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Toyota has gone from being an environmental darling, lauded for pioneering hybrid technology, to a pariah among many conservationists. Gill Pratt, CEO of the Toyota Research Institute, defends the company’s commitment to hybrids. And we hear from environmental activists and former government officials who say the world’s largest auto company is dangerously dragging its feet.

Buckle up for a big week

We're heading into a big week for the auto industry — and a really big week for Automotive News.

We start the week off with a couple of exciting releases: One is entirely new and the other is a perennial favorite.

First the familiar: Automotive News readers will get to meet the 2023 class of Rising Stars. These are two dozen leaders and high achievers, age 45 or younger, working at automakers, suppliers and other non-retail entities in the automotive industry. (Young dealership folks are honored with the 40 Under 40 program.)

Also dropping is Driving to Zero, a limited-series podcast about the auto industry's efforts to reduce and even eliminate carbon emissions throughout the value chain and vehicle lifecycle. The first four episodes come out this week with four more to come. Jake Neher, our terrific coordinating producer for audio, led this project as reporter and host on top of his work on Daily Drive, the weekday new…

Driving through the plains of Ontario always reminds me of my home state of Iowa. A lot of it is agricultural. and the road can be numbingly straight.

But as Jake Neher and Jack Hallauer — two Michigan native colleagues — and I headed toward the Toronto exurb of Brampton to tour a Magna International plant, I experienced something I never felt in Iowa: a burning in my throat from wildfires.

This past summer, locales from Chicago to New York were canceling outdoor activities because of the Ontario forest fires and the heavy smoke hanging over large swaths of North America.

Those fires were not global warming; a hot day in August is not climate change. But the accumulation of years of progressively hotter temperatures throughout the world provides ample evidence of a real problem. In the words of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, "the influence of human activity on the warming of the climate system has evolved from theo…

The chair of the International Council on Clean Transportation discusses her role in spurring change at Volkswagen following the company’s emissions-cheating scandal and says 2023 marks a critical juncture in a shift toward green mobility.

How do I subscribe?

Apple Podcasts: “Shift: A podcast about mobility” is available on the iTunes Store and through the ‘Podcast’ app pre-installed on all iOS devices. Click here to subscribe.

Spotify: "Shift: A podcast about mobility" can be streamed through Spotify on your desktop, tablet or mobile device. Click here to subscribe.

Google Play: "Shift: A podcast about mobility" is available on Android devices through the Google Play store. Click here to subscribe.

Larry Dominique is just happy to see people talking about Alfa Romeo.

The Italian brand grabbed headlines in late August by unveiling the limited-edition 33 Stradale, a supercar that surpasses 620 hp with a twin-turbo V-6 engine or more than 750 hp in an electric iteration.

Although Alfa Romeo is building only 33 of the stylish two-seaters, Dominique said the attention the Stradale draws helps the brand's quest to build awareness in the U.S. A spokesperson said the Stradale has attracted vast media coverage around the world from nonautomotive outlets covering art, technology and luxury.

Alfa Romeo is in the midst of a brand evolution that includes delving into electrification this year with the Tonale, its first plug-in hybrid and last new model with an internal combustion engine. The brand plans to go all-electric by 2027.

Its marketing leaders have described ad spending for the Tonale launch as unprecedented in a …

Electric vehicle newcomer VinFast Auto plans to import three additional crossovers to join its midsize VF 8 that went on sale this year. Most of the automaker's lineup is scheduled to be assembled at a $2 billion North Carolina factory, starting in 2025.

VinFast is off to a slow start for VF 8 sales, with just a few hundred vehicles delivered through July, according to a company spokesperson. But the EV maker is rapidly introducing new models in Vietnam that will make their way to U.S. shores.

Next to go on sale is the stylish VF 9, a three-row crossover. The company plans to import its smaller VF 6 and VF 7 crossovers next year.

VinFast is drawing attention with its design choices of modern interiors and adventurous exteriors. Pininfarina collaborated on the VF 8 and VF 9, the automaker said, while Torino Design worked on the VF 6 and VF 7.

Originally, VinFast planned to sell its EVs separate from their batteries, which would be leased for a mon…

Contract talks between the UAW and Detroit 3 automakers are in the critical post-Labor Day stretch, with a Sept. 14 contract expiration approaching.The union seeks a self-described “audacious and ambitious” list of demands that include a 46 percent raise, a return to traditional pensions and a 32-hour work week.Ford, GM and Stellantis have made their offers to the union public. The UAW has so far been critical of the proposals.Follow this liveblog for regular updates.

It will be busy next week in the heart of the U.S. automotive world.Industry leaders will convene in Michigan for three major events — the North American International Detroit Auto Show and the Automotive News Congress, both in Detroit, and the Battery Show in the suburb of Novi. The future of transportation will come into sharp focus at all three.The Automotive News Congress theme is Investing in Innovation. There will be keynote sessions with General Motors President Mark Reuss, Ford Blue President Kumar Galhotra and Hyundai Motor Co. COO Jose Muñoz.The Battery Show will zoom in on pressing issues such as battery plant timelines, regulations and recycling, while the auto show will feature the latest in electric vehicles and includes a mobility forum.Automotive News will cover each right here.

As an upstart interloper in a market dominated by what was then "The Big Three," Toyota established a beachhead in the U.S. pickup market five decades ago with a small, fuel-efficient, utilitarian offering that separated itself from the much larger trucks rolling out of Detroit.

Today, Toyota's pickups are much larger, as is both the Japanese automaker itself and its share of the total U.S. market, where the brand is one of the last full-line automakers left. But as Ford's small, fuel efficient, utilitarian Maverick pickup continues to leave consumers waiting months for delivery, could a return to its heritage with a Corolla-based pickup give Toyota a second pickup segment to dominate, like it does with the Tacoma?

"We've obviously watched Maverick closely," Toyota brand head Dave Christ told Automotive News ahead of this week's Toyota dealer meeting in Las Vegas. "If you think about our pickup trucks, they've gotten bigger over the years. You …