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Larry P. Vellequette
Reporter covering Toyota and Subaru for Automotive News
lvellequette@crain.com
313-446-0478
Larry P. Vellequette covers Toyota Motor North America and Subaru of America, and previously covered Volkswagen Group and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles. A reporter for more than 35 years and a staff reporter with Automotive News since 2011, Vellequette is an award-winning journalist, commentator and a senior member of the Automotive News editorial board.

Latest from Larry P. Vellequette

Stellantis North America purchasing chief Marlo Vitous: Supplier relations will improve

The head of North American supply chain for Stellantis said "recent changes" at the automaker will lead to an improvement in what has been a turbulent supplier relations period for the automaker.

Robert Weldon Jr., Toyota exec in U.S., Mexico, dies at 80

Longtime Toyota executive Robert Weldon ran its operations in Mexico and Puerto Rico. He died Feb. 9.

How Damian Lillard Toyota rewrote the retail playbook and became customer retention champ

Damian Lillard Toyota in McMinnville, Ore., is a small store that leads all other Toyota stores nationwide in customer retention because the dealership uses the metric as its singular guidepost.

Toyota’s 2025 message to dealers: ‘Build more and sell more’

Toyota brand head Dave Christ says the automaker believes it can expand production and increase available inventory but will face challenges with ZEV-state mandates.

U.S. new-vehicle inventory falls back under 3 million

New-vehicle inventory fell back below 3 million in January, though a slow selling rate extended days' supply.

Dave Cantin Group’s Brian Gordon; Nissan looks for new partner

Brian Gordon of Dave Cantin Group joins the show to talk about the firm’s technology that maps the entire dealership landscape in the U.S. and how it can benefit buy-sell customers. Nissan looks for a new partner after ending merger talks with Honda. Plus, Ford sets a full-year revenue record.

Column: Elon Musk might be beyond retribution, but Tesla isn’t

While Elon Musk the man might be above the law and beyond the reach of an angry mob, Musk’s companies decidedly are not.

Subaru lifts covers off new Forester hybrid and updated Wilderness

The 2025 Subaru Forester hybrid arrives in U.S. dealerships this spring, while the updated 2026 Forester Wilderness goes on sale this fall. Both were shown Feb. 6 at the Chicago Auto Show.

Toyota, Lexus dealers go to D.C. to fight looming ZEV state mandates

Dozens of Toyota dealers were to lobby in Washington Feb. 5 to stop ZEV state mandates threatening to disrupt legacy automaker and dealer businesses this year.

Column: Dealers get some movement on affordability

After years of dealers saying new-vehicle prices had climbed too high, a number of automakers are now taking positive steps to lower the barrier to new-vehicle ownership.

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