Trump, tariffs and trade barriers. EVs disconnected. Autonomy and hackers. Elon Musk’s very good/very bad year. And affordability. Oh, yes, 2025 brought a series of significant developments to the automotive market. Here are the top 5 stories from the past year as picked by Headlight.News editors.
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.
In the Headlight News podcast for this week, we cover everything from the pending drop in U.S. new vehicle sales for the next two years to the debut of the all-new Kia Seltos to Porsches bricking in Russia. We review the 2026 Hyundai Palisade and take a look back at this week in automotive history. Give us a listen.
Headlight News for the Week of 11-24-25 covers the LA Auto Show, Hyundai going off-road, Porsche’s new Cayenne EV, more robotaxis coming and the NACTOY finalists. We also review the 2026 Nissan Leaf Premium+ and look back at this week in automotive history.
The Headlight News podcast this week covers the Japan Mobility Show, Elon’s big payday and more. Check it out at Headlight.News.
Bedazzled shareholders approved Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s proposed $1 trillion pay package. But to collect he faces major challenges. Musk has to turn around Tesla’s faltering automotive business at a time when EV sales are sagging, while also proving his vision of robotaxis, robots and AI can add new sources of revenue for the Texas-based company. More from Headlight.News.
Shareholders could decide the future of Elon Musk and Tesla this week as they vote on the proposed $1 trillion pay package many big investors are finding hard to accept at a time when Musk’s judgement and entrepreneurial instinct is in question. More from Headlight.News.
There were high hopes when Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and the PSA Group officially completed their merger on January 16, 2021. But things haven’t worked out quite as planned, the automaker now known as Stellantis struggling to reverse a sharp decline in sales and earnings. While the company insists it’s on the mend, some wonder if it would be better to consider this a failed experiment and break the company up. That notably includes former CEO Carlos Tavares. Headlight.News has more.
In this week’s Headlight News podcast, we cover the Hyundai plant raid in Georgia, Tesla possibly making Elon Musk a trillionaire, BMW’s latest Neue Klasse vehicle as well as offering a review of the Nissan Sentra. Give us a listen and tell us what you think at Headlight.News.
This week’s podcast includes: the return of the Jeep Cherokee and Nissan Xterra, Ford CEO Jim Farley and the 1,000-hp SUV, a review of the Kia Sportage Hybrid and more. Check it out at Headlight.News.
The Headlight News podcast discusses EV sales and charger expansion, Ford’s new cheap EV plan, and reviews the 2025 Genesis G80 and more. Check it out at Headlight.News.
In this week’s Headlight News podcast, we cover Ford’s new EV plans, the UAW President’s dilemma, Chevy’s new speed record, review the 2025 Cadillac Lyriq-V and look back at this week in automotive history. Check it out at Headlight.News.