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.
Expect to pay more for that new Porsche next month, the German automaker advising dealers it will start passing on more of the cost of the tariffs Pres. Donald Trump has put in place on imported autos. Porsche isn’t alone, however, a growing number of brands are raising already record-high prices to cover those new duties, even on domestically made products due to the cost of imported parts and components, reports Headlight.News.
Since its debut in 2019, the Kia Seltos has grown to become the Korean carmaker’s best-selling model line. But Kia has even bigger ambitions for the subcompact crossover as it gets a complete makeover that will see it grow larger, add more features and a first-time hybrid option. Headlight.News takes a first look at the 2027 Kia Seltos.
They’re some of the smallest cars in the world and make up 40% of the Japanese domestic market. But could “Kei cars” find a niche here in the United States? That’s something Pres. Don Trump suggested this week as he announced a rollback of federal fuel economy standards. More from Headlight.News.
Initially positioned as Ford’s primary SUV for family buyers, the crossover was scheduled to end its run as 2025 draws to a close. But it’s gotten a new lease on life, reports Headlight.News Mexican correspondent David Loji, though in a quite different way from what we are used to.
Days after announcing plans to invest another $10 billion in the U.S. market, Toyota Chairman Akio Toyoda turned up his effort to minimize trade tensions between Japan and the United States by showing up in a MAGA hat and Trump-Vance campaign T-shirt at the NASCAR race at Fuji Speedway. Headlight.News has more.
As trade friction grows, General Motors wants its suppliers to stop sourcing parts and raw materials from China by 2027, according to a new report, though meeting that deadline could be challenging considering the way the global network has been set up over the last few decades. More from Headlight.News.
Sales have never lived up to expectation for the Ford F-150 Lightning, one of the market’s first all-electric pickups. The automaker idled production last month due to a shortage of aluminum and officials there reportedly are considering whether to scrap the nameplate entirely. Headlight.News has more.
Automakers suffered saw a sharp drop in electric vehicle sales during October as federal EV tax credit ended. But even sales of gas models leveled off as prices, driven higher by Trump’s auto tariffs, drove many mainstream buyers out of the market. As Headlight.News reports, the industry has become more dependent than ever on affluent households for new sales.
This year’s Japan Mobility Show proves there’s still plenty of life left on the auto show circuit. The biennial event brought out dozens of new cars, concepts – and even a rocket – during its media preview. Headlight.News was in Tokyo and takes a look at some of the most significant products to debut there.
Toyota committed to invest another $10 billion in the United States, as negotiations on a new U.S.-Japan trade deal moved forward — prompting Pres. Donald Trump to tell troops stationed in Japan, “Go out and buy a Toyota.” In an exclusive report, Headlight.News reports Toyota also is looking for ways to boost U.S. auto exports to Japan.
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.