In an unexpected move, Jim Rowan is stepping down at CEO of Swedish-based, Chinese-automaker Volvo Cars. He will be replaced by Hakan Samuelsson, who previous served in that role from 2012 to 2022. The move comes at a time when Volvo is aggressively moving to EVs but also faces a variety of tariff issues in the U.S. and Europe. More from Headlight.News.
With thousands gathered in protest at dealers around the world over the weekend, Tesla wrapped up what is expected to be a weak first quarter, the automaker watching sales dwindle as opposition grows to CEO Elon Musk’s role in the Trump administration – as well as his increasingly vocal shift to the political far right. Headlight.News has the latest.
President Donald Trump formally announced that 25% tariffs targeting imported autos and auto parts will go into effect on April 3, though final details impacting some Canadian and Mexican imports have yet to be finalized. Trump promised the move will spur significant growth in the domestic auto industry. But many analysts, along with industry officials, warned it could result in a hit to industry sales and earnings, driving many potential customers out of the new vehicle market. Headlight.News has more.
Hyundai Motor Group plans to invest $21 billion for a variety of U.S.-based projects, including steel production and the expansion of its U.S. automotive production to 1.2 million vehicles annually. That more than doubles what the South Korean has invested since entering the U.S. market in 1986. More from Headlight.News.
Faced with strong resistance from domestic and foreign automakers alike, Pres. Donald Trump has reportedly folded and won’t put in place 25% tariffs on Mexican and Canadian autos and auto parts which, critics warned, could cripple the auto industry while also giving a hammer blow to the U.S. economy as a whole. More from Headlight.News.
General Motors and Hyundai are said to be in talks that would lead to significant product sharing in the pickup and commercial EV van segments, according to a new report. Such a move would expand on the alliance the two automakers recently announced focusing on hydrogen fuel-cell technology. More from Headlight.News.
Best known as the manufacturer of Apple’s iPhone, Foxconn is reportedly locking down a deal to produce battery-electric vehicles with two Japanese automakers. Details have yet to be revealed but Mitsubishi appears to be one of the new partners and there is speculation Foxconn may be working out arrangements with either Nissan or Honda, those two Japanese automakers having failed to secure their own merger deal. More from Headlight.News.
President Donald Trump’s new tariffs threaten to shake up the auto industry, threatening to add thousands of dollars to the cost of even U.S.-made vehicles. For now, though, BMW will give buyers a break, the automaker saying it will absorb the added tariff costs on vehicles it imports from Mexico. Whether BMW can maintain that strategy – and whether other manufacturers will follow – is unclear.
The new Toyota bZ3X is, at less than $20,000, the sort of affordable EV American motorists are craving. The problem is you can’t have it. Not unless you’re thinking about moving to China. But it’s certainly connecting with motorists in the People’s Republic. And it might offer some insight into the sort of product Toyota just might eventually be able to come up with for the U.S.
In this week’s Headlight.News podcast we cover the latest tariff updates, Nissan’s troubles, Tesla’s woes and whoa and a review of the 2025 Mitsubishi Outlander SUV. Check it out at Headlight.News or on Spotify!
President Donald Trump on Wednesday said he would delay by a month new tariffs covering Canadian and Mexican auto imports. But even with that delay, the industry is waiting to see if Trump will next move to target additional trade partners. Trump has already hinted that European automakers could be next in his sights. More from Headlight.News.
Little more than a day after announcing plans to enact 25% tariffs on goods imported from the Mexico and Canada, Pres. Donald Trump threw a temporary lifeline to the auto industry by granting a one-month reprieve on automotive parts and vehicles. But the threat remains that sanctions could still follow if the U.S. can’t reach resolution with its two neighbors and leading trade partners – something Ford CEO Jim Farley warned “would blow a hole in the U.S. industry.”