RAM lengthens warranty

The Ram brand, in a sign of the high cost of today’s vehicles, has expanded a 10-year warranty on its 2026 pickups and vans. The Stellantis brand said the decade-long, 100,000-mile warranty, which it calls the most extensive in the segment, now applies for the duration of the model year instead of ending Jan. 2, as originally planned. The automaker said the expansion results from consumer demand and auto dealer feedback amid ongoing inflation. The limited power train warranty applies to trucks and vans sold in the U.S. and Canada, including the Rho, Power Wagon and full chassis cab line. It excludes pure battery-electric vehicles and is good only for a vehicle’s original owner.

Source: F&I and Showroom

Stellantis has canceled its full lineup of plug-in hybrid vehicles that it spent the past five years turning into some of the segment’s top sellers. The automaker will instead focus its electrification strategy on conventional hybrids such as the redesigned Jeep Cherokee that is shipping to dealerships now, range-extended electric vehicles and a small number of full EVs. The Jeep Wrangler 4xe, the No. 1 plug-in hybrid in the U.S., according to registration data, is among the vehicles the company has canceled for the 2026 model year. The Jeep Grand Cherokee 4xe, Chrysler Pacifica Plug-In Hybrid and Alfa Romeo Tonale plug-in hybrid variant also are being discontinued, Stellantis confirmed Jan. 9.

Source: Automotive News

German automaker Volkswagen has publicly stated that President Donald Trump’s 25% tariffs on Mexican and Canadian automotive goods violate binding USMCA commitments negotiated during the president’s first term. The company submitted its position to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative as part of an auto-specific comment process ahead of the USMCA’s mandatory 2026 review. VW argued that the tariffs are harming the U.S. automotive industry and undermining long-term investments made to comply with USMCA requirements. According to the automaker, the current tariff structure disrupts supply chains that were designed around the agreement’s rules and increases costs for manufacturers operating across North America.

Source: CBT News

Honda positions its electric vehicle partnership with Sony as a bold bid to out-innovate Tesla with cutting-edge entertainment amenities and artificial intelligence-powered mobility. However, the automaker’s franchised dealers are intensifying their opposition to the Sony Honda Mobility venture, labeling the premium Afeela electric vehicle program a costly diversion in a tightening U.S. market and softening EV landscape. Some retailers view the collaboration, established in 2022 to blend Sony’s entertainment technology with Honda’s manufacturing expertise, as an existential threat to their business model and balance sheet.

Source: Automotive News

Ford Scales Back EV Ambitions, Forecasts $19.5 Billion Write-Down

Ford on Monday announced a major retreat from large electric vehicles, planning a write-off of about $19.5 billion over several years as it pivots toward hybrids, gas-powered trucks and a new battery storage business. The Detroit automaker said it will cancel plans for select larger EVs -- including its F-150 Lightning -- due to weak demand, elevated costs and regulatory changes, marking a significant shift in strategy as the industry grapples with slower-than-expected electric vehicle adoption. "This is a customer-driven shift to create a stronger, more resilient and more profitable Ford," CEO Jim Farley said. "The operating reality has changed, and we are redeploying capital into higher-return growth opportunities."

The shift by Ford comes just days after President Donald Trump moved to revoke tougher fuel-economy standards put in place by his Democratic predecessor, Joe Biden, which had prompted U.S. companies to embrace a transition to electric vehicles.

Ford said it had halted production of the current F-150 Lightning electric pickup, which it once hoped would spearhead a transition to EVs. Instead, the next-generation Lightning will be hybrid, combining battery power with a gasoline engine, offering an estimated 700-plus mile range, the company said. Ford also canceled plans for new electric commercial vans in Europe and North America, replacing them with gas and hybrid models to be manufactured at its Ohio assembly plant starting in 2029
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In the shift, the company will repurpose its Tennessee facility, renaming the Tennessee Electric Vehicle Center to Tennessee Truck Plant, to build new affordable gas-powered trucks beginning in 2029 instead of electric vehicles.

Ford said it was also launching a battery energy storage business, converting a Kentucky plant to manufacture products for data centers and power companies.
For that business, the company plans to invest roughly $2 billion over two years and is targeting a supply of 20 gigawatt-hours of annual capacity by late 2027, enough to make it a major player in the fast-growing market.

Source: IndustryWeek

GM has announced that it will write down another $6 billion charge as the result of its decision to pull back on certain electric vehicle investments.

According to a report from Reuters, the new $6 billion charge was revealed in a recent regulatory filing issued on Thursday. The charge is tied to reduced EV production plans and the company’s efforts to unwind portions of its EV-related supply chain, driven by changes in federal policy under the Trump administration and softening demand for battery-electric vehicles. Meanwhile, Ford Motor Company announced an even larger EV-related charge just weeks prior, further underlining sweeping changes across the U.S. auto industry as it moves away from the EV segment.

Roughly $4.2 billion of the total writedown consists of cash charges associated with canceled supplier contracts and related obligations, with suppliers previously expecting vastly higher EV production volumes. Despite the pullback, GM stressed that the charge will not impact its current U.S. electric vehicle lineup, which includes about a dozen models spread across the Chevrolet, GMC, and Cadillac brands.
GM will mark the $6 billion charge as a special item in its forthcoming fourth-quarter earnings report. The company also said that further EV-related charges could be recorded in 2026 as discussions with suppliers continue. However, GM expects those costs to be lower than the charges taken in 2025.

The writedown follows similar actions taken by other automakers, many of which are adjusting EV strategies that were developed earlier in the decade when demand forecasts were far more optimistic. Automakers began reassessing their EV investments in earnest last summer after federal tax and spending policy changes weakened the outlook for electric vehicles, including a major pullback in federal support following changes made by the Trump administration. Perhaps one of the biggest impacts was the expiration of the $7,500 federal EV tax credit in September.
In the lead up the the credit’s expiration, EV sales surged, briefly lifting GM to second place in U.S. EV sales behind Tesla. However, the momentum proved short-lived, as the automaker reported a 42-percent drop in EV sales during the fourth quarter following the tax credit’s expiration.

Source: GM Authority

GM has filed a patent application for a non-pneumatic wheel design. The patent application is tagged with patent number US 12,508,841 B2 and was filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) on March 29th, 2023. The filing was published on December 30th, 2025, and lists Michigan-based engineer William David Robinson, III as the inventor.

The GM patent describes a wheel design that basically eliminates the need for a traditional air-filled tire, as well as the enclosed barrel structure used in conventional pneumatic wheels. Rather than relying on air pressure, the wheel described in the GM patent uses an interior structure that includes an outboard annular bead and an inboard annular bead. These two beads are connected by spaced supports that may include rods, arms, or beams. The absence of an annular barrel between the beads allows for a significant reduction in wheel weight compared to a traditional pneumatic wheel.

The inboard annular bead includes an extending face that can accept various mounting design, including an electric motor and a brake mechanism. The patent explains that the inwardly extending face includes a first center opening with a certain diameter, while the outboard annular bead includes a second center opening that can have a larger diameter. The first center opening is configured to receive a portion of an electric motor, allowing the motor to be mounted directly to the wheel assembly.

There can be between three and eight supports connecting the inboard and outboard beads, which can be welded, fastened, or otherwise secured to both beads. These supports help maintain structural integrity while keeping the wheel lightweight. The design also allows a non-pneumatic tire to be mounted to the outboard and inboard beads.
This wheel design may be useful because it reduces weight by eliminating the barrel portion found in traditional wheels, and it allows for the direct integration of electric motors and braking components, providing a modular structure suitable for EV applications without requiring a tire inflated by air.

Source: GM Authority

Ford CEO Jim Farley said a North American free trade deal is needed for the automaker and industry, hours after U.S. President Trump called it "irrelevant." "We really see Canada and Mexico and the U.S. as an integrated manufacturing system. And that's how we're going to approach this negotiation. Very critical for us, but we need revisions," Farley said on the sidelines of an event at the Detroit Auto Show on Tuesday evening.

The trade deal, called the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, is up for review this year to decide whether it will be left to expire or another agreement will be worked out. Trump last year imposed 25% tariffs on autos imported from those countries, while also allowing for workarounds that have reduced the levies. "We could have it or not, it wouldn’t matter to me,” Trump said, speaking at a Ford plant on Tuesday. Bill Ford, Ford's executive chair, spoke about the regulatory whiplash the automaker faced, including fluctuating tariffs, loosening emissions rules and uncertainty around USMCA. "It's a game we've been in my whole career. If I had a perfect world, which I never will, we'd have some certainty in regulations," he said.

The Ford leaders also spoke about affordability, an issue that Trump sought to address during his visit to Detroit. Bill Ford said the company needs to offer more entry-level options for consumers, as the average transaction price for a new vehicle has climbed to near $50,000 according to some analyst estimates. "Affordability is a big issue, and it's one we talk about a lot internally, and we actually have a lot of plans to address that," Ford said, citing the automaker's launch of a $30,000 electric pickup in 2027, and noting that more solutions would be announced. Farley cited the affordability issue as one of his main concerns for 2026. "We should all be very careful about consumer demand," he said.

Source: Reuters

Honda plans to increase U.S. production of lower-priced gasoline-powered vehicles this year, shifting away from electrified models as high vehicle prices and easing emissions standards reshape consumer demand. The Japanese automaker will prioritize gas-powered cars and sport utility vehicles to meet growing demand for more affordable models, Lance Woelfer, head of Honda’s U.S. sales operations, said during a media briefing. The move comes as many American car buyers continue to struggle with new-vehicle prices that average nearly $50,000.

Source: CBT News