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3 weeks ago | 
wardsauto.com | David Kiley
NOVI, MI – Volkswagen Group investing nearly $6 billion in Rivian, and subsequently announcing the U.S. start-up’s software will power future vehicles across VW’s ten automotive brands, should have been a wakeup call to other legacy automakers to gut-check whether their cultures are conducive to competing in the software space against China, say supplier officials “Maybe not culture, but there is a mindset (among legacy automakers) that is much different than what we find at Chinese...
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3 weeks ago | 
wardsauto.com | David Kiley
The GMC Terrain has experienced some ups and downs the past few years, with some of the dips due to supply-chain issues rather than slackening demand, GMC says. Regardless of the cause, the brand wants to make its compact/midsize CUV a stronger competitor for the 2025 model year, so General Motors’ “Professional Grade” marque has made numerous upgrades for its core Elevation trim, and it is adding to the lineup for the 2026 model year with the AT4 and Denali premium trims.
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3 weeks ago | 
wardsauto.com | David Kiley
NOVI, MI – Automakers and suppliers are losing at least 18 months of forward planning because of the variable and changing Trump White House tariff policies, says Michael Robinet, vice president for forecast strategy at S&P Global. In a presentation here at AutoTech 2025, Robinet notes with caution that Chinese automakers, with whom Western automakers are competing in the global electric-vehicle industry, will continue to grow and are not impeded by the U.S.’s unpredictable tariff policies.
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3 weeks ago | 
wardsauto.com | David Kiley
Tesla Motors’ share price has surged over $100 a share in less than two months despite continued evidence of sales and inventory difficulty worldwide. Even if consumers continue to avoid Tesla, the automaker’s business-to-business ventures, analysts believe, will displace the importance of Tesla-brand vehicle sales.
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1 month 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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1 month 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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1 month 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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1 month 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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1 month 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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1 month 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.
