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Welcome to Daily Drive for Tuesday, May 20th, 2025. I'm Jamie Butters, executive editor of Automotive News in Dearborn, Michigan.
And I'm Kellen Walker in Las Vegas. Today on the show, automakers expect the US to try to end Biden-era fuel economy standards, Honda backs off its EV goals, and Slate Auto draws 100,000 reservations for its barebones EV minivan. Plus, Linamar Executive Chair Linda Hasenfratz talks about the need for strong leadership in the auto industry through uncertain times.
There's a Chinese proverb that says clear water has no fish. There's opportunity in the murkiness and it's up to us as leaders to find it.
Let's run through all the news you need to know to keep up in the auto industry. Automaker officials expect the US transportation department to declare that fuel economy rules issued under then President Joe Biden exceeded the government's legal authority. They say the Biden administration overstepped when it included electric vehicles in setting the rules. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy says NHTSA submitted its interpretive rule to the White House for review on Friday. Duffy said in a statement that the prior administration had quote illegally used CAFE standards as a backdoor electric vehicle mandate driving the price of cars up.
Meanwhile, Honda is dramatically cutting its investment and sales goals for EVs. CEO Toshihiro Mibe cites loosening environmental regulations in the US and Europe and new trade policies as reasons for the change. The company will slash its planned R&D investment in electrification and software by 30% through the end of the decade. Honda will shift that money to gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles, including a next-generation technology debuting in 2027. Japan's number two car maker now estimates that EV volume will be around 700,000 to 750,000 vehicles in 2030. That's down from its expectation for 2 million EVs, which it announced last year. By contrast, Honda expects hybrid sales to double to some 2.2 million vehicles in that time.
Dodge is dropping the R/T trim of the 2026 Charger Daytona from its lineup because of tariffs. The electric Charger Daytona is made in Canada. It began arriving at dealerships in January as a 2024 model in two varieties, the R/T and the higher-end Scat Pack. The 670 horsepower Scat Pack, which starts at $75,000, will be the only electric Charger available as a 2026 model. Mopar insiders first reported the decision to eliminate the R/T, which starts around $61,000.
One piece of good news for EV believers, startup Slate Auto is moving quickly on plans to launch a sub-$30,000 electric mini pickup. It says it has drawn 100,000 customer reservations and $700 million in financing. The startup opened reservations with a modest $50 refundable deposit when it revealed its two-door pickup in April. Slate is targeting late 2026 production. It also revealed more information about top financial backers after quietly building in stealth mode since 2022. Slate confirmed one key investor, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.
And J.D. Power is changing its leadership. The software and data analytics company hired Joshua Perez to take over as president and CEO. Dave Habiger will step aside from day-to-day leadership and serve as vice chairman, assisting Perez through the transition. Habiger has served as president and CEO of J.D. Power since 2018. The company, which has been building toward an expected public stock offering, declined to elaborate on the executive change.
And those are today's headlines.
So Jamie, what impact will the fuel economy rollback efforts have on the ability to buy affordable EVs?
That's interesting, right? Obviously the Slate pickup is an affordable EV that's coming, but this rule change, you know, the administration will say that the important thing there is to give people chances to buy more affordable cars overall, cars and trucks overall, by not requiring or encouraging the sale of expensive EVs. The administration really is not a fan of EVs. I don't know that they care much about there being affordable EVs out there. But you know, like we said, there's the Slate effort is out there and maybe we'll see some, there seems to be some market demand, but they may not get a lot of regulatory credit for them.
Gotcha. Coming up, Linamar Executive Chair Linda Hasenfratz discusses her leadership strategy through uncertain economic times. That's next on Daily Drive.
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Welcome back to Daily Drive. I'm Jamie Butters with Kellen Walker. In the depths of the 2008-2009 economic crisis that crippled North America's auto industry, Canadian supplier Linamar's then CEO, Linda Hasenfratz, shifted into rescue mode. As panic gripped the stock market, auto companies were in a sell-off, prompting Hasenfratz to purchase 1 million shares in the company. Now, Linamar's executive chair, Hasenfratz says, bold leadership is more necessary in 2025 than ever before. Automotive News awarded Hasenfratz with a centennial award as we turn 100 years old and honor living legends who have steered their companies through stormy seas. Hasenfratz spoke this morning here at the Automotive News Leading Women Conference in Dearborn, Michigan. She spoke on stage with our senior vice president of editorial, Chrissy Taylor. Here's a piece of their conversation.
You mentioned stepping down last, stepping down as CEO last August and becoming executive chair. What surprised you most about letting go and what hasn't changed about your day-to-day?
So, I like to think of it as a stepping up.
Okay. Yeah, that's fair. That's fair. That's way better phrasing. My apologies. Yes, stepping up.
Yeah, stepping up into executive chair. So, I mean, I'm still in an executive role, so I'm still, you know, full-time, so it's not like I've sort of stepped back. In fact, my husband said to me, let me get this straight. You're no longer CEO, but I see you less and you're working more hours and traveling more than you ever did. It didn't go the way we thought it would.
