Hans Greimel

In his first interview with international media since taking office in April, Toyota CEO Kenta Kon discusses his financial focus, dealer strategy, and plans for navigating trade upheaval and Chinese competition.

Kenta Kon, Toyota's new CEO, spent seven years as Akio Toyoda's personal secretary navigating recalls, financial losses and Japan's triple disaster.

Mitsubishi is betting the reborn Pajero, now a more luxurious three-row off-roader, can challenge the Toyota Land Cruiser and Nissan Patrol while rekindling flagging sales in key markets.

Nissan and Honda formalize their partnership to co-develop standardized electronics and software for next-generation vehicles. The two Japanese automakers reconcile after their merger attempt failed, aiming to compete with Tesla and China through shared investment and faster development cycles.

Hyundai will launch 100-plus new or refreshed models globally over the next four years, entering new segments including body-on-frame trucks and light commercial vehicles.

Hyundai Motor plans body-on-frame expansion beyond the Boulder and Crater concepts. CEO Jose Muñoz says U.S.-built trucks could drive significant growth through exports.

Mitsubishi's reborn Pajero SUV launches this autumn in overseas markets after five-year hiatus. Built in Thailand on Triton platform, it targets growth amid Chinese competition in Southeast Asia.

Nissan plans to slash development time to 30 months and deliver five frame-based trucks from its Canton plant by decade's end under a newly overhauled vehicle family product planning strategy that will cut costs and free investment funds.

Hyundai Motor Group deployed its H Chat Pro generative AI platform to all employees, achieving 80 percent adoption. The AI tools reduced crash test analysis time by 90 percent and service response times by 42 percent across engineering, safety and production operations.

Tall, outspoken and a risk taker, Okuda served as president from 1995 to 1999 and championed the Prius hybrid. He was Toyota's first non-family leader since 1967.

A powerful typhoon forced Toyota to idle production at nine Japanese plants, affecting models including Corolla, Camry and RAV4.

Honda will be down through Aug. 19 and has no concrete timeline for restarting.

Subaru's quarterly profit fell as the automaker spent heavily on incentives for its three electric vehicles amid slowing EV demand.

Honda's quarterly operating profit hit a record $3.28 billion, boosted by currency effects. But the weak yen will inflate costs tied to the carmaker's scaled-back electric vehicle plans.

The automaker is leaning into hybrids as customers clamor for more fuel-efficient rides.

Mazda Motor Corp. returned to profit in its fiscal first quarter as it prepares product enhancements to revive slumping CX-90 and CX-70 U.S. sales.

Alfonso Albaisa, 62, will serve as adviser through Dec. 31 after stepping down as global design chief. Matthew Weaver, who worked on the Qashqai and Juke, takes over Oct. 1 after 24 years with Nissan.

Honda suspends production at two plants making the Civic and Prelude. Combined automaker output losses near 20,000 vehicles after deadly 7.1-magnitude quake struck southwestern Japan July 28.

The stabilized profit provides a tailwind for Mitsubishi as it reboots business amid tougher competition in its tradition stronghold of Southeast Asia and U.S. tariffs.

Automotive News interviews Akio Toyoda AI avatar — the Toyota digital twin that sees a bright future for man and machine ‘buddies’