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LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The Detroit 3 are pushing rapidly toward an electric future for their light-duty pickups, but it's a different story for the biggest trucks in their lineups.

Heavy-duty pickups are among the few vehicles still seeing big investments toward development of more powerful gasoline and diesel engines. Although the segment isn't huge, the money at stake is. Ford Motor Co. says it gets more revenue from Super Duty sales alone than Southwest Airlines, Marriott International and many other Fortune 500 companies generate.

These big trucks are high-margin profit machines that will be key to funding automakers' electric ambitions, but executives say they'll likely be among the last vehicles in the industry to get battery power — if they ever do.

"If you're pulling 10,000 pounds, an electric truck is not the right solution. And 95 percent of our customers tow more than 10,000 pounds," Ford Motor Co. CEO Jim Farley told media at the Churchill Downs…

Tesla Inc. announced lower-than-expected electric vehicle deliveries in the third quarter, as logistical challenges overshadowed its record deliveries.

The EV maker said in a Sunday statement that "it is becoming increasingly challenging to secure vehicle transportation capacity and at a reasonable cost," but some analysts were also concerned about demand for high-ticket items due to the weakening global economy.

"The economy around the edges is still having a negative impact for Tesla that's mostly logistical. But that I think there is some demand (issues) sprinkled in there," Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives told Reuters after the delivery results.

"There is a dark cloud over the auto sector. And Tesla is not immune."

Ford Motor Co. said last month inflation-related costs would be $1 billion more than expected in the third quarter and that parts shortages had delayed deliveries.

Apple Inc. is backing off plans to increase production o…

LAS VEGAS — Ambitious targets for electric vehicle sales — in California or nationwide — will be hard to achieve by 2030 or 2035, Akio Toyoda told reporters here last week.

Regarding California's mandate that will ban the sale of gasoline-burning vehicles by 2035, the Toyota Motor Corp. CEO said: "Realistically speaking, it seems rather difficult to really achieve that."

He added that a national goal of 50 percent zero-emission vehicles by 2030 would be "very difficult."

As a global automaker serving 200 countries, Toyota must take into account the wide variety of conditions in those various markets, including the needs of the 1 billion or so people who don't have reliable access to electricity. Through a translator, he cautioned that regulations "tend to narrow the options available for solutions toward carbon neutrality."

Longer term, he sees hydrogen combustion as a compelling offering. In the short term, hybrids may provide the greatest good…

See the changing industry from the auction lane

For another perspective on the evolution of the auto industry, let's look at what's happening at wholesale auctions.

In this week's issue, we not only examine how traditional auction companies are seeing a complex downswing in volume, but also how they're pivoting to keep in stride with dealers' evolving acquisition habits and with a swirl of announcements from automakers about new vehicle production and concepts.

On Page 1, I lay out the amalgam of shifts that have reshaped the auction industry. You'll read about how COVID-19 and the resulting slowdown in production of new cars and trucks disrupted typical volume flows at auctions, to this day making some types of highly sought inventory hard to come by.

Conditions have even led some dealers to cut back on their buying in physical auction lanes in favor of purchasing of used vehicles directly from consumers.

Changes in dealer appetites acco…

The co-founder and partner of the transportation-focused venture capital firm discusses investing amid uncertainty, how the Motor City will evolve in the transition to EVs, and the accelerating bifurcation of worldwide supply chains.

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U.S. sales at Kia and Genesis rose in September as the auto industry's inventory woes continued to ease, though growing economic challenges threaten what was supposed to be a more robust second-half rebound as the industry enters the fourth quarter.

Volume last month rose 6.4 percent to 56,270 at Kia, setting a September record for the automaker. It was the company's second consecutive monthly gain year over year. The automaker continues to benefit from an expanded crossover linup and new electric vehicles.

“Building upon record September and third-quarter sales, we’re optimistic that Kia will see a strong fourth quarter as well,” Eric Watson, vice president of sales operations at Kia America, said in a statement.

Genesis on Saturday reported September sales of 4,907, a gain of 0.8 percent over 4,867 deliveries a year earlier. Hyundai Group's upstart luxury brand has now posted year-over-year sales growth 22 straight months, with year-to-date deliv…

SAN FRANCISCO -- Tesla Inc. CEO Elon Musk showed off on Friday a prototype of its humanoid robot "Optimus," predicting the electric vehicle maker would be able to produce millions and sell them for under $20,000 -- less than a third of the price of a Model Y.

Musk said he expected Tesla would be ready to take orders for the robot in three to five years, and described an effort to develop the product over a decade or more, the most detailed vision he has provided to date on a business he has said could be bigger than Tesla's EV revenue.

Tesla's push to design and build mass-market robots that would also be tested by working jobs in its factories sets it apart from other manufacturers that have experimented with humanoid robots.

The eagerly awaited reveal of prototype robots at Tesla's office in Palo Alto, Calif., was also part of what Musk has described as an effort to have Tesla seen as a leader in fields like artificial intelligence, not just a company…

Amid growing buyer concerns over battery costs, some wholesale auction companies are reworking their vehicle condition reports to better disclose battery health on used electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles.

ADESA Inc. is one of the latest to take that step as part of its plan to gear up for the substantial numbers of EVs expected in the wholesale market in the coming years. The auction provider in early September announced a partnership with Recurrent, an EV battery and range analytics company, to add a feature on condition reports that more clearly shows potential buyers an EV's battery status in the form of what ADESA is calling a Range Score.

During the inspection process, Recurrent's software analyzes a vehicle's history and battery data and then generates a battery health score from 0 to 100. That number is displayed on the vehicle's condition report on adesa.com along with a Range Score badge. A potential buyer can click on the badge to see more informat…

HANOVER, Germany — While the auto industry struggles to convince consumers that hydrogen fuel cell vehicles have a place in daily transportation, truckmakers see huge potential for the technology.

It's a matter of chemistry, Andreas Gorbach, Daimler Trucks' technical chief, said at IAA Transportation 2022. No battery chemistry will ever outperform how much energy engineers can store with hydrogen, he said.

"If you take the elements with the biggest difference in electrochemical that gives you the highest energy, the highest voltage and the highest potential energy density cell, you would never come even close to the hydrogen," Gorbach said.

Even with a significant breakthrough, battery chemistry might only reach a 30th of the energy that hydrogen packs.

"There are not elements that can compete with hydrogen," Gorbach said.

To be sure, there are still major obstacles to overcome before hydrogen fuel cell trucks can start to replace diesel t…

DETROIT — Jeep provided a glimpse into its electrification plans during the Detroit auto show with previews of the Wrangler-inspired Recon off-roader and the sleek Wagoneer S that will expand its line of upscale utility options.

These vehicles are part of an ambitious battery-electric vehicle launch schedule looming for Jeep parent Stellantis, the product of a 2021 merger between Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and France's PSA Group.

Stellantis said it aims to have more than 75 EVs globally before the end of the decade, with 25 of them coming to the U.S., and to reach global annual EV sales of 5 million by 2030.

Mark Stewart, the North America COO for Stellantis, said the company has to ensure that its manufacturing work force is ready for this critical transition.

Stewart spoke with Staff Reporter Vince Bond Jr. during the Detroit auto show about preparing workers for EVs, the key challenges he faces daily and how the company has adjusted to the mer…

A package of new- and used-vehicle warranties with new certified pre-owned programs is helping Spitzer Automotive Group of Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida get customers in the door during a period of low inventory.

Last year, the group introduced its "Spitzer Shield," a suite of benefits that includes a nationwide lifetime powertrain warranty on new vehicles and a 7-year, 100,000-mile nationwide powertrain warranty on vehicles bought through its CPO program.

The group introduced the Shield after it began to reevaluate its stores' value proposition to customers in their markets, COO Andrew Spitzer said. He said the group found it wasn't competitive enough with other dealerships that were offering 20-year, 200,000-mile warranties on new vehicles.

"I saw that and said, 'All right, I respect that. Now let's beat it,'" said Spitzer, a 2022 Automotive News 40 Under 40 honoree.

"We've been in business since 1904, but is that going to be the thing that ma…