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1 week ago | 
wardsauto.com | David Kiley
The Trump Admin.’s Environmental Protection Agency has set its sights on encouraging automakers to eliminate stop-start systems that were widely adopted starting 15 years ago to help meet Corporate Average Fuel Economy regulations.
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2 weeks ago | 
manufacturingdive.com | David Kiley |Sara Samora |Nathan Owens |Ricky Zipp
From tractor manufacturing to drugs and chemicals, companies across the industry are feeling the brunt of the Trump administration’s heavy tariff policies. During first quarter earnings season, executives detailed their plans to soften the blow of tariffs, which are costing manufacturers hundreds of millions of dollars in lost revenue and heightened input costs. Ford Motor Co. is facing some of the worst impacts — the company expects up to $1.5 billion in lost net profits.
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2 weeks ago | 
wardsauto.com | David Kiley
Plano, TX – Toyota dramatically upgrades its RAV4 lineup for 2026. Already the top selling utility vehicle of an size in the U.S., the compact CUV’s lineup will further entice customers with an improved plug-in hybrid variant with greater range than today’s model and an upgraded hybrid system. All ’26 RAVs will be electrified with no 100% internal-combustion engine variant offered.
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2 weeks ago | 
wardsauto.com | David Kiley
PLANO, TX – Toyota Motor North America's chief operating officer, Mark Templin, says President Trump’s tariffs on foreign-made automobiles are “not sustainable longer term without significant price increases, and the industry already has an affordability problem.”Toyota produces slightly less than half the vehicles it sells in the U.S. outside its borders, including Mexico, Canada and Japan, the company says.
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2 weeks ago | 
wardsauto.com | David Kiley
Though later to market than some of its rivals when it comes to offering fully competitive battery-electric vehicles, Toyota continues rolling out a slate of BEVs set to debut in 2026. Adding to its own BEV lineup as well as the nascent all-electric-but-rugged offerings in the U.S., which for now includes Rivian’s R1T and R1S, the Hyundai Ioniq 5 XRT grade and the Subaru Trailseeker, is Toyota’s bZ Woodland.
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3 weeks ago | 
wardsauto.com | David Kiley
Toyota, after hanging back for several years on offering battery-electric vehicles in the U.S., is adding a compact CUV BEV to its 2026 lineup that already includes the recently announced longer-range bZ BEV CUV. Toyota will introduce an all-new battery-electric CUV in 2026, the C-HR, with standard all-wheel drive and an estimated range of 290 miles (467 km). The vehicle resurrects the C-HR name Toyota used on a now-discontinued internal-combustion-engine small CUV sold in the U.S. from 2016-2022.
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3 weeks ago | 
wardsauto.com | David Kiley
Stellantis’s Fiat brand, seeing consumer indifference to its short-range, expensive 500e, will roll out a hybrid version of the diminutive city car with intent to build 100,000 a year globally. Fiat is set to rejuvenate its iconic 500 model by introducing a new gas-electric hybrid version, aiming to offer an affordable, but still fuel-efficient, alternative to its fully electric counterpart.
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3 weeks ago | 
wardsauto.com | David Kiley
Toyota is making an attempt to better its standing in the battery-electric-vehicle segment in the U.S. with the 2026 bZ, an evolution of the vehicle previously known as the bZ4X and a key part of the automaker’s plan to grow its BEV portfolio as consumer demand increases.
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3 weeks ago | 
wardsauto.com | David Kiley
Solid-state battery (SSB) cells have several production and cost challenges to overcome to displace traditional lithium-ion technology, which is not as energy-dense. But legacy automakers planning to roll out battery-electric vehicles with SSB cells – with an electrolyte that is solid instead of liquid or gel as with traditional lithium-ions – say they are finding ways to overcome those issues and obstacles for the promise of eventual lower costs and longer range.
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1 month ago | 
wardsauto.com | David Kiley
In a move few saw coming, the infamous Yugo brand is a target for resurrection in Europe. Once a symbol of socialist-era pragmatism and the butt of automotive jokes across the U.S., the new Yugo aims to reclaim its “heritage” with an affordable, urban-focused electric car designed and engineered in Serbia, but with its sights set on a broader European revival.
