There’s been a lot of focus on building up the public EV charging network but the vast majority of owners routinely charge at home. Toyota is helping secure $28 million in funding for startup WeaveGrid in a bid to make home charging easier and more affordable – while also ensuring that the nation’s electrical infrastructure can handle the addition of millions of battery-powered vehicles.
Ford Motor Co.’s been fighting what appears to be a losing battle with quality issues — and the massive costs that come with them — for the past several years. CEO Jim Farley’s acknowledged the problem and is now making moves to improve it. He’s moving the current quality chief to a new role and hiring a new one.
Honda and Nissan are moving forward on talks that could move past simple collaboration. The two Japanese automotive giants may set up a joint holding company, according to a report, though they so far are denying that a merger is in the works. Here’s the latest.
Jean Jennings was a gifted storyteller who became one of the go-to authorities about the auto industry. Unfortunately, she was silenced by Alzheimer’s Disease, passing away this week at the age of 70. Headlight.News takes a look at her life.
It’s been a big year for Korean carmaker Kia, U.S. sales set to reach a new record. To keep momentum going it’s launching plenty of new products in 2025 and looking to enter still more “white space” beyond – a pickup one opportunity under study. But planning ahead is on hold until at least “January 21,” said the brand’s U.S. marketing chief, with the incoming Trump administration poised to address such issues as EV sale mandates and incentives, as well as tariffs on foreign-made vehicles.
General Motors is shutting down its Cruise robocab program, shifting resources to the development of self-driving privately owned vehicles. The move comes a year after the subsidiary was blamed for a near-fatal accident near its San Francisco headquarters. It effectively hands what proponents see as a potentially huge market to competitors like Waymo and Tesla.
Dodge brand boss Tim Kuniskis has returned to Stellantis after retiring in June. He’ll take charge of Ram, the automaker announced Monday. It’s just one of the first steps in what could be a much broader management shake-up to follow the unexpected resignation of Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares earlier this month.
Not all that long ago, foreign manufacturers like General Motors, Ford and Volkswagen dominated the Chinese automotive market where, in some cases, they were making their biggest profits. Now, as domestic competitors like Geely and BYD gain traction, times have changed. On Wednesday, General Motors revealed plans to take more than $5 billion in charges to restructure its Chinese operations and is likely to close some of its plants there. But it’s far from the only international manufacturer struggling in the world’s largest automotive market.
Despite the pictures of Jaguar’s Type 00 concept leaking before the debut, the all-electric vision provided the iconic British brand with a chance to make a statement. And while Jaguar officials seem confident about this new direction, it’s clear it will take others longer to share that confidence. Get details at Headlight.News.
A Delaware judge has again rejected the $56 billion payout for Tesla CEO Elon Musk, even after shareholders voted to reinstate the package earlier this year. But even if the ruling is upheld, the South African-born entrepreneur and confident to President-elect Donald Trump is expected to remain the world’s richest man.
With CEO Carlos Tavares resigning “with immediate effect,” and no successor in sight, Stellantis could face even more trouble trying to resolve the problems that saw its sales, earnings — and stock price tumble so far this year. The lack of a chief executive officer also comes at a time when the Euro-American automaker is set to launch an assortment of critical new products, including the first all-electric Jeep and Ram models aimed at the U.S. market.
Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares resigned unexpectedly on Sunday, the automaker saying “different views have emerged” in recent weeks as the Euro-American automaker struggled to come up with a way to reverse weakened sales and earnings. No immediate successor was named, though it appears that the automaker’s Chairman John Elkann effectively will take control until a replacement is named. This is a breaking story. Headlight.News will have a longer analysis shortly.