Latest from Leo Michael
Suppliers and automakers are scrambling to cope with the compounding nature of President Donald Trump's tariffs and the speed with which the new levies are coming into effect. Tariffs on U.S. vehicle imports began April 3, and the Trump administration said duties on a wide range of parts will go into effect by May.
President Donald Trump sees his tariffs, which started April 3, as a way to encourage more manufacturing in the U.S. But those in the industry say moving manufacturing sites stateside isn’t easy and takes years.
Tesla’s stock price dropped 28 percent from Jan. 1 to the March 26 market close, wiping out hundreds of billions of dollars in market capitalization. The Wall Street collapse is in part driven over concerns over Elon Musk’s damage to the brand.
Sales of GM’s Cadillac Lyriq EV tripled in 2024 to 28,402, outpacing each of its XT4, XT5 and XT6 gasoline crossovers. And in January, Cadillac saw a 38% rise in its electric vehicle registrations.
The UAW and President Donald Trump have seldom seen eye-to-eye, but the promise of 25 percent tariffs on products made in Canada and Mexico has created common cause. UAW President Shawn Fain has long been an opponent of free trade agreements, and Fain is one of the few high-profile figures to openly support the president.
Kia is building its new PV5 electric commercial vehicle in South Korea, and that means it is not destined for the United States, which imposes a 25 percent tariff on imported light trucks.
Upstream’s 2025 Automotive & Smart Mobility Global Cybersecurity Report shows that the share of cyberattacks involving EV chargers increased to 6 percent in 2024 from 4 percent in 2023.
In detailing plant closures, job cuts and a sweeping management overhaul last week, embattled Nissan CEO Makoto Uchida promised to unveil more big fixes for the automaker, and soon.
While President Trump has outlined plans to place levies on all goods from Canada and Mexico and all steel and aluminum imports, as well as considering reciprocal tariffs on all U.S. trading partners, it remains unclear to many in the industry if those tariffs will ultimately come to pass and, if they do, for how long they’ll stay in place.
Following a series of phone calls on Feb. 3 with his counterparts in Canada and Mexico, Trump announced progress in the negotiations and said he will delay imposing the new tariffs until March 1.
