Geneva Motor Show-goers will get a first look this week at an array of new Fiat concept vehicles. A next-generation take on the long-running Fiat Panda, they’ll include a mix of products from microcompact city car to pickup. And they’ll use a new “multi-energy platform” capable of running on everything from gas to pure battery power, according to Fiat CEO Olivier Francois. But the concepts are more than fantasy in chrome, with production versions set to begin rolling out this coming summer.
Stellantis will adopt the Tesla-style North American Charging Standard. The parent of brands including Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram was the last holdout among major automakers to go with the NACS plug. It means owners will have access to a substantial wider network of plugs and formalizes Tesla’s Superchargers as the de facto winner in the charging battle. Tesla, meanwhile, is taking steps to prevent the embarrassing charger failures many owners ran into during a recent Midwest cold snap.
A group of seven major automakers officially launched Ionna — aimed at becoming an EV charging network to rival the Tesla Supercharging system — and, in the process, give motorists more confidence they’ll be able to charge up their battery-electric vehicles wherever they travel.
President Joe Biden’s brief visit in September to a union picket line in Ypsilanti, Michigan during the United Auto Workers strike against Ford, General Motors and Stellantis is paying off with an UAW endorsement of Biden’s re-election. Find out more about the ties between the two at Headlight.News.
We were surprised to discover a set of four “spy shots” of the 2025 Dodge Charger Daytona SRT when we went surfing the web this morning — all the more so when it turned out the pre-production pics came from Dodge itself. Here’s what we know about the all-electric muscle car.
While most automakers rejoiced at the release of the December, fourth-quarter and full-year sales results for 2023, Ford and Stellantis didn’t enjoy it quite as much when they revealed their numbers. Get details at Headlight.News.
As recently as 2019 you’d have to struggle to find an EV at your local showroom. Today, however, there are more than 50 different nameplates available in the U.S., the vast majority offered with range exceeding 200 miles – and some products doubling that figure. But the pace of introductions is only set to accelerate, with dozens of new battery-electric vehicles soon coming to market. Headlight.News checks out the most interesting and important products debuting in 2024.
The U.S. auto industry set a new fuel economy record in 2022, according to the EPA – though Detroit’s Big Three automakers lagged both foreign-owned brands and domestic start-ups. It marked the biggest improvement in mileage in nine years. More from Headlight.News .
Ford’s F-150 is a plenty capable vehicle but for those who want a truck that can add sports car level-power and awe-inspiring off-road capabilities, there’s the F-150 Raptor R. And for 2024, the full-size beast cranks things up to a new level, punching out 720 horsepower and 640 pound-feet of torque. More from Headlight.News.
General Motors will lay off more than 1,300 hourly workers at two Michigan plants, the automaker said. The announcement follows a series of other job cuts as the industry comes to the end of a challenging year. Most of the GM workers are employed at a suburban Detroit plant undergoing major renovation for the launch for future EVs.
Facing declining demand for its Jeep Wrangler, Grand Cherokee and Gladiator models, Jeep says it will cut as many as 3,700 jobs at plants in Michigan and Ohio — and its putting at least some of the blame on California’s tough emissions rules.
With rare exception EVs have been big money-losers for the auto industry. But there are a few exceptions, starting with Tesla. Now, Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares says his companies electrified vehicles also are “in the black.” Speaking at an industry conference, Tavares warned that automakers who can’t improve margins could be forced out of business by the end of the decade.