On this week’s Headlight News podcast: Cadillac Delivers Most Expensive Model Ever, A New Oil Crisis, a Honda CR-V TrailSport Review, and This Week in Automotive History. Check it out at Headlight.News.
Executives
A Wave of Senior Execs Exit As Tesla Sales Plunge
Yet again, Tesla sales stumbled by double-digits in May, marking the fifth monthly decline in a row. Meanwhile, the man appointed to run operations and sales in Europe and the U.S. has left the automaker, as has its head of human resources. Tesla has seen a flood of senior execs leave in recent months, including the head of its Optimus robot program. But it did manage to snag the former head of autonomy from GM’s now shuttered Cruise subsidiary.
Trump Tariffs Taxing New Vehicle Sales in June
Depending upon which set of numbers you examine, new vehicle sales are going to rise a bit in June or fall a bit in June. Ultimately, the impact of the Trump tariffs is being felt by automakers and the dealers that sell those vehicles. Go to Headlight.News where we try to make sense of what the experts are predicting.
Feds Examining Incidents Where Tesla’s Robotaxis Appeared to Break Laws
Tesla’s first day of robotaxi service in Austin, Texas appeared to go off without a disastrous hitch. However, federal safety regulators are looking into situations where the vehicles may have broken local traffic laws. Meanwhile riders offered their largely positive reviews. Get details at Headlight.News.
Headlight News Podcast for the Week of June 23, 2025
Headlight News for the Week of 6-23-25 includes: Trump Iran Attack and Gas Prices; New Corvette Hypercar; Tesla Launches Robotaxi; and more.
Tesla Pausing Cybertruck, Model Y Production; May Delay Robotaxi Launch
Production of the Tesla Cybertruck, as well as the newly updated Model Y, will be paused later this month. The temporary move comes at a time when both products are struggling due to slow demand. Separately, Tesla is facing pressure to delay the launch of the long-awaited Robotaxi tentatively scheduled to also roll out of its Austin, Texas plant this coming weekend. More from Headlight.News.
Musk Sets “Tentative” Date for Robotaxi Launch
The first Tesla robotaxi is “tentatively” set to roll out on June 22, according to CEO Elon Musk, though that date could be pushed back, he indicated in a tweet because he is being “super paranoid about safety.” With Tesla’s EV sales sliding fast in many key markets, analysts and investors believe fully self-driving vehicles will be critical to the brand’s future. More from Headlight.News.
GM Investing $4 Billion in Expanding U.S. Manufacturing Operations
General Motors is plowing about $4 billion into plants in Michigan, Tennessee and Kansas during the next two years. The move will shift production of its highly profitable full-size pickups and SUVs from outside the U.S. to its massive plant in Orion, Michigan, north of Detroit. Find out more about the plans at Headlight.News.
New Stellantis CEO Filosa Could Take Home $23 Million a Year – If He Can Pull Off a Turnaround
Anthony Filosa, the new CEO of Stellantis, won’t officially begin his new role until the end of this month but, despite all the challenges he will face, he’s already got something to look forward to. The Italian-born executive will get a lucrative contract with an escalating pay scale that would allow him to take home as much as $23 million a year in pay and bonuses by 2028. That’s if he can deliver the much-needed turnaround for the struggling Euro-American automaker. Headlight.News has more.
Tesla CEO Musk Says He “Regrets Some” Posts Targeting Pres. Trump
Tesla CEO Elon Musk appeared to be waving a white flag early Wednesday morning, saying he “regret(s) some” of the criticism he aimed at Pres. Donald Trump last week. But it’s not clear whether that will be enough to deescalate the sudden feud between the two former allies. Trump and allies had warned Musk he could be putting billions of dollars in federal contract for his companies – including Tesla and SpaceX – at risk. Headlight.News has more.
As Musk, Trump Go to War, Tesla Takes Collateral Damage
Barely a week after they bid adieu during a collegial meeting in the Oval Office, Pres. Donald Trump and Tesla CEO Elon Musk have launched what has rapidly escalated into an all-out war of words, amplified by their individual social media outlets. The feud has already left Tesla lurching, nervous shareholders fueling the automaker’s biggest one-day loss ever. But Musk appears positioned to do some damage of his own.
The $40,000 Truck is “Dead” – But Ram’s EV and Midsize Truck Are Still Coming, Says CEO
New vehicle prices are near record levels, especially in the full-size truck market. But don’t expect Ram to bring back the cut-rate Classic version of the big 1500 model. “The $40,000 truck is dead,” said CEO Tim Kuniskis during a background briefing on Tuesday. Kuniskis recently returned to Ram after a brief “retirement,” and said the brand will make 25 product-related announcements in the coming months, and that’s likely to include more on a new midsize pickup, as well as details on the rollout of both the EV and range-extender versions of its full-size Ram 1500. More from Headlight.News.