, it needed some major updates to keep momentum building. As Headlight.News discovered during a drive adventure in South Korea, the second-generation 2027 Kia Seltos comes through. Here’s our review.
No Longer Locked in the Bargain Basement, the New Seltos Shows Why Kia is a Brand to Reckon With
It started out as a nearly invisible, “cheap and cheerful” brand. Today, Kia is one of the fastest-growing brands on the U.S. market and challenging not only competitors like Nissan but its own Korean sibling Hyundai. The redesigned 2027 Kia Seltos is a reason why.
A Week With: 2026 Kia K4 Hatchback GT-Line Turbo
Kia built its first car in 1974, some 30 years after the company was founded. Nineteen years later, the company launched its first model in the United States: the Sephia. It was a decent, if something of an ordinary car — a word that cannot be applied to any of the marque’s offerings. A good example of this is the Headlight.News review this week: the 2026 Kia K4 GT-Line Turbo Hatchback.
When Your EV Sounds Like a Race Car: Lexus TZ is Just the Latest to Add Performance “Exhaust” Notes
The new Lexus TZ draws power from a pair of electric motors and a 96 kWh battery pack. But slip behind the wheel and you might think there’s a V-10 under the hood. The new crossover is the latest EV to let motorists fire up the sounds of a high-performance internal combustion engine. More from Headlight.News.
Hybrid Sales Set Record, Propped Up Weakening U.S. Auto Market
Hybrid sales set a record in April, accounting for about one in seven new vehicles sold by U.S. dealers – in the process helping prop up an otherwise weakening overall market. By year-end that could reach one in five, and it’s not just fuel prices driving the surge in hybrid demand. Headlight.News has more.
April Brought Gloomy Auto Sales, as Well As Showers
Car sales headed downward in April as gloomy economic news spawned by rising oil prices and higher inflation took the edge off the excitement of the traditional spring buying season. More from Headlight.News.
Automakers Warn Tariffs May Force Them to Drop Entry Models
At a time when the typical buyer now spending around $50,000 to drive off the dealer lot, millions of American motorists are being forced out of the new vehicle market. Budget buyers could soon find their choices even more limited, however, depending upon negotiations to update the U.S. -Mexico-Canada Agreement. How that shakes out may lead a number of U.S. and foreign-owned automakers to drop their most affordable models.
Tesla’s On-Again/Off-Again Plan for an Affordable EV is On-Again – Really
For much of the past decade Tesla has toyed with the idea of launching an affordable EV some have labeled the Model 2. But the project has repeatedly been scrubbed, restarted by CEO Elon Musk and then cancelled again. Now, however, as Tesla sales slide and competitors aim to undercut the EV leader with their own low-priced models, the project has again gotten the green light and may finally reach market, sources report. More from Headlight.News.
Kia Set to Launch Electrified Body-on-Frame Pickup in U.S. by 2030
Kia will follow sibling Korean brand Hyundai in launching a midsize pickup, one in what’s expected to be a family of body-on-frame trucks bound for the U.S. market by 2030. The Kia model will be offered with various powertrain options, including a hybrid and an extended-range EV package, reports Headlight.News.
Hybrid Sales Defy Gravity
Auto sales tumbled sharply during the first quarter and could dip further, industry insiders warn. There is a big exception, however. After roughly doubling in 2025, sales of hybrid models rose another 57% through March. Headlight.News has more.