Scout Motors, the electrified vehicle brand the Volkswagen Group is set to bring back to life, faces an assortment of lawsuits aimed at preventing it from selling direct to consumers, the approach embraced by rival start-ups Tesla, Rivian and Lucid. Headlight.News looks at who’s suing Scout and why.
With more and more of its electric pickups sitting unsold in factory and dealer lots, Tesla is again cutting prices. But will that be enough to build demand for the much-maligned Cybertruck? More from Headlight.News.
The automotive industry is filled with powerful people and deals with powerful people. That didn’t change in 2025 and although there plenty to choose from, Headlight.News believes these five were the most influential — in no particular order. Check out who made the list.
Rivian owners who like to drive hands-free will discover they can travel a lot further than they expected later this month. The EV start-up plans to increase from 150,000 to 3.5 million the number of miles its autonomous driving system can operate on. And, starting late next year, it plans to go even further with the release of the new R2 model which will be Rivian’s first to permit hands-free/eyes-off driving. According to CEO RJ Scaringe, there’s yet more to follow.
Rivian and Lucid are both electric vehicle manufacturers, but that’s where the comparisons end when looking at each company’s third-quarter earnings results. Rivian beat the street’s expectations as Lucid fell short. Headlight.News has details.
The Trump administration’s trade war is proving costly for the auto industry which will wind up paying about $10.6 billion in tariffs – just on autos and auto parts imported from Canada and Mexico – through the end of October, and while they’ve largely absorbed most of those costs, so far, consumers can expect to start seeing more of those tariffs passed on in new vehicle prices in 2026 and beyond, reports Headlight.News.
Ferrari on Thursday revealed details about its first battery-powered model, the Elettrica. But the Italian automaker is delaying a second EV. And it’s not alone. Ford has scrapped several all-electric models, while Nissan pulled the plug on the 2026 Ariya. Acura just ended production of the ZDX and Stellantis has abandoned the all-electric Ram REV. Those are among a growing list of planned EVs that no longer will make it into production — or will be substantially delayed. Here are some of the others.
Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe says he has “never been more confident than I am today” about the future of the struggling EV manufacturer. That’s despite a series of challenges facing the battery-electric vehicle sector in general – including the loss of federal EV tax credits and the rise of the low-cost Chinese competitors who are threatening to enter the U.S. market. A critical test will come early next year with the launch of Rivian’s more affordable R2 model line. But it’s also counting on joint ventures and alliances like those with Volkswagen and Amazon, reports Headlight.News.
The lack of a robust public charging network is often cited as a key reason why EV sales have slowed down. But despite a cut in federal funding, the rollout of chargers has continued accelerating. Better yet, a new study finds that the number of times EV owners plug in, only to find the charger doesn’t work, has fallen substantially. More from Headlight.News.
Ford will invest $5 billion to set up its “Universal EV” program – and, it claims, completely transform the way vehicles are designed, engineered and manufactured. The test will come with the 2027 launch of a new, all-electric midsize pickup, said CEO Jim Farley, with a “targeted price of $30,000.” But there could be a cost in terms of long-term automotive employment, reports Headlight.News.
If you managed to wrangle a ticket to the Goodwood Festival of Speed over the weekend you might have wondered about that camouflaged SUV racing up the hill might have been. A closer glimpse at the Porsche decal was your first hint: the all-electric version of the Cayenne soon set to join the German automaker’s line-up. Here’s 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.