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100 years young: How Model Ts keep on T-icking in northern Michigan
Posted by Talbot Payne on August 2, 2025
Charlevoix — In the 1920s, the Ford Model T transformed America.
Bringing affordable, personal transportation to the masses, “Tin Lizzies” — as Model Ts were fondly nicknamed — established Detroit as a manufacturing colossus, made farming more efficient, replaced the train as the primary means of long-distance transport, and opened rural areas like northern Michigan to tourist travel.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
A century later, Ford Motor Co.’s Model Ts are still plying the roads — and turning heads — here thanks to its durable design, dedicated repair infrastructure and passionate owners.
Mary Carr Leatherman is celebrating the 100th birthday of her family’s 1925 T this year by going on long country drives with her sister, Irene, and husband, John Dean. With its two-speed transmission and 40-mph top speed, the four-cylinder Ford can be seen chugging along Charlevoix County’s two-lane roads in daily traffic.
“It’s a special feeling, because I like antique things,” said Dean, 78, decked out in 1920s-style goggles, flat cap and elbow-length leather gloves. Mary and Irene sit behind him, resplendent in full period white skirts. “I keep thinking about what (the Model T) was like then, what the people were like, and what they experienced when they were driving it. It’s a bit of a reverse time machine.”
Made from 1908 to 1927, Model T production revved up after 1910 when it moved to Ford’s Highland Park facility, reaching more than 2 million units a year by 1925. Prices dropped from $850 in 1909 (about $30,000 in today’s dollars) to $260 in 1925 (about $5,000 today), making it widely affordable with 10,000 cars a day rolling off the line. Henry Ford and his son drove the last Model T — the 15 millionth — off the line in May 1927.
Henry Payne
Leatherman’s grandfather Richard Sr. purchased the T in 1925 in Commerce, Mississippi, where he used it as a daily driver on his cotton farm. Two generations later, his grandson, Richard Jr., moved the car to Memphis, Tennessee, where it made cameo appearances — like transporting Mary and Irene to their weddings.
“I remember as a child my brother and first cousin, Ted, playing around with it — and my grandfather teaching them how to drive it,” said Leatherman, 71. “They loved cars.”
One hundred years on, the Model T’s revolutionary design is still remarkably relevant. Its left-side drive makes it easy for passengers to exit curbside (legend has it Henry Ford designed it that way so his wife, Clara, could safely exit to the curb). Its Model T nomenclature has been copied by Tesla Inc., which fancies its popular electric vehicles (Model X, Model 3, etc.) as Ford’s 21st-century successor. And its high-riding, good-visibility seating position dovetails with the current craze for high-riding SUVs.
In the 1920s, that tall wheelbase was essential to navigating rutted, muddy, horse-and-buggy roads that were suddenly busy with thousands of Fords. It is hard to understate how the T changed life here.
Reliable, durable and powerful, Model T proliferated on farms.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
“It was called ‘the farmer’s friend,’” Ford Heritage and Brand Manager Ted Ryan said in an interview. “Its tall wheelbase was essential to navigating rutted roads, and its versatility made it a tremendous farm tool. Like an F-series platform toy, you could put different top hats on it, from a four-door to a pickup bed.”
Farmers used the T for a variety of farm chores, including hooking up wheat thrashers, running grist mills and transporting goods to market. “The only thing that limited the Model T was the imagination of the owner,” Ryan said.
Leatherman and Dean brought their Model T to Charlevoix because their extended family reunions are here each summer. And because it felt like home.
“When my father died, he sent (the T) back to the farm in Mississippi … and no one was caring for it,” Leatherman said. “My sister and I decided we would put this project in (John’s) hands, because he loves a challenge. And Michigan, of course, is the car state.”
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
They follow in the tire tracks of scores of Model T owners who headed north a century ago with their new contraptions. Before the T, northern Michigan had mostly been accessible only to upper-income families who would load their families on trains for long hotel stays.
Charlevoix, for example, had some 1,000 hotel rooms in 1920 — and just 350 today. The move away from trains toward automobiles was signified by the closure of Charlevoix’s massive, 250-room hotel, The Inn, in 1937.
“The effect of reduced train ridership due to the continued rise of the automobile sealed its fate after 43 seasons,” records a Charlevoix Historical Society documentary. “It has no room for parking for the large number of cars.”
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Dean took the Model T to Ed Baudoux, one of Northern Michigan’s “Model T whisperers,” who restored the car to its original mechanical condition.
“People look at these cars and think they are worth a million dollars,” said Baudoux, who works from a barn behind his Grayling home. “But Ford made 15 million of them. The Model T is the poor man’s collector car.”
Model Ts today can fetch anywhere from $5,000-$20,000 with good restorations somewhere in between, said Baudoux. Rare models like a two-door Runabout might push $50K. Along with help from Jeff Humble, president of the Northern Michigan Ts (the local Model T club), Dean trained himself to drive the Model T using an original owner’s manual as thick as Manhattan’s phone book. A Ford poster on his wall prescribes regular maintenance.
“I’ve driven a modern stick car for a good part of my life, and you have to unlearn that, because the Model T methodology (of) levers, pedals and the tools of the car are not common sense. They’re not what you’re used to,” Dean said. “My new best friends Ed and Jeff were very patient with me.”
Courtesy Of The Leatherman Family
Dean juggles the controls as he drives — an art that he has passed on to Richard Leatherman Sr.’s 16-year-old great-great grandson, Richard.
For all its accessibility to average drivers, the Model T required owners to pay attention to mechanical detail. A six-volt battery under the rear seat powers the flywheel magneto ignition system. The nine-gallon gas tank is under the driver’s seat, requiring a careful fill lest fuel drip on the hot exhaust running beneath the car. A single carburetor delivers fuel to four pistons, and Dean closes the fuel line valve when the car is not in operation.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
“Allow the fuel to run low, and the Model T might stall on an incline due to its gravity-fed fuel line from tank to carburetor,” Humble, who owns three Ts, said in an interview. Should that happen, he explained, drivers would turn the car around, put the T in reverse gear (thus allowing fuel to flow downhill into the carburetor) and drive it backwards up the hill.
Sideboards make for easy access to the driver’s seat (via the right passenger door only), where operators encountered a blizzard of controls, including a parking brake, three floor pedals (left clutch/first gear, center clutch/reverse gear, right engine brake), floor-mounted starter button, dash key and choke, steering wheel-mounted accelerator stalk and spark plug advance.
“It was a unique system that Ford designed for the Model T,” said Baudoux, 59, who learned to work on Ts at Saginaw’s Douglas MacArthur High School at the foot of shop teacher — and renowned Model T whisperer — Robert Scherzer. Scherzer’s class built a 1923 Model T pickup that is one of two Ts Baudoux owns today.
“By the time the Model T went into mass production, it was obsolete,” said the Grayling mechanic, citing the relentless pace of automotive development in the early 20th century. “But Henry Ford was a manufacturing genius and kept making the T more affordable.”
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
The T’s successor, the Model A (one of which Baudoux also owns), in 1927, adopted the three-pedal clutch system familiar to stick-shift cars today. But the T was simply designed and repeatable to make — a feature demonstrated by the Model T Club of Greater St. Louis, which publicly assembles a T in 10 minutes every year. With so many Ts still alive today, a global supply chain has grown to support it: tires made in Vietnam, axle shafts from Taiwan, radiators by Brassworks in California.
“The Model T was brilliantly designed,” Humble said. “It could be put together quickly and reliably. For a public that had never driven a car before, it was a clever, easy introduction into automobiles.”
In northern Michigan, the T phenomenon brought a flood of visitors onto an antiquated road system. Among them was Henry Ford himself.
“He loved walking the walk,” said archivist Ryan. “He loved his Ts and making people’s lives easier.”
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Paved roads were largely exclusive to Metro Detroit in the early 20th century (the first concrete road was built in Motown in 1909) with out-state roads mostly dirt or gravel, co-traveled by horse-and-buggy. The American Automobile Association was formed in 1902 as 23,000 cars joined 17 million horses on the roads.
By 1916, Model Ts were transforming travel, and AAA instituted roadside assistance for stranded travelers. Fuel? Travelers carried their own cans, buying petrol at general stores where kerosene was also sold (for lighting and cooking). AAA spearheaded a campaign for better roads, including federal funding for highways. Gas stations began to pop up on heavily-trafficked routes and, by 1919, gas had surpassed kerosene as the best-selling U.S. petroleum product.
Each year, Humble said, the northern Michigan Ts get together to make a trip around the region’s roads, including through the Tunnel of Trees and over the mighty Mackinac Bridge.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
It’s a trip that Dean and Leatherman want to do someday with their new friends Jeff, Ed … and more.
“Once you start talking about (old) cars in this part of Michigan … it’s very different,” Dean smiled.“ There’s a gentleman in Petoskey that specializes in replacement carburetors. There’s this network that just goes all over the place, and every time you turn around, you end up with yet another new friend.”
One of Henry Ford’s favorite destinations was Lovells Township, just 23 miles northeast of Baudoux’s Grayling shop, where the Ford founder enjoyed fishing on the Au Sable River beginning in 1916. The Lovells Township Historical Society recounted to promotemichigan.com how Ford once met a local, frustrated Model T owner who had stalled his Model T on an incline.
Ford turned the car around, put it in reverse, then backed it up the hill.
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or @HenryEPayne.
Hyperlap: Corvette ZR1X sets American record at Nürburgring
Posted by Talbot Payne on August 1, 2025
Chevrolet’s Corvette ZR1X is the fastest American production sports car made and now it’s taken its place among the world’s elite sportscars around the world’s premier race track, Germany’s Nürburgring.
The all-wheel-drive, 1,250-horsepower ZR1X recorded the fourth fastest production time ever around the epic, 12.9-mile track — and the fastest by a U.S. brand and non-professional driver — at a blistering 6.49.3 minutes.
Only the 1,063-horsepower Mercedes AMG ONE (6:29.09 minutes), 700-horsepower Porsche GT2 RS MR (6:43.30 minutes), and 730-horse Mercedes AMG GT Black Series (6:48.04) have lapped the so-called “Green Hell” in the Eifel Mountains quicker. All three were piloted by professional drivers.
GM
Not far behind in sixth place was the ZR1X’s sister, 1,064-horse, rear-wheel-drive ZR1 at 6.50.7 minutes. Chevrolet brought its trio of Corvette performance models — the ZR1X, ZR1, and Z06 — to the ‘Ring this summer in a historic bid to become the fastest U.S. brand. The Z06 recorded a time of 7.11.8 minutes.
“No auto manufacturer has done a Nürburgring lap attempt like this before,” said GM President Mark Reuss, himself a Level 6 driver and trained engineer. “From development through production, and now at the Nürburgring, we have clearly shown there is no limit to what our GM engineers and vehicles can accomplish. These are the best Corvettes in history, period.”
All three ‘Vettes were driven by Corvette engineers who are licensed (so-called Level 6 drivers in GM-speak) to drive Nürburgring and have a combined 1,825 development laps around the 154-turn circuit.
GM
The so-called Nürburgring Nordschliefe has long been the benchmark for performance for its high-speed rollercoaster turns and 200 mph straightaways. The Corvette team has tested there extensively, but has resisted setting an official time, in part due to the complexity and expense that an official lap time entails.
Nevertheless, as home-team German automakers continued to top the charts and the Nürburgring’s fame spread across social media, Detroit automakers have ramped up their efforts. What’s more, Corvette and fellow Motown muscle-car Mustang are no longer parochial, North American sub-brands as Chevy and Ford market them for sale internationally and in GT3 racing series where their chief competition is Mercedes, Porsche, BMW, and other international performance brands.
Ford threw down the gauntlet earlier this year when its (estimated) $325k Mustang GTD — a winged, production pony produced alongside the Mustang GT3 racer by Canadian partner Multimatic — became the first U.S. sports car to shatter Nürburgring’s seven-minute market (6.52.0 minutes), and become the fastest car around the ‘Ring not named Mercedes or Porsche.
Game on.
The 2025 Ford Mustang GTD lifts a wheel on its sub-7 minute lap around the ‘Ring. GILES JENKYN, Ford
“We’re at the Nürburgring right now with our Corvette,” Reuss told reporters at the 24 Hours of Le Mans June 14 when asked about plans for Corvette marketing in Europe.
Like Merc and Porsche, the Mustang’s lap was set by a pro driver (IMSA ace Dirk Muller). But Corvette has taken a different tack in headlining its supercar (the ZR1 starts at just over $178K), which retails for much less than competitors.
“We’ve created a different kind of relationship between our cars, iconic tracks, and our engineers, it is how we develop our vehicles,” said Senior Vice President of Product Programs, Safety, Integration and Motorsports Ken Morris. “These Corvettes weren’t piloted by pro racecar drivers. They were driven by the same engineers who designed, engineered and tuned them.”
GM
Last year, in a preview of its ‘Ring run, Corvette engineers took the ZR1 on a U.S. road tour, obliterating records at America’s major tracks including Road America (Wisconsin), Watkins Glen (New York), Road Atlanta (Georgia), and Virginia International Raceway Full Course.
Some of the same characters were back in Germany with Global Vehicle Performance Manager (and VIR record holder) Aaron Link setting the Z06 time, and ZR1 Vehicles Dynamics Engineer Brian Wallace (Road America record holder) clocking the ZR1 fast lap.
ZR1X vehicle dynamics engineer Drew Cattell (not among the U.S. record holders, indicating the depth of driving talent in GM’s engineering ranks) was the headliner with the Nürburgring ZR1X lap. In so doing, he put down the fastest time of any non-professional driver around the ‘Ring.
in the Chevy Corvette ZR1.
GM
Cattell’s time just pipped other notable laps recorded by the Porsche 911 GT3 RS (06:49.3 minutes), Lamborghini Aventador SVJ (6:49.4), and Radical SR8 (6:52.7).
Reuss had previewed the ZR1X’s capabilities earlier this year after taking his own Nürburgring laps. “Driving this car will change your life,” he said.
The all-wheel-drive, electrified cyborg puts up bigger horsepower numbers than sibling ZR1 by adding an electric motor up front to power the front wheels while a twin-turbo, 5.5-liter, twin-turbo V-8 spin the rears. The combination makes for Corvette’s first hypercar to compete against the likes of million-dollar exotics like the AMG ONE.
GM
ZR1 models were equipped with track-focused ZTK Performance Package including sticky, Michelin Cup 2R tires and high-downforce wing and spoilers.
The ‘Ring ‘Vettes were U.S. production-spec vehicles with only safety equipment modifications (roll hoop, fire extinguisher, six-point safety harness) added at Nürburgring’s suggestion. Sadly for drooling Germans, the ZR1 twins are not available in Europe because they don’t meet draconian emissions regulations.
The ZR1s go on sale this fall. The $116,995 Z06 is available everywhere. Chevrolet produced a documentary, “Homegrown Speed: A Corvette Story,” that chronicles the ‘Vette gang’s Nürburgring assault.
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or @HenryEPayne
Payne: Genesis G80 gets comfortable in its own skin
Posted by Talbot Payne on August 1, 2025
Gaylord — Hyundai’s luxury brand, Genesis, announced this year its intent to enter the world of elite motorsports in 2026 — joining the big boys in the IMSA Weathertech/WEC World Endurance Championship’s Hyper class.
It’s a natural progression for a brand that makes the terrific G80 sedan that I just stormed Michigan’s twisties with. The fastback sedan is a looooong way from the G80 I first tested in 2015.
Cresting a hill on M-32 west of Gaylord, I floored the throttle — accessing all 375 horsepower of the twin-turbo V-6 engine in front of me. Standard all-wheel drive translated 391 pound-feet of torque to the road and the big sedan surged forward. Big as in 4,600 pounds, which is hardly a lightweight in the midsize luxe aisle. But in SPORT PLUS mode, electronic suspension firmed the ride to reduce body roll.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
I rushed a series of S-turns like Lions running back Davd Montgomery crashing through the line of scrimmage. The G80 held firm, the eight-speed transmission holding a higher gear as I rocketed out of the last turn and onto a brief straight stretch. BRRRAAAAAGH! The engine’s growl opened into a full-throated roar.
Bring on Cadillac, Porsche, Acura, BMW and other luxury hypercar brands!
A decade ago, the 2015 G80 was a pretender. Affordably priced, it bore an Audi-like grille, Acura-like V-6 engine and BMW-like infotainment system controlled by a rotary dial. The 2025 model is no pretender; Genesis has come into its own.
They did it the old-fashioned way — poaching talent from the competition.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Belgian designer Luc Donckervolke came over from Lamborghini and gave Genesis its own design language. It’s hard to miss. Rather than dual racing stripes over the hood like a Dodge Viper or Ford Mustang, Donckervolke wrapped the cars with a distinctive dual-lighting signature. At auto shows, the Genesis team likes to pose next to their creations with two fingers held out horizontally — scissor-style — to echo the design theme.
The G80 got a lotta looks on my trip up north.
As I cruised down Bridge Street in Charlevoix, I watched the heads of the high school football players swivel as the Genesis cruised past. In a parking lot, a couple circled the car. It’s not just the swept sportback and dual headlights/taillights that get noticed — the bold shield grille gives the fascia presence.
And lots of air to feed the beast within.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Genesis hired BMW M Division chief Albert Biermann to tune its cars for performance. My Sport Prestige tester’s twin-turbo V-6 is a step up from the base model’s 300-horsepower turbo-4. Thus equipped, it is aimed squarely at all-wheel-drive performance sedans like the Audi S6, BMW 540i and Cadillac CT5-V.
Those brands have entered top-drawer motorsports, too (Genesis will be going head-to-head in the Hypercar class with Bimmer and Caddy). With the G80 Sport Prestige, Genesis is commanding a top-drawer price as well.
The Audi S6 leads this fleet of comparably equipped all-wheel-drive performance sedans with an eye-watering sticker price of $85K, but the Genesis is not far behind at $78,250. That’s a healthy 10 grand north of the 540i M-Sport and CT5 V-Series.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
The latter is one of my favorite performance sedans and raises the bar for 2025 with a 36-inch dash screen run by state-of-the-art Google Built-in like its Lyriq EV sibling. And you thought big screens were just for EVs?
G80, too, takes design cues from the Hyundai group EVs. A striking 28-inch hoodless display stretches across the dash — complemented by a head-up display. Cadillac was a HUD pioneer, and the Genesis follows with useful information like Android Auto directions, speed limit and adaptive cruise control mph so I didn’t have to take my eyes off the road.
The Genesis has also taken a cue from General Motors’ excellent steering wheel ergonomics. Raised toggle buttons made it easy for me to adjust ACC and volume controls without glancing down. The Genesis’s console ergonomics were another story.
Following in the footsteps of BMW, G80 offers dual controls for the infotainment display: touchscreen as well as a fat rotary remote dial. Unfortunately, the rotary dial is the same size as the rotary automatic gear shifter on the console — and they are directly in line with one another.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Turn the rotary dial left to turn down the volume, and …
Ooops! I shifted the car into NEUTRAL!
Turn the rotary dial to DRIVE, and …
Oops! I turned up the volume!
I learned to be deliberate in choosing the two functions, but — though it would throw off the aesthetic appeal of twin rotary dials — drivers would be better served by a steering stalk or T-shifter to avoid confusion.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Biermann’s team has clearly been working with the G80 in the gym. I enjoyed taking the big dog off the leash on the M-32 twisties. But competition at this level is ferocious, and the Cadillac not only employs impressive electronic suspension dynamics — but offers toys like the steering-wheel-based V-button, which allows drivers to instantly summon their favorite performance settings.
Alas, the M-32 rollercoaster is all too brief, and I spent most of my journey north on I-75. The G80 aims to make the long stretches drama-free with a good adaptive cruise system that not only deploys a bubble of lane centering/distance-keeping safety systems — but also didn’t nanny me every 15 seconds with a warning to pay attention.
The system combines a camera — Cadillac Super Cruise-style — to monitor your attention while also sensing steering input. The G80 would even switch lanes automatically for me at the tug of the turn-signal stalk.
But here, too, it trails the ‘25 Cadillac and its optional Super Cruise system — one of the industry leaders in autonomous systems. Hands-free, automatic lane changes, lane centering. The works.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
The new kid on the block dresses to kill and my G80 sported a striking red interior. My friend Suzie slipped inside. “Ooooh, I could get used to this,” she smiled. “I love that red leather smell.”
Genesis is turning heads and it intends to keep it that way. At the 2024 New York Auto Show, it set its sights on the Audi RS, BMW M5 and Caddy CT5-V Blackwing super-sedan models when it rolled out a bright-orange G80 Magma extracting over 500 horsepower from the familiar twin-turbo V-6 powerhouse. A variant of that engine is likely to power the IMSA Hypercar.
As the name “Genesis” implies, the luxury brand is just getting started.
Next week: 2025 Volvo EX30
2025 Genesis G80
Vehicle type: All-wheel drive, five-passenger luxury sedan
Price: $58,350, including $1,250 destination charge ($79,030 Sport Prestige as tested)
Powerplant: 2.5-liter, turbocharged, inline 4-cylinder; 3.5-liter, twin-turbocharged V-6
Power: 300 horsepower, 311 pound-feet of torque (I-4); 375 horsepower, 391 pound-feet of torque (V-6)
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Performance: 0-60 mph, 5.2 seconds (Motor Trend); Top speed, 140-155 mph
Weight: 4,587 pounds
Fuel economy: EPA 16 mpg city/24 highway/19 combined; 367-mile range
Report card
Highs: Striking design; upscale interior
Lows: Easy to confuse shift dial with volume dial; gets pricey
Overall: 3 stars
Payne: Second-gen Tesla Model 3 Performance takes big leap forward (and a step back)
Posted by Talbot Payne on July 24, 2025
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Charlevoix — After not touching the steering wheel on Full Self-Driving for an hour and a half up I-75, I exited the freeway at Gaylord. Turning on to the M-32 twisties, I took back the controls — my left thumb searching for the turn signal — from Autopilot. ZOT! The sedan rocketed past 60 mph in less than three seconds, its colossal 554 pound-feet of torque burying my spine in the seatback.
The second-generation Tesla Model 3 Performance is here, and it’s two steps forward — and one step back.
Or maybe I should say leaps instead of steps. As the most innovative brand of the 21st century commandeered by the most mercurial CEO since Henry Ford (imagine the blowback to Ford’s building WW2 bombers for FDR in today’s political climate), Tesla hasn’t been shy about trying to reinvent the automobile, whether design, autonomous driving, or electric power. I’ve owned both generations of the Model 3 Performance and they have been a nonstop, exhilarating, nerve-wracking journey on the cutting edge of auto tech.
Happily, the journey is now shorter to pick up a new car.
Leap forward. Six years ago, I picked up my 2019 M3P at Tesla’s Shaker Heights showroom outside Cleveland … because Michigan, um, banned Tesla showrooms. Today, thanks to a Whitmer administration initiative, Tesla has four showroom/service centers in Michigan — including in my West Bloomfield backyard. The no-haggle, online purchase process is easy-as-pie.
Leap forward. I was excited for the new 2025 Performance model for no other reason than designer Franz von Holzhausen has cleaned up the design. With its wide hips and coupe-back roof, M3 was always a looker from behind — but, oh, that face!
Determined to be different (Tesla’s North Star), the American startup’s first mass-produced car (it has sold a remarkable 2 million units since its 2017 introduction) scrubbed its front end of any trace of a grille. The result was a featureless face that reminded me of the Harry Potter villain, Voldemort. Eek.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Gen 2 is a dramatic improvement. The nose is sharper, more sculpted — its lean theme extending rearward with thinner headlights/taillights and more toned stampings. Always distinctive, Model 3 is now the peer of its handsome European competition.
Leap backward. Over those six years, I put just 14,331 miles on the odometer as an auto critic testing over 60 cars a year. No matter. The residuals of Model 3 Production models are through the floor (an EV affliction).
My low-mileage 2019 M3P cost $63,940 in 2019 and was listing no better than $22,000 on the used market — a 65% depreciation. A comparable, gas-fueled 2019 BMW M2 Competition, by comparison, held its value at $51,000 — just a 15% depreciation.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
I took Tesla’s $19,500 trade-in on a new, 2025 M3P priced for $62,000.
Unlike 2019, that price did not come with a $7,500 federal tax credit, the ceiling having been lowered to $60,000 for EVs to qualify ($80,000 for EV SUVs like a Tesla Model X). On the other hand, I was able to transfer my Full Self-Driving capability (an $8,000 value, up from $5,000 in 2019) from my old Tesla to the new bot.
Leap forward. And what a bot it is.
The advances in self-driving since 2019 are remarkable. When I drove my 2019 MP3 home from Cleveland, the system only worked on divided highways, and I had to keep my hand on the wheel.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
When I picked up my 2025 Model 3 Performance from West Bloomfield, I gave it my address and it drove itself home. Credit Tesla’s relentless race with Google and Amazon for the Holy Grail of self-driving. Google is trying to achieve full, Level 4 driverless autonomy using Lidar, while Tesla is convinced it can get the job done with cheaper cameras.
Production cars like my M3P, however, are still Level 2, meaning that, on my trip to Charlevoix, the car constantly monitored my eyes for engagement.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
While hands-free systems from General Motors Co. and Ford Motor Co.are mostly limited to divided highways, Tesla will drive to your destination as long as the road has painted lines. With a full 296 miles of range, I instructed the Tesla to navigate back from Charlevoix to my home, a 250-mile trip. Included was a 10-minute charging stop at Meijer’s Bay City store.
Not only did the Tesla navigate to the charger, but — upon arrival — it parked itself at one of the charging stalls. Press the turn signal, and M3P backed into the first available space.
Leap backward. That’s right, I “pressed” the turn signal.
In its quest to simplify cabin controls (and, no doubt, manufacturing), Tesla messed up one of the coolest cabin operations in autodom. The OG steering wheel was an aesthetically clean creation with two scroll wheels handling functions from mirrors to steering-wheel position to cruise control-speed to volume. Shifting/FSD and turn signals? Handled by two column stalks.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
For 2025, Tesla has removed the stalks, leading to a mess o’ complications. Shifting is now done in the 15.4-inch center infotainment screen — an echo of other brand methods (think Lincoln’s console shifter buttons or GMC’s piano keys). Operation briefly takes your eyes off the road.
But moving turn signal and FSD commands to the steering wheel requires a blizzard of icons (for voice, cruise control, arrows for turn signals).
The latter is the most problematic, as you now have to feel for the turn signal buttons next to a braille locator. Argh. As I turned the wheel onto M-32 in Gaylord, I fished for the turn signal buttons at the same time — clumsy when compared to the simple pull of a stalk.
“It’s not just dumb, it’s unsafe,” bemoans YouTube colleague Jason Camissa. Aftermarket companies have already crafted stalk solutions. Stalks aside, passengers will appreciate conveniences like ambient lighting, better-fitting seats and a rear-seat screen with climate control.
Leap forward. Of course, you don’t need stalks when you release the Kraken on M-32’s curves.
Here, the new M3P shines. The Tesla is noticeably better screwed together than the last gen. Solid chassis, quiet cabin, while unlocking an impressive 83 more torque (and 37 more horsepower). Remarkably, Tesla has achieved this while actually REDUCING curb weight from 4,072 pounds to 4,054. Has any modern performance car gotten lighter from one gen to the next? Ever?
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
That light weight contributes to nimble center entry and face-flattening thrust on exit. Alas, turn-in is still numb, but magnetic shocks have made for a more compliant suspension.
Tesla’s charging and self-driving supremacy hint at an autonomous future. But the Gen 2 M3P’s aesthetics and handling are welcome indications that Tesla hasn’t forgotten what makes performance sedans fun to drive.
Next week: Genesis G80
2025 Tesla Model 3 Performance
Vehicle type: All-wheel-drive, five-passenger sedan
Price: Base $56,380, including $1,390 destination charge ($64,630 as tested)
Powerplant: Lithium-ion battery pack mated to dual electric motors
Power: 510 horsepower, 554 pound-feet torque
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Performance: 0-60 mph, 2.8 seconds (Car and Driver); top speed, 155 mph
Weight: 4.054 pounds
Range: 298 miles on full charge
Report card
Highs: Improved build; improved design
Lows: Poor residuals; where’d the stalks go?
Overall: 4 stars
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or @HenryEPayne.
Payne: Winners, losers, movers. Highlights of U.S. auto sales six months in
Posted by Talbot Payne on July 24, 2025
There’s never a dull moment in the U.S. market as automakers hustle to divine consumer trends, navigate federal regulations, juggle tariff-driven plant production, and dodge activist Molotov cocktails.
The first six months of 2025 saw robust sales on track for an annual 16.3 million in unit sales as gas prices dropped and tariffs rose. America’s love affair with trucks ‘n’ SUVs continued with sales making up 82% of the light vehicle market. Just 10 years ago, cars made up 43% of the market. This year? Just 18%.
General Motors Co. brands led the herd with 17.6% of the market, followed by Japanese behemoth Toyota Motor Corp. at 15.2% and Ford Motor Co. with 13.6%, according to Autodata figures. The General gobbled a point-and-a-half of market share while its two closest rivals also gained.
Despite the threat of potential price increases, the first six months of the year recorded robust sales as gas prices dropped and tariffs rose. America’s love affair with trucks ‘n’ SUVs continued with sales making up 82% of the light vehicle market. Justin Sullivan, Getty Images
On the other hand, compared to 2015, Stellantis NV (then Fiat Chrysler Automobiles) declined to 7.4% from 12.3% and Nissan fell to 6% from 8.7%, stumbling while a company named Tesla Inc. (despite losses the last 12 months) came out of nowhere to reach a 3.3% share versus 0.1% a decade ago.
Enough macro, let’s talk micro. Dig deeper and the numbers reveal a raft of rivalries and rages. What are the best-sellers? Are EVs still the bee’s knees? Is Wrangler tying up Bronco?
The Detroit News sifted the numbers.
Best-sellers. The Ford F-Series and Chevy Silverado continue to slug it out in the marquee pickup duel. F-Series was King of Sales (again) with 412,848 units sold over Silverado’s 284,038. Throw in Chevy’s premium sibling GMC Sierra, however, and the GM twins are tops with 453,220 units combined.
Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff rolls onto the stage in a F-150 Powerboost Hybrid Detroit Lions Edition as Ford Motor Co. touts its metal before the start of the Detroit Auto Show. The iconic pickup is on track to again be the pickup sales leader this year. Daniel Mears, The Detroit News
A year ago, three non-pickup SUVs were climbing their way to the 400,000-plus sales summit: Toyota RAV4 (248,295), Tesla Model Y (198,030), and Honda CR-V (196,204). This year, RAV4 (239,451) and CR-V (212,561) are on pace again, but Model Y has hit a pothole with just 150,171 in sales — a victim of the slow rollout of its remade 2025 model and an often violent, anti-Tesla campaign aimed at Trump ally and brand CEO, Elon Musk.
EVs. Tesla Model 3 took up some of the slack, registering a 38% sales jump (to 101,323 units) with its re-worked sedan. So popular is the Model 3 that it not only was the hands-down best-selling luxury sedan (out-selling its closest competitor and segment icon, the BMW 3-series, 7:1), but it outsold every mainstream compact sedan except for the Honda Civic and Toyota Corolla.
The 2025 Tesla Model 3’s recently improved interior, long range and enjoyable performance help make it the Edmunds Top Rated Electric Car for 2025 — and a stalwart in the sales race. AP
Alas, for government regulators targeting 60% EV adoption by 2030, Model 3 sales were an anomaly as the electric market flat-lined at 7.4% share of the market, according to Cox Automotive, despite an expanded menu of offerings.
“The consumer tolerance level for EVs is about 7-8% of the market with all the federal incentives in place,” said ISeeCars.com senior analyst Karl Brauer in an interview. “And as those incentives go away over the next year, we expect to see EV sales continue to slide.”
Despite losing 6% market share in 2025, Tesla still dominated EV sales with 44.7% of the pie. Winners so far are the Chevy Equinox EV, which vaulted to third place in the EV beauty contest in its first stage appearance — its 27,749 sales eclipsing the best sales year of Chevy’s previous entry-level EV, the Bolt, by over 4,000 units.
The 2025 Chevy Equinox ICE Activ is one of three trims including RS and LT. Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Equinox EV’s sales paled next to its internal-combustion-engine-powered stablemate, the redesigned Equinox, which surged nearly 50% with 157,638 units sold.
Amidst the EV stall, Honda Motor’s first two battery-mobiles — the Honda Prologue and Acura ZDX — shared GM’s Ultium platform and combined to sell 26,652 units. That’s more than the combined 22,053 units sold by their peer, mid-size GM products built on the same platform: the Chevy Blazer EV and Cadillac Lyriq.
Muscle cars. The Mustang vs. Challenger vs. Camaro war ended as Stellantis and GM exited the segment — for now — to focus capital on EVs. Only Mustang is still standing.
On road, the 2024 Ford Mustang Dark Horse shreds the twisties with tight handling and improved steering. It soon will stand alone among Detroit muscle, as the Dodge Challenger and Chevrolet Camaro take a hiatus from the market. Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Yet, the pony car icon didn’t profit from its rivals’ demise, losing 14% of sales year-over-year to 23,551 units from 27,444.
“Muscle cars are a discretionary purchase, and their sales decline is evidence of consumer concern about the broader economy,” said analyst Brauer. “These cars also have dedicated buyer groups like pickup trucks. Challenger people are not going to buy a Mustang.”
Not even EV muscle-inspired customers. After ditching its Challenger and Charger V-8 models under regulatory duress, Dodge debuted an earth-pawing, all-electric Charger EV coupe that sold just 4,299 units — well below the 21,217 sold by the Challenger ICE coupe as it rode into the sunset this time last year.
The $70k 2024 Dodge Charger Daytona Scat Pack EV (right) replaces the $50k Challenger Scat Pack V-8 with more power and AWD, but less range and more weight. Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Jeep v. Bronco. At the heart of SUV-mania is the battle for off-road supremacy between the Jeep Wrangler and Ford Bronco. Wrangler continued to lead the horse race with 85,624 sales (11% gain over ‘25), but Bronc is coming fast.
Revived in 2021 after a 25-year hiatus from the market, Bronco surged past the Toyota 4Runner with 72,063 sold — a 43.7% gain and within striking distance of King Wrangler.
“Wrangler has the advantage of consistent, decades-long production and a loyal fan base,” said Brauer. “Ford has a huge, built-in audience from its trucks, but Bronco’s growth suggests it is pulling in a lot of non-Ford loyalists as well.”
Bronco’s halo appeared to help sales of its more affordable junior sibling, the Bronco Sport, which doesn’t share Big Brother’s ladder frame but is still plenty tough. Its 72,438 units tallied a 21.7% gain over a year ago.
Detroit Auto Show chairman Karl Zimmermann, left, and Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan ride in a Ford Bronco on the Ford Built Wild Track Experience during a tour of the Detroit Auto Show, at Huntington Place, in Detroit, January 9, 2025. David Guralnick, Detroit News
Sedan sunset. In 2015, six of the Top Ten best-selling U.S. vehicles were sedans, led by the Toyota Camry. This year, only Camry made the Top 10.
Forty brands vied for U.S. market attention a decade ago. This year that number is 48 as new players like Ineos, Polestar and Rivian test the waters. The next six months’ tariffs and EV welfare pullback will test them as well.
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.
Payne: Range Rover Sport vs. Volvo XC90 in plug-in face-off
Posted by Talbot Payne on July 18, 2025
Henry Payne
If you FOMO on BEVs but still must emit CO2 for trips, PHEV may be your GOAT.
Translation: Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) are the new fashion statements as luxury customers face the drawbacks of BEVs (battery electric vehicles) yet still require electric for moral or convenience reasons. Two of the latest PHEVs are the handsome 2025 Range Rover Sport and Volvo XC90 T8 sitting in my driveway.
Both bring the latest digital tech, peppy drivetrains and roomy three-row cabins — wrapped in their respective, distinctive European wardrobes. Here’s how I rate ‘em after a weeklong test in Metro Detroit:
Charging
Like BEVS, PHEVs are best fueled on home 240-volt charging systems. I plugged both models into my garage charger overnight for 100% battery range the next a.m. That is, 53 miles of battery-only driving for the Range Rover, 33 miles for the Volvo. That was plenty for daily errands ‘round Oakland County but not enough for my 64-mile round trip to Detroit Metro Airport. Your range will vary depending on temperature, rain and speed.
Driving to the airport on a lovely 50-degree May morning, my XC90 T8 Ultra tester got its advertised battery range at 75 mph on the Lodge and I-94. At 33 miles, just shy of the airport, the Volvo seamlessly switched to gas-electric power without missing a stride. Inside the quiet cabin, I didn’t notice the turbo-4 engine kick in while traveling on I-94 on adaptive cruise control.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Had I been driving the Englishman (its given name, the Sport P460e Dynamic SE a typically European bowl of alphabet soup), the internal combustion mill wouldn’t have kicked in until I was halfway back home. But either way, if I wanted to drive on electrons alone, I would need to plug the two utes in at my airport parking lot, Qwikpark, and its bank of 110-volt outlets.
When I arrived at 6:40 a.m. on a Monday, there were only two spots left at the 12-space charging stable. I dragged the charging cord out of the hatchback’s sub-storage bin and … wrong plug for the Qwikpark outlet. Back to the trunk, I found the proper, three-prong plug, and … it didn’t work.
Every charging station is different, and Qwikpark secrets their plugs inside covered boxes to keep them out of Michigan’s elements. This box was too shallow for Volvo’s plug. Grrr. A Qwikpark airport shuttle sidled rolled up. I waved her on.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
“I’m still plugging in,” I smiled, thankful I left home three hours ahead of my flight. “I’ll get the next van.”
I found another 110-volt box that had been — um, expanded by force — to accommodate larger connections like mine. The three-prong connector snapped into place. Phew. Of course, the beauty of PHEVs is that, even if charging failed, I would still have 497 miles of gas range in the Volvo, 407 in the Rover.
The XC90 indicated it would take 24 hours to fill 32 miles on the 110-volt. That’s a loooooong time. No worries, though. I wouldn’t be back from my trip for 40 hours.
Driving
Assisted by battery torque and turbochargers, the internal combustion powertrains in Rover ‘n’ XC90 can really hustle. On battery power alone? Not so much.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
In EV (Range Rover) and PURE (Volvo) modes, the SUVs sail along on smooth, all-wheel-drive power. But these are small batteries — 31 kWh in the Sport, 15 kWh in the XC90 — compared to the massive 100-kWh pack in a comparable Tesla Model X or Cadillac Vistiq. So acceleration is more of a nudge than the face-flattening ZOT! of a luxury BEV peers.
The Brit’s a bit perkier, thanks to its 2X battery capacity over the Volvo, but that added beef comes at a price — the 6,199-pound Rover is 1,000 pounds heavier than the XC90. That’s a lotta meat pies. The XC90 feels downright spry compared to the Rover.
When the battery runs out — or if you switch Rover to HYBRID mode — the big Brit wakes up. RAAAAWRGH! I stomped the gas pedal and the beast let out a roar from its twin-turbocharged, 3.0-liter inline-six — its formidable 454 horses vaulting past 60 mph in less than five seconds.
With 455 ponies, the Volvo is just as quick, according to our friends at Car and Driver, but gets there with a less invigorating turbo-4 banger. Hammer down, Thor!
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Design
Speaking of the Scandinavian superhero, the Volvo delivers the brand’s signature Thor’s Hammer headlights combined with the expected grille bisected by Volvo’s diagonal bar logo. What’s unexpected is the new, interlaced grille logo interpretation. It’s both refreshing and more distinctive — always a welcome combination when you are paying north of $80K.
Speaking of looks, Land Rover is an industry icon. Its chiseled proportions and simple aesthetic are mimicked by brands from Ford to Jeep. The Sport ups its game inside with the usual lush materials decorated with crisp, thin digital tablets in the console and instrument display. The latter — which seems to float beneath its hood — is particularly eye-catching.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
As expected at this price point, both utes are lathered with luxury features like heated/cooled seats, massaging chairs and comfortable head/legroom. The tight third rows? For small adults and children.
Rover and XC90 adopt monoshifters to save console space and accommodate wireless phone chargers and cupholders. The Volvo shows off its Scandinavian heritage with its shifter made from Orrefors glass. De-lish.
Operation
The brands’ austere design themes mean few buttons. Both mitigate this slight with clever visual, in-screen shortcuts to adjust, for example, temperature and drive modes. But ultimately, I learned to adjust my environment with voice commands:
Hey, Land Rover: Set driver temperature to 70 degrees
Hey, Land Rover: Navigate to CVS Pharmacy
Hey, Land Rover: Turn the radio on.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Volvo was one of the first automakers to adopt the Google Built-in operating system, which accomplished the same mission. Voice commands also avoid sometimes laggy screens.
Tech
Where Range Rover separates itself from Volvo in content and price is its ridiculously capable off-road toolkit. If I owned a Sport, I would take it to Holly Oaks ORV Park, select OFF-ROAD mode, finger MUD/RUTS and exercise it over the auto playground’s hills and valleys. The Brit even has a two-speed transfer case for the really sticky stuff.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
If it’s bandwidth you’re looking for — six cylinders, off-road capability — Rover’s your dog. If not, both these critters will hunt just fine. Often on nothing but electric motors.
Next week: Picking up my second-generation Tesla Model 3 Performance
2025 Range Rover Sport PHEV
Vehicle type: All-wheel-drive, five-door, seven-passenger luxury SUV
Price: $96,725, including $1,625 destination charge ($106,865 Dynamic SE as tested)
Powerplant: 3.0-liter, twin-turbocharged, inline 6-cylinder and electric motor paired with 32-kWh lithium-ion battery
Power: 454 horsepower, 487 pound-feet of torque
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Performance: 0-60 mph, 4.8 seconds (Car and Driver); towing, 6,614 pounds
Weight: 6,199 pounds
Fuel economy: EPA 53 MPGe; 21 mpg (gas only); 53 miles on battery alone; 470 miles gas/electric
Report card
Highs: Gorgeous inside/out; throaty inline-6
Lows: Tight third row; gets pricey
Overall: 3 stars
2025 Volvo XC90 PHEV
Vehicle type: All-wheel-drive, five-door, six-passenger luxury SUV
Price: $81,995, including $1,295 destination charge ($88,695 T8 AWD Ultra as tested)
Powerplant: 2.0-liter, twin-turbocharged, inline 4-cylinder and electric motor paired with 15-kWh lithium-ion battery
Power: 455 horsepower, 523 pound-feet of torque
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Performance: 0-60 mph, 4.8 seconds (Car and Driver); towing, 5,290 pounds
Weight: 5,124 pounds
Fuel economy: EPA 58 MPGe; 27 mpg (gas only); 33 miles on battery alone; 530 miles gas/electric
Report card
Highs: Handsome new face; peppy inline-4
Lows: Tight third row; inline-4 lacks sex appeal of rest of package
Overall: 3 stars
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him athpayne@detroitnews.com or @HenryEPayne.
Historic Cadillac win: Brazil victory brand’s first in international Hypercar race
Posted by Talbot Payne on July 14, 2025
A month ago, Cadillac’s V-Series.R Hypercar program made a statement by sweeping the front row at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the world’s premier sportscar race. Last weekend, it followed up that historic feat by scoring its first win in international, FIA World Endurance Championship sportscar racing, taking a dominant 1-2 win at the Rolex Six Hours of São Paulo in Brazil.
Cadillac’s WEC effort is part of an international expansion into motorsport, including Formula One, as it seeks to establish itself as a global performance brand alongside makes like Mercedes, BMW and Aston Martin.
Cadillac Racing’s prototype cars have won 32 races and four manufacturer’s championships in North America’s IMSA Weathertech Sportscar series since 2017. The program expanded to the WEC circuit in 2023. Two Hertz-sponsored Caddy Hypercars managed by England-based Team JOTA were first across the line on Saturday at Brazil’s famed Interlagos circuit (where F1 also competes in November). Two Porsche 963 Hypercars entered by Bloomfield Hills-based Team Penske finished 3-4.
The #12 Cadillac V-Series.R Hypercar took pole and won the brand’s first WEC race at the 2025 Rolex Six Hours of Brazil. Nick Dungan
Corvette Racing (which has been in international motorsports since 2000) continued its successful season in the production-based, LMGT3 class with the TF Sport team’s Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R finishing second in class at Sāo Paulo.
“Congratulations to the Cadillac Racing team and the No. 12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R on their victory in the Rolex 6 Hours of São Paulo,” said Vice President of Global Cadillac John Roth. “Every member of the team can be very proud of their efforts on preparing the race car for success, from both a technology and durability standpoint.”
Tech and durability are key elements of General Motors Co.’s investment in racing. The automaker says that motorsports is important — not only for enhanced brand awareness — but as R&D for production vehicles. The V-Series.R Hypercars are hybrid V-8 engines, while the brand sells a mix of gas/electric production cars in the United States and all-electric in Europe.
Cadillac V-Series.R Hypercars scored a dominant 1-2 win at the FIA World Endurance Championship in São Paulo, Brazil – the brand’s first in the international WEC class. Brazil racing legend Ayton Senna is on the background poster. Nick Dungan
“What racing does for Cadillac as a brand is — not only do we go out to compete with global luxury brands that we compete with in the retail space — we also get accelerated learnings,” Roth told The Detroit News at Le Mans in June. “What’s the aerodynamics like in the vehicle? What is the braking feel like? What’s the overall performance of the vehicle? Our engineers that are here with us learn at an accelerated pace.”
As evidenced by the Le Mans pole, the Cadillacs have shown good pace in the brand’s third WEC season. The Brazil win stalled a dominant year to date by Ferrari, which won the first four (of eight) races, including first place at Le Mans. The São Paulo 1-2 result vaulted Cadillac to second in the championship behind Ferrari and ahead of Porsche, Toyota, BMW, Alpine, Peugeot and Aston Martin.
The #12 and #38 Cadillac V-Series.R Hypercar teams celebrate their 1-2 win on the podium in Brazil. Cadillac
“This kind of consistency only comes from world-class engineering and well-executed strategies,” said Keely Bosn, Cadillac Racing program manager, after the race. “It wasn’t just a win on the track — it was a win in the garage, in the data room, and in every detail of our race prep this season.”
Prior to Sunday’s result, Cadillac Racing’s best result in the Hypercar class (the fastest sportscar class in the world) was third at Le Mans in 2023.
As at Le Mans this year, Cadillac Team JOTA qualified on pole with Le Mans pole-sitter Alex Lynn once again at the wheel. Not only did Cadillac dominate the 18-Hypercar field over the six-hour race, it also set a race fast lap. The twin Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA entries led a combined 165 of 242 laps.
The second-place #38 Cadillac V-Series.R Hypercar sweeps past the second-place Chevy Corvette Z06 LMGT3 racer at the Rolex Six Hours of São Paulo. Nick Dungan
“Honestly, this is now year number three for me racing this car and year number four of driving it. And, personally, it’s a huge sense of satisfaction,” said English driver Lynn, who has been with Cadillac’s WEC effort since its 2022 inception. “It’s been a huge journey with Cadillac and to finally win a race of the WEC Championship is special. It’s been a lot of hours driving the car and a lot of hours working on it, and it means everything.”
The significance of motorsports to Cadillac’s brand reboot was on display in Paris last month during the WEC Le Mans race. A Hertz Team JOTA Cadillac V-Series.R Hypercar was on display in Cadillac’s showroom in the heart of Paris’s downtown fashion district. The showroom is one of four the GM luxury brand recently opened in Europe.
The Cadillac V-Series.R Hypercar is a hybrid V-8 racer competing in the international WEC series as well as in North America’s IMSA Weathertech series. Cadillac
While customers ogled the race car next to Cadillac’s Lyriq electric vehicle, they could watch racing on the store’s video screens.
“Cadillac has been on a long journey over the last 10 years to really reestablish itself as the standard of the world, and so everything we do is about raising the bar, raising our engineering excellence, raising what is a luxury presentation for a consumer,” Roth said. “It’s not just a U.S.-orientated mindset. It is a global mindset.”
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or @HenryEPayne.
EVs, racing and tariffs: Mark Reuss on how GM is remaking its brands
Posted by Talbot Payne on July 14, 2025
Le Mans, France — With race-licensed president and product guru Mark Reuss at the wheel, General Motors Co. has put the pedal to the metal in a race to reinvent itself.
In an extensive interview with The Detroit News, Reuss detailed the General’s ambitious product revamp — from electric vehicles to motorsports to SUV models — beginning with its luxury jewel.
“We’re excited to be here again as we build up Cadillac from an electric propulsion standpoint — but also an ICE (internal combustion engine) standpoint,” said the 30-year GM veteran while V8-powered Cadillac Hypercars thundered by behind him on the course that hosts the 24 Hours of LeMans. “We’re not going away with our ICE — this (race car) happens to be a hybrid. Cadillac’s on a real roll. We’ve invested a lot of money (and) I think that’s starting to pay off.”
Cadillac is indicative of a sprawling GM strategy overhauling its four brands — all while navigating a complicated and shifting government landscape of green regulations and tariffs.
“Overall they are in pretty good shape,” said Sam Abuelsamid, an auto industry analyst for Telemetry Insight. “Their EV sales have remained surprisingly strong, particularly at the lower end with the (Chevy) Equinox — and Cadillac Optiq and Lyriq are doing well. They’re spending $4 billion to retool three plants to reposition products — in response to tariffs — that have been built in Mexico and in under-utilized U.S. plants.”
Amplifying the product blitz is the most aggressive push into international motorsports in GM’s history. Cadillac will enter Formula One (with engine partner Ferrari) in 2026, raising Cadillac’s profile (along with the V-Series.R Hypercar entries here) as it enters European showrooms with a historic all-EV lineup. Chevrolet’s Corvette has also gone international, selling GT3-class race cars to global teams.
Cadillac Hypercars lead the field at the opening of last month’s 24 Hours of LeMans. The GM luxury brand is making a big racing push that includes competing in Formula One starting next year. Cadillac, Cadillac
In North America, the same V8-powered Caddy Hypercars and ‘Vettes compete in the IMSA Weathertech Sportscar series, while the Chevrolet brand provides engines for IndyCar and over a dozen V8-powered stockers for the NASCAR Cup series.
That’s a lot of V-8s, and Reuss underlined the importance of consumer choice in the U.S. market as the Trump administration has rolled back EV mandates from California and the Environmental Protection Agency. But Reuss reiterated the company’s commitment to a zero-emissions future, a cornerstone of its “Zero Zero Zero” strategy (zero crashes, zero emissions, zero congestion) even as it has shelved its autonomous vehicle ambitions.
“No matter what happens, the end game is zero emissions,” he said. “If we can also sell EVs to be able to sell the V-8s, that’s a pretty powerful thing. We sell a lot of V-8 and diesel pickup trucks. We’re able to do that because we have a successful EV portfolio.”
Cue a nearly $1 billion spend on next-gen V-8s, Abuelsamid said: “GM has made a big investment in its Buffalo Tonawanda propulsion plant for the next-gen V-8s, which was previously going into Mexico.”
Assisting that V-8 future are near zero-emission synthetic fuels, lackluster consumer demand for EVs and fears of battery dependence on Communist China. Millions of gas-powered autos will ply the byways for decades, and manufacturers like Porsche are investing heavily in synfuels to keep those vehicles going while meeting government mandates.
“(Synthetic fuels) would be great. Anything that helps the consumer who wants a car,” Reuss said. “The question is infrastructure — just like EV charging, right? You need a big, big, big supply of regular fuel. We have research and development going on in all those fields.”
The technology appears to be a factor in GM’s Formula One investment as it pushed its power unit (F1 speak for drivetrain) debut to 2029 — reportedly to give the sport time to make up its mind between heavy, expensive hybrid-electric power units — or synfuel.
Whatever the outcome, Reuss is bullish on GM’s investment in a motorsport that boasts a staggering global fanbase of 750 million people.
GM President Mark Reuss enjoys the Cadillac team’s front row position on the front row for the start of last month’s 2025 24 Hours of Le Mans in France. He says racing’s importance for the automaker stretches into marketing, technology and psychology: “I believe it’s important for our employees to understand what it feels like to win.”Nick Dungan, Drew Gibson Photography/GM
“I thought it was important when we started, three years ago, (to enter) Formula 1. But I never imagined that a video of a (Cadillac F1) brand reveal (at the Miami Grand Prix), would get 10 million people” on social media, he said. “It’s just extraordinary. So whatever we thought it was, it’s actually much bigger than that.”
Crosstown rival Ford Motor Co. is also entering F1 in parentship with England’s Red Bull. But Caddy’s entry is more comprehensive as a full works team overseeing chassis and power unit development — a first for an American manufacturer.
“We’re here to win, we’re not here to participate,” Reuss said of expectations for 2026, Cadillac’s first year in F1. While GM develops its 2029 power unit, Ferrari will supply an engine for next year.
In addition to glory, the F1 goal is to establish Cadillac as a credible global performance brand like Ferrari, Mercedes, Porsche.
Cadillac’s glitzy Paris showroom is part of the luxury brand’s efforts to reintroduce itself to European buyers as a high-tech, all-electric marque. Henry Payne, The Detroit News
“We haven’t sold cars (in Europe) in a long time, and so people don’t know what Cadillac is,” Reuss said. “How do you start that? You have to have a brand that people believe in. What it stands for is important, (so) we’re going to race Cadillac.”
Telemetry analyst Abuelsamid said Cadillac wins in F1 and Le Mans could boost GM’s global profile and interest in its products: “It raises the awareness of some of those brands in markets where they really haven’t had a presence in recent years.”
All that, plus Reuss just thinks racing is healthy for the company. “We’ve been racing for a while,” he smiled. “I believe it’s important for our employees to understand what it feels like to win.”
A Cadillac Lyriq EV glides along the streets of Paris. It’s among a stable of new battery-powered models GM’s luxury brand is selling in Europe as the automaker remakes itself amid a shifting maze of trade, emissions and tax credit regulations.” Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Cadillac isn’t the only GM brand to embrace electrification. Chevrolet has been remade with parallel ICE and EV lines — complete with distinct design identities. There’s an ICE Silverado pickup and an EV Silverado. An ICE Blazer and an EV Blazer. ICE Equinox, EV Equinox. There even appears to be an EV Corvette on the horizon, judging from a recent design study from the General’s London studio.
Yet, Reuss did not bemoan recent government EV policy reversals eliminating the $7,500 federal consumer tax credit, federal Inflation Reduction Act subsidies, and California zero-emissions mandate.
“The strategy that we put in place on electric vehicles was prior to any of the Inflation Reduction Act stuff,” Reuss said. “We’re capacitized to vertically integrate cells, which no one else is really doing. We’re the number one producer of cells, modules and packs. There’s a lot of cool stuff happening that is to plan, so long-term capital investment is the way we want to structure our business.”
He welcomed the elimination of California’s regulatory exemption, which had created market uncertainty and threatened big industry fines for noncompliance beginning in 2026.
“The amount of money that we have spent — that the whole industry has spent — around a non-harmonized regulatory environment is very large,” Reuss said. “The harmonization of that, however it happens, is really good. We can concentrate our spend, because some of those regulatory things were in direct opposition to other ones.”
Tariffs have also introduced uncertainty, echoing federal import quotas on Japanese imports in the 1980s. But this time, tariffs are aimed at Detroit Three manufacturers as well as foreign brands. Like Japanese automakers 40 years ago, GM is scrambling to bring production stateside — including bringing pickup and large SUV production to Orion Assembly in Oakland County.
“We’re looking at (hiring) around 3,000-4,000 people and 1,000 retained,” Reuss said of Orion’s reboot, which has received bipartisan support from the White House to Michigan congressional leaders to UAW President Shawn Fain. “Probably 2,500 new jobs. That’s just us — not the supply chain around us.”
GM’s Orion Assembly complex, which closed after Chevy Bolt EV production ended there in late 2023, is getting new life building large, V8-powered trucks and SUVs, part of the automaker’s strategy of investing in multiple powertrains. Andy Morrison, The Detroit News
Analyst Abuelsamid said Orion will benefit from the “move of full-size pickup production from Mexico to Orion while adding additional capacity for the full-size SUVs that they’ve already built in Arlington.”
Reuss said the move will relieve pressure on the Texas assembly plant where Chevrolet Tahoe/Suburban, GMC Yukon and Cadillac Escalade mega-utes are produced: “We run that plant flat-out. It’s not sustainable for our people, so that’s a big deal.”
For all of GM’s big moves, Reuss still reserves a soft spot for a smaller piece on the chessboard: the Chevy Camaro, an icon shelved in 2024.
“My first car was a Camaro — a 1967 Camaro that my dad and I went and found in southern Illinois. It was $1,300,” he mused. “It was high school, I was 16, and it brought so much joy to me. Not because I was racing the car, but because it was a really pretty car.”
Reuss was asked if it would return.
“I think that formula of beauty — and a little bit of functionality and fun — all of that is important. If we were getting back into Camaro, that piece of it is really important. That segment is declining — I think they sold more Mach-Es than they did Mustangs. I think that would be a great formula, and we have the ability to do that.”
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or @HenryEPayne.
Payne: The first convertible of summer, Mazda MX-5 Miata
Posted by Talbot Payne on July 10, 2025
Oakland County — It was a looooong Michigan winter this year with bitter temperatures, record snowfalls and chilly May days. In the South where I grew up, we hail the first songbird of April spring. Here in Michigan, I look for the first convertible of June summer.
It arrived in my driveway as a Mazda MX-5 Miata.
What a joy this little car is. With its drop-top, manual gearbox and normally-aspirated 2.0-liter engine, Miata is the purest expression of a roadster on the market today. It’s a throwback to the glory days of Lotus Elan, Alfa Romeo Spider, Fiat 124 Spider. They don’t make ‘em like this anymore.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Remarkably, the Miata has gained little weight over its four generations (Gen 1 weighed 2,210 pounds), staying true to its purpose as a driver’s car. Unlike other performance cars — Mini Cooper, Porsche 911, Chevy Corvette — the MX-5 has maintained its svelte, 2,332-pound figure by remaining tiny. At 6’ 5” I don’t so much sit in the Miata as wear it.
Knees in the dash, elbows in the console, seat all the way back, skull stuffed in the roof. Thank goodness the Miata goes topless. So small is the cabin that I can reach up, unlatch the roof from the windshield, pull it back, and stow in in the trunk in one motion. On a crisp 65-degree evening, I took the Miata over to Woodward Avenue to play with its kin — classic convertibles like Camaro, AC Cobra, Dodge Viper, Jaguar E-Type, MGB, Honda S2000, Mercedes SL, Chevy Corvette, Ford Mustang. But for the latter trio, all have left the market.
And none of them are featherweights as tossable as Miata.
Henry Payne
Exiting Woodward, I headed for Oakland County’s twisties. Miata smiled that big jack o’ lantern grille smile and hustled from turn to turn, clipping apexes, rotating on demand, chirping tires.
Mazda makes the best six-speed shifter this side of a Porsche (or you can buy, ho hum, the automatic option) and it’s a joy to row. Relatively affordable at $30K, the Mazda is your car for summer fun — and to teach your children the joys of driving stick. Master the Miata’s manual and you feel in total command of the car.
Amidst this organic goodness, Miata hasn’t totally ignored the modern digital world. The cabin revolves around that glorious shifter, while modern cars (like the Tesla Model 3 in my garage) are built around big screens.
The Miata is properly equipped with an improved infotainment display.
Henry Payne
My Android phone synced wirelessly with the nine-inch display and took over the touchscreen — a welcome alternative to the Mazda’s native, remote-controlled rotary device screen. The touchscreen works — ahem, as long as the car is in PARK, but then shifts to the rotary controller when on the move.
I set my destination to Zmash Padel in Sterling Heights and was off, listening to my Sirius XM subscription through the phone app on the screen. I cranked up my favorite COMEDY GREATS XM station so I could hear over the wind howling thought the cabin — eventually turning it off to enjoy nature’s (and the 2.0-liter engine’s) sound track. Though it pumps out just 181 horsepower and 151 pound-feet of torque, the Miata never feels underpowered thanks to its light weight. The 12.8-lb/hp power-to-weight ratio is better than the turbocharged 2.0-liter, 13.5-ratio GTI, my favorite hot hatch.
The ride of the Miata is firm, if not harsh, over Detroit roads.
Henry Payne
Beyond that rotary controller, ergonomics are good with the cabin’s round vents giving off an aviator vibe. On cold evenings, I cranked up the climate knobs to blow hot air while going topless (did I mention my head is uncomfortably stuffed into the ceiling when the top is up?). Even the cupholder is cleverly designed as a console snap on — so spare is interior room.
My Grand Touring model is less gym-toned than the Club trim, which is preferred if you want to autocross the little roller skate. But if it’s track days you want to do, you’ll want to modify your roadster with a roll cage (not to mention optimizing the limited slip differential for better cornering grip).
That’s a big investment — and a big compromise to the Miata’s breezy, convertible cabin. If hot laps are your thing, the MX-5 (the most raced car in the world) community has a number of options. For example, my friend Tom bought a race-prepared Mazda Global MX-5 Cup car and tracks it at M1 Concourse in Pontiac.
Henry Payne
Or rent an MX-5 Spec Miata for, say, $1,000 a day from the Sportscar Driving Association. That way you can navigate to the track (while getting an impressive 35 mpg, I might add) in your Grand Touring model — without having to worry about injuring it on track.
Back to the streets, did I mention that the MX-5 is a great date car? The cabin is naturally cozy for a big night out with your partner. Mrs. Payne is a big fan of the Mazda for its cute vibe, open top and free spirit. Rolling ‘round town, the Miata is not unlike taking a puppy for a walk. The car returns smiles from strangers and is a conversation piece at, say, Dairy Mat ice cream in Birmingham.
I just had to remind my wife that she has to pack light for road trips given MX-5’s wee boot and lack of a back seat. Heck, my tennis bag alone took up most of the trunk on my journey across town to Zmash.
Henry Payne
For four decades, MX-5 has been halo to a brand that has evolved into into a mostly SUV stable. I’m happy to report that the MX-5’s DNA has been faithfully transported to everything from the three-row CX-90 to the best-selling CX-5 and CX-50 midsize SUVs.
Still, there’s no substitute for the Miata’s playfulness. So if you own a CX-50, be sure to leave room in the garage for a MX-5.
Topless of course.
2025 Mazda MX-5 Miata
Vehicle type: Front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, two-passenger sportscar
Price: $30,765, including $1,185 destination charge ($36,115 Grand Touring manual model as tested)
Powerplant: 2.0-liter four-cylinder
Power: 181 horsepower, 151 pound-feet of torque
Transmission: Six-speed manual; six-speed automatic
Performance: 0-60 mph, 5.7 seconds (Car and Driver); top speed, 140 mph
Weight: 2,332 pounds
Fuel economy: EPA 26 city/34 highway/29 combined (manual)
Report card
Highs: Fun to drive; easy to go topless
Lows: Limited cargo for trips; touchscreen only works in Park
Overall: 4 stars
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or @HenryEPayne.
Payne: Honda CR-V TrailSport taste test. Still has that special sauce.
Posted by Talbot Payne on July 3, 2025
San Diego — We Americans love our hamburgers and our mid-size SUVs.
Burgers are the meat (pun intended) of popular food. McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Burger King, Shake Shack, Five Guys, Sonic, White Castle, Whataburger, Culver’s, Hardee’s and so on meeting consumers’ insatiable appetite for the patty. So, too, are mid-size SUVs the meat of the auto market. Toyota RAV-4, Honda CR-V, Tesla Model Y, Nissan Rogue, Ford Escape, Ford Bronco Sport, Mazda CX-5, Mazda CX-50, Chevy Equinox, Equinox EV and so on meeting consumers’ unslaked thirst for the SUV.
But just as the Big Three of McDonalds’, Wendy’s and Burger King dominate the burger market, so too did RAV-4, Model Y and CR-V rule the segment in 2024 with each topping a staggering 400K in sales (over 400,000 served!) — numbers exceeded only by the Detroit Three pickups of F-150, Silverado and Ram.
McHonda CR-V wants more.
The Made in America CR-V vaulted to 402,791 units sold last year by offering a recipe that appeals to a broad swath of Yanks. The sixth-generation model, introduced in 2023, split the lineup with two powertrains: an entry-level 1.5-liter turbo-4, and a gas-electric hybrid. Call it the Big Mac-V: two all-beef engines, special sauce, served on an all-wheel-drive bun (oh, I’m just getting started with the burger metaphors).
The terrific 190-horsepower/179 torque turbo-4 — shared with the Civic Si pocket rocket and luxury Acura ADX — has ponies aplenty. But the hybrid is no tree-hugging gerbil wheel. It’s a 202-horse/247-torque beastie that can stomp the Acura out of a stoplight while also sipping 40 mpg.
Henry Payne
Offered in the upper-trim Sport models (Sport, Sport-L, Sport Touring), the hybrid made up 50% of CR-V sales last year despite carrying a $1,500 premium. Smart shoppers no doubt figured out gas savings would pay for the premium in about four years (not to mention the time saved with its healthy 500 miles of range).
No surprise that CR-V has changed little for its 2026, mid-product cycle update other than the addition of another hybrid model — my $39K TrailSport.
The CR-V TrailSport follows its larger stablemates (Passport ‘n’ Pilot) in appealing to Americans’ recent taste for off-road models. Dressed in Ash Green Metallic, with black accents and standard all-wheel drive, TrailSport is a looker (note to my sis who thought the fifth-gen model a dog) — if not as capable as its peers (more on that later).
Henry Payne
TrailSport’s special sauce — like all CR-Vs — is its attention to passenger detail and reliability. Let’s begin in back.
Open CR-V’s second-row passenger door — and it keeps on opening. All the way to 90 degrees, a rare feature in automobiles, which makes ingress/egress a cinch whether you’re a 6’5” freak like me or a wee mom struggling to load in one of those modern Brobdingnagian child car seats.
Once inside, row two keeps on giving with a palatial, best-in-class 41 inches of legroom (just two inches shy of a Ford F-150, for goodness sake). More convenience for my long limbs and that mega-car seat. Need more room?
Henry Payne
The second-row seats fold flat to expand the best-in-class cargo space. Climb behind the wheel and CR-V sports excellent ergonomics combined with standard, state-of-the-art tech — all wrapped in signature orange TrailSport trim. After setting my navigation course with wireless Apple CarPlay, I merged onto San Diego’s crowded I-5 and engaged (standard) adaptive cruise control.
I thumbed the steering wheel’s raised toggle switch to increase/decrease speed without taking my eyes off the road. Climate controls are fat knobs under a nine-inch screen located high on the dash for good road visibility while navigating.
The entry-level, alphanumeric turbo-4 CR-V models (LX, EX, EX-L) are all you need beginning at $32K, but TrailSport’s pricier hybrid system offers cool toys.
Henry Payne
Chief among them is the B mode selection (short for regenerative braking) below D (Drive) which doesn’t actually select gears at all. Honda’s two-motor hybrid system replaces a transmission with an electric motor, and B mode allows the e-motor to slow the car without brakes.
So-called one-pedal driving is a unique feature of electrified vehicles, and Honda makes good use of it. The hybrid also has a SPORT mode which enables maximum engine torque for interstate merges and two-lane road passes. The engine gets shouty — WAUUUURGH! — under load, but the extra grunt is appreciated.
Henry Payne
Less inspiring is the hybrid’s long-term reliability given its complexity compared to old-school internal-combustion engines.
Honda’s reliability secret sauce is an asset in the motor mall. An iSeeCars longevity study, for example, gave CR-V the best chance of any mid-size SUV lasting over 250,000 miles.
“I bought a Honda because they are sporty and reliable,” said friend Mike. “Detroit automakers keep getting recalled, and Hondas keep on ticking. I have a family and don’t have time to keep taking my car to the shop.”
Henry Payne
CR-V’s dependability, however, has slipped in recent generations as powertrain complexity has increased. As hybrid sales grow, consumers will have their eye on reliability as well as the gas gauge.
As for McTrailSport’s off-road chops, CR-V is not as ambitious as other brands. Want a mouth-watering beef burger? Ditch Mickey D’s and go to Five Guy’s. Want a dirt-kicking off-roader? Check out a Ford Bronco Sport with lifted chassis, underbelly bash plates and twin-clutch packs out back for gnarly mud-slinging at Holly Oaks ORV Park.
Use the CR-V TrailSport to haul your Honda motorbikes there.
TrailSport will tow up to 1,000 pounds (the turbo-4 1,500 pounds) and comes equipped with all-terrain tires to navigate dirt trails. I grunted around dusty Barona Parks Motocross Park near San Diego, where its off-road tools (all-terrain tires, no-slip all-wheel-drive system, low-speed hill descent control) worked nicely.
Henry Payne
These tools translate to real-world Michigan roads — whether covered by snow or potholes. More aggressive off-roaders be warned — the underbody is not protected by skid plates (like the Bronco Sport — and Passport and Pilot TrailSports), and CR-V hybrids don’t come with a spare tire to make room for the battery beneath the cargo floor.
After a day of driving the CR-V, I devoured a food truck burger at Barona Parks. I recommend both.
Next week: Topless in the 2025 Mazda MX-5 Miata
2026 Honda CR-V
Vehicle type: Front- and all-wheel-drive, five-door, five-passenger SUV
Price: $32,315, including $1,395 destination charge ($40,195 TrailSport as tested)
Powerplant: 1.5-liter turbocharged, inline 4-cylinder; hybrid 2.0-liter, inline 4-cylinder driving two electric motors paired with 1.1-kWh lithium-ion battery
Power: 190 horsepower, 179 pound-feet of torque (Turbo-4); 202 horsepower, 247 pound-feet of torque (Hybrid)
Transmission: Continuously-variable automatic; direct drive
Performance: 0-60 mph, 7.9 seconds (Car and Driver); towing, 1,000-1,500 pounds
Weight: 3,900 pounds (TrailSport as tested)
Fuel economy: EPA 28 mpg city/33 highway/30 combined (Turbo-4 FWD); 40 mpg city/34 highway/37 combined (Sport Hybrid AWD); 38 mpg city/33 highway/35 combined (TrailSport Hybrid); 30 mpg observed
Report card
Highs: Rugged styling; awesome ergonomics/cabin detail
Lows: TrailSport limited off-road bandwidth; Google Built-in only available on top Sport Touring trim
Overall: 4 stars
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him athpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne
An American (EV) in Paris: Driving Planet Europe’s regulated byways
Posted by Talbot Payne on July 2, 2025
Paris — Merging onto Paris’s suburban ring roads, my mid-size Cadillac Lyriq electric vehicle felt supersized surrounded by subcompacts, motorbikes, and small panel vans. Unlike Detroit’s I-96 and I-75 speedways, we moved like a school of fish, toeing the speed limit in an orderly procession out of France’s biggest city.
Welcome to Planet Europe.
With gas prices at $8-a-gallon (1.80 Euros per liter), mandated in-car speed warnings, speed cameras everywhere, narrow city streets, and the European Commission banning internal combustion engines over the next ten years, the automotive landscape in statist France is a very different place than open-road, low-cost energy USA.
Henry Payne
No wonder Cadillac’s European product lineup is dramatically different than in its U.S. backyard. There are no V8-powered Escalades or fire-breathing CT5-V Blackwing hellions here. Or Ford Mustangs, Dodge Challengers and Chevrolet Corvettes for that matter. Full-size pickup trucks, the best-selling vehicles in the Unites States? Nowhere to be found.
But General Motors’ luxury brand sees paydirt here as it re-invents itself as the electric Standard of the World. European autos, analysts say, are increasingly luxury goods as entry-level vehicles become unaffordable — opening windows for premium, American EVs and heavily subsidized Chinese makes.
“With the electric mandates, small cars are going away. Cars are something for the rich,” said President Emeritus of the World Car of the Year awards and veteran writer Jen Meiners, who splits his time between Europe and the United States. “People are being pushed into public transportation. Even Smart cars and VWs have become unaffordable with the regulations.”
The once-popular, three-cylinder, gas-powered Smart Fortwo microcar cost about $15,000 in 2015 (adjusted for inflation) before the brand switched to electric power in 2018, increasing the price to $25,000 by 2024 when it was discontinued. Smart has moved on to larger, pricier EVs starting at $42k for the Smart #1 subcompact crossover.
The VW Golf GTI, the only Golf hatchback sold in the United States (starting at $34k), sold for $33,000 here 10 years ago. Today it stickers for about $45k, a 30% increase.
Henry Payne
The EV market in Europe, as in the United States, has taken hold among affluent, urban buyers. Cadillac has planted its flagship showroom in the heart of Paris, and there is not a gas-powered car in sight (save the Cadillac V-Series.R Le Mans race car on display).
My rear-wheel-drive Lyriq Sport EV starts at $95,500 in France, compared to $65,000 in the US.
“We have a great opportunity here in Europe to grow our presence, especially in the current environment around EVs and the growth and the attraction that they’re bringing for the brand,” said Vice President for Global Cadillac John Roth in an interview here.
Two Lyriqs are on the showroom floor, and visitors can sign up for test drives around Place de l’Opéra square — nickname, “The Hub of the Universe” — where the showroom is located. My Lyriq journey would be a little longer: three hours west over 133 miles to the city of Le Mans where I would be covering the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the world’s premier endurance race.
Henry Payne
I awoke to a fully-charged Lyriq with 326 miles of range waiting for me outside my hotel. With France’s rush towards EV-only sales, Paris has embraced battery power. Regulators have drawn up plans to eliminate ICEs in the city with expanding “low-emission zones” that allow/fine cars according to their carbon emissions. My Lyriq, of course, wore an approved green badge.
“Cities want to give special rights to EVs and they push all ICEs out by 2035,” said Meiners. Paris regulations have been delayed due to consumer pushback.
Cadillac said inner city parking garages are littered with 220-volt chargers for overnight charging. European metropolises are famous for residents throwing cords out of second-story windows to charge their steeds curbside, and Paris has carved out EV-only parking places with chargers. The nuclear power-fed electric grid here has kept utility costs around 20 cents per-kWh — or about the same as Michigan.
That’s affordable compared to $8 a gallon prices I passed in Paris that have kept vehicles small (along with engine emissions taxes). Heading west on Paris’s Left Bank south of the Seine River, the Lyriq EV’s instant torque was well equipped for stop-and-go city traffic as I repeatedly shot through gaps — ZOT!
I pulled over in front of the Eiffel Tower tourist magnet for photos on a crisp, 60-degree morning. The Lyriq was a tourist attraction itself, provoking long stares. Its bold, vertical, that’s-gotta-be-a-Caddy lines stood out in the sea of homogenous econoboxes.
“There’s a lack of consumer choice here compared to 25 years ago,” said Meiners, who is also founder of the German Car of the Year awards. “Cars are expensive, and they are not as much fun anymore.”
Henry Payne
A fun-killer is the EU’s mandated vehicle speed warnings — aka, Intelligent Speed Assist. Exceed the limit and the cabin will emit a BONG! BONG! BONG! alert. No wonder everyone was minding the speed limit. Exceed the limit in France and Big Brother may record your license plate number — with the fine mailed to your home.
So hated was ISA when it was introduced in 2019 that working class “yellow vest” protestors — rebelling against government taxation and regulations — vandalized 60% of the country’s speed cameras. As an American in Paris, I tucked into the (slow) flow of traffic out of town. Mercifully, my Lyriq tester’s ISA was turned off (a process that needed to be repeated each time I got into the car).
Regulations have deterred Cadillac from bringing its V-6 and V8-powered CT4 and CT5 sedans to Europe because they can’t meet (along with similar U.S. performance cars) Euro 6 emission rules that will soon escalate to tighter Euro 7.
Henry Payne
The regulations concern England-headquartered Ineos CEO Lynn Calder, whose gas-powered, inline-6 cylinder, luxury Grenadier SUVs are built in the Hambach, France, plant where the Smart Fortwo was once made. Ineos is targeting the U.S. auto market for a majority of its sales.
“If (EU regulators)) aren’t careful, they will kill the industry,” she said in an interview. “Europe is a massive problem. EVs are more expensive, residual values are worse, and total cost of ownership is worse, so it’s double whammy after double whammy. It’s a rich person’s thing, and therefore the answer is there are going to be (gas cars) on the road for much longer than 2035.”
Looming electric mandates have, however, attracted new brands in addition to Cadillac — most notably America’s Tesla and Chinese brands.
Planet Europe also differs from the United States in that the majority (about 60%) of vehicles are purchased not by consumers but by companies that then distribute them to employees as perks of the job. Cadillac’s biggest customers, for example, are insurance and infrastructure companies, said Cadillac France Communications Director Isabelle Weitz.
Henry Payne
Model S/E/X/Ys from Tesla — the OG of EV revolution — were everywhere, the electrics of choice among Parisians. Since corporate fleet sales tend to be more compliant with EV mandates, they are also a big opening for Chinese companies.
“We are starting to see the Chinese brands coming into the fleets with little fanfare,” said Meiners. “BYD, XPeng, Great Wall — even MG, which is now an EV brand owned by the Chinese. They are not great quality, but the MGs are fun to drive.”
On a two-lane country lane, the slavish following of speed limits fell away. A white Tesla Model 3 blew past me at a high rate of knots and I gave chase.
As in Paris, EV torque was an advantage. ZOT! We quickly vaulted slow-moving camionette (small utility trucks) in broken-line passing zones. When we approached small towns, the Tesla would slow abruptly, apparently knowledgeable of the speed cameras — located inside big, road-side, graffiti-covered boxes.
Traffic thinned in the countryside as did EV sightings. As back home, rural charging infrastructure is scarce.
Also scarce is government approval for hands-free drive assist — a common feature in U.S. vehicles, including Cadillacs, Chevys, Teslas, Fords and Lincolns. I relied on adaptive cruise control as the EU approves neither Cadillac’s SuperCruise nor Tesla’s Autopilot systems.
Henry Payne
I pulled into Le Mans after my journey with 50% charge left. But for my brief, pedal-to-the-metal playtime with the Tesla, I had traveled below 70 mph — the sweet spot of batteries — so my range had degraded only 10% below expected mileage.
I spent the weekend watching V8-powered Cadillac V-Series.R Hypercars, Corvette Z06 GT3 and Mustang GT3 race cars pound around the 8.5-mile circuit against V8s from Porsche, Ferrari, and Mercedes. On Planet Europe, the racetrack is one of the last refuges for the mighty V-8.
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him athpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne
Super charged: Cadillac Optiq EV bulks up on power, rear-wheel-drive, and price for 2026
Posted by Talbot Payne on June 30, 2025
The Cadillac Optiq is gaining options. And power.
Introduced for the 2025 model year as the gateway drug to the luxury brand’s full electric lineup, the Optiq was only available in 300-horsepower all-wheel-drive guise. For 2026, Optiq expands its offerings with a standard rear-wheel-drive model, a higher-horsepower AWD model and and a steroid-fed V-Series hellion.
The rear-wheel-drive model is significant as it will be $3,500 cheaper than the all-wheel-drive model at $52,395, opening Optiq to more customers — especially in the Sun Beltm where RWD EVs are popular and moderate weather does not affect battery range.
The compact Optiq’s midsize stablemate, the Lyriq, also offers standard RWD starting at $60,090.
“In California’s climate, customers will pay less money with the rear-wheel-drive model,” said Karl Brauer, Los Angeles-based executive analyst. “Buyers in Michigan need all-wheel-drive, but in southern California — the meat of the EV market — there is a higher-percentage of, for example, rear-wheel-drive Teslas.”
Despite its single motor, the Optiq RWD does not suffer on power compared to the 300-horse, 2025 twin-motor system. Indeed, the RWD Optiq will clock in with 315 horsepower and 332 pound-feet of torque, nearly on par with the 2025 AWD model’s 300/354. Given the RWD Optiq’s similar power, Cadillac says that range will stay the same as the 2025 AWD model at about 300 miles.
Cadillac
Of note: the RWD Optiq’s torque translates to 450 newton meters, a European spec that will be tattooed on the hatchback, indicating the Optiq’s move into international markets.
Meanwhile, the 2026 dual-motor Optiq gets a massive boost to 440 horses and 498 pound-feet of torque. That will also come with a $1,505 price boost from 2025.
“Cadillac introduced the all-wheel-drive model to appeal to first adopters willing to pay for the higher output,” Brauer said. “But the 2026 RWD model will get the same power but without the price tag.”
Cadillac
The RWD Optiq entry still marks a substantial, $10,405 price increase over Cadillac’s outgoing, entry-level internal combustion engine SUV, the XT4. The 2025 model year is the end of the line for the XT4 as its Fairfax, Kansas, production line retools to make the next-generation Chevrolet Bolt EV.
Along with the price jump, the EV boasts more power than the entry-level, front-wheel-drive, $41,990 XT4 and its 235 horsepower and 258 pound-feet of torque. The Optiq is also about 1,200 pounds heavier due to its porky, 85-kWh battery and lags the XT4’s 461-mile gas range, which can be added in a couple minutes. The Optiq can take on 79 miles of range in 10 minutes at a fast charger.
The battery is a key reason for the EV’s price premium over the ICE model, Brauer said. “The reality is battery-powered cars cost more, so brands like Cadilac are translating that into repositioning their brands upmarket.”
Cadillac
Cadillac introduced its new EV line with the halo, $300,000-plus, hand-built Celestiq model featuring new-age styling and enhanced tech. The Optiq follows suit with an upgraded interior over the XT4, including a 33-inch LED display, Dolby Atmos immersive sound and standard SuperCruise hands-free interstate driving.
“Cadillac is using its EV transition to elevate itself to a luxury brand from a premium brand,” Brauer said. “That is what it takes to be profitable in the more expensive battery space.”
The Optiq competes in the luxury EV market with the Audi Q4 e-tron, Genesis Electrified GV70 and Mercedes EQB, with BMW expected to introduce an electric iX3 SUV in 2026. The Tesla Model Y is the largest selling premium SUV in the U.S. market with over 400,000 units sold in 2024 but Cadillac does not consider it a luxury player.
GM-DESIGN
Also coming this fall is the high-performance Optiq-V, which shares its dual-motor system with the larger Lyriq-V that went on sale this year. The $68,795 Optiq-V, introduced in April, wows with 519 horsepower and 650 pound-feet of torque and a zero-60 mph sprint of 3.5 seconds. Range will suffer with a reduced 275 miles.
Further broadening Optiq’s appeal, 2026 models will be equipped with a lighter NACS (North American Charging Standard) charger connector popularized by Tesla. Thus equipped, the Caddy will have access to some Tesla Superchargers (Cadilac estimates over 21,500, or a little less than a third of Tesla’s 70,000-plus chargers), the nation’s most robust and reliable charging network.
Other upgrades include improvements to park assist and SuperCruise integration with Google Maps that navigates the EV to the correct lane when exiting freeways.
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him athpayne@detroitnews.com or @HenryEPayne.
Tremor time: Rugged Ford Explorer Tremor expands off-road sub-brand
Posted by Talbot Payne on June 30, 2025
The Ford Explorer is getting the Tremor treatment.
The Blue Oval’s best-selling SUV gets more rugged for the 2026 model year with an all-new, off-road capable model. Following in the footsteps of the F-150, Ranger, Bronco and Maverick lines, the three-row SUV becomes the latest Ford to wear the Tremor sub-brand badge.
You’ll know it by its orange-accented wheel pockets (to better locate the tire valve stem), tow hooks and grille mustache. But the Tremor badge is hardly cosmetics alone.
Replacing the Timberline model that was discontinued after the 2024 model year, Tremor expands the Explorer’s off-road capabilities with standard all-wheel-drive, all-terrain tires, one-inch suspension lift, underbelly bash plates and unique suspension shocks and springs. The Tremor is even offered with the choice of Ford’s twin-turbo, 400-horse V-6 engine.
Thus equipped, the Tremor stands atop the Explorer lineup alongside the road-focused Explorer ST with the same powerful V-6.
“The Explorer expands the Tremor family and satisfies our customers’ thirst for adventurous SUVs,” said Ford SUV Marketing Manager Craig Patterson at the Explorer Tremor’s media introduction in Louisville, Kentucky,
Key to Explorer Tremor’s rugged chops are 18″ wheels wrapped in all-terrain tires with stiff, broad sidewalls to withstand rocks and other off-road obstacle — not to mention Detroit potholes. The two, front/rear skid plates and one-inch increased ride height further improve off-road capability with better clearance and departure/approach angles.
The 2026 Ford Explorer Tremor gets unique interior stitching and seat badging. Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Complementing the tires is a Torsen limited slip rear differential to aid with traction.
The Tremor badge was introduced on Ford’s iconic F-150 pickup in 2014 as a less-extreme sibling to the truck’s legendary Baja-racing Raptor model. The F-150 Tremor offered off-road ruggedness without the super-price tag of the Raptor super-truck. Tremor models throughout the Ford lineup (including Explorer) have followed suit with similar off-road tools for their segments.
Under the hood, the Explorer Tremor comes standard with a 300-horsepower, 2.3-liter turbocharged 4-cylinder mill.
True to Ford’s high-tech tradition, the Explorer Tremor will be equipped with the latest, big Ford Digital Experience that includes WiFi hot spot, Google Assistant, Google Maps navigation and Google Play apps. Explorer Tremor comes standard with Copilot 360 Assist 2.0 (including a 360-degree camera for added visibility on trails or in parking lots). The tech is housed in Explorer’s standard, 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster and 13.2-inch touchscreen.
Even BlueCruise hands-free highway driving comes standard to get you to the trailhead comfortably on divided highways.
The 2026 Ford Explorer Tremor comes standard with off-road goodies like AWD, bash plates, one-inch lift, and all-terrain tires. Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Explorer Tremor and ST performance models sit atop a lineup that includes the base Active, sporty ST-Line and luxurious Platinum models.
Ordering for the first-ever Ford Explorer Tremor opens on June 24 with deliveries in late 2025. Pricing is likely to start around $52,000 and will be announced closer to the Tremor’s appearance in showrooms.
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or @HenryEPayne.
Payne: Road trippin’ in the eager, entry-level Acura ADX
Posted by Talbot Payne on June 30, 2025
Charleston, West Virginia — Acura has finally completed its SUV menu with the entry-level ADX appetizer. It’s a tasty little morsel.
On a road trip to see family in West Virginia, I switched drive modes from NORMAL to SPORT and headed up Charleston’s famed Loudon Heights Road, a twisted two-lane carved into the rocky hill that overlooks the capital river city. The firm, rooted steering rack gave me immediate confidence as I dove into blind bends, narrow sweepers, tight hairpins.
I’ve been driving this road since I was 16 years old in Volkswagen Golf GTIs, Porsches and BMW M3s, and the Acura SUV showed impressive poise for a high-riding SUV. Credit Honda engineering, which has taken the solid Honda HR-V chassis and dialed it up to Acura standards.
Acura has thrown out the HR-V’s 158-horsepower gerbil wheel for the turbocharged, 1.5-liter 4-banger shared with Acura’s entry-level Integra sedan (and the Honda Civic Si hot hatch). Charging into a left-hander at the top of Louden Heights, the all-wheel driver gripped nicely before I flattened the throttle on exit and let loose the turbo-4 and its 190 ponies with a satisfying howl.
It’s a dramatic change from the HR-V with its droning 2.0-liter 4-cylinder, which struggles off corners with just 138 pound-feet of torque.
At rest in a parking lot, my $45,950 A-Spec Advanced tester looked sharp. Signature “chicane” LED running lights, black trim, Urban Gray wardrobe, scalloped shoulders, sharp-edged Diamond Pentagon grille. The wardrobe matches Acura’s performance mission and is as different from the soft, cute lines of the HR-V as a Doberman is from a beagle.
Acura
Together with Integra — a gateway drug to hotties like the Integra Type-S hatchback and TLX Type S sedan (not to mention the Acura team that races in the IMSA Weathertech SportsCar series), ADX is a proper introduction to the brand’s performance-oriented SUVs: RDX A-Spec and MDX Type S.
Performance, meet utility. ADX is no sports sedan, but neither is it your average family hauler, offering surprisingly fun-to-drive dynamics in a ute. For 10 grand extra, it’s a significant step up from HR-V — a signal you’ve entered a premium store in the car mall. Good thing, because there’s little to choose between premium and mainstream in digital features these days. Like Honda, ADX offers a generous suite of standard features such as wireless Apple CarPlay/Android Auto, blind-spot assist, adaptive cruise control and a rear hot tub (kidding about that last one).
ADX’s sport ‘n’ style upgrades offer more separation from HR-V compared to, say, an Integra and Honda Civic Si — the latter a hot hatch as compelling as its luxury relative.
Mission accomplished, ADX. Welcome to Acura.
Acura
Ultimately, however, Acura must also justify itself relative to competitors. And subcompact luxe is a boiling shark tank. Ask $40K-plus for an SUV and you are playing in the same league as two of my favorite performers: the BMW X1 and Mazda CX-5.
Like ADX, these sport utes welcome you with distinctive styling, confident handling and a basket-full of standard features. And they expose ADX’s weaknesses.
Chief among them is the drivetrain. A comparable $47,725 Bimmer and $40,015 Mazda offer significantly more performance. The X1 and CX-5 pack a whopping 25-35% more giddyap — 241 and 256 horsepower, respectively — from their turbo-4s. The Mazda also brings, ahem, 320 pound-feet of torque.
Acura
Stomp CX-5 out of a corner and it translates that grunt to all four paws with one of the smoothest six-speed auto transmissions in the business. While ADX’s throaty four is a step up from HR-V’s power, it does not ditch the Honda’s CVT transmission, making for less invigorating acceleration. The result is a 5.5-second 0-60 mph sprint for the BMW (seven-speed dual-clutch tranny), 6.2 seconds in the Mazda — and (yawn) 8.7 seconds for the Acura.
The ADX’s Integra sibling is also equipped with a CVT transmission — but it options a six-speed manual that enthusiasts can row to their hearts’ content. ADX? You’re stuck with the CVT, though Acura adds shift-like “steps” to the experience to simulate gear changes.
The Acura’s cabin also isn’t as dramatic a wardrobe change from its Honda sibling as its exterior suggests.
My A-Spec tester’s interior offered lovely material touches like a two-toned stitched dash and blue suede door inserts, but the twin digital screens are right out of a Honda. No knock on Honda (which has elevated its game with a fine mainstream interior), but Acura has to compete against the BMW’s luxurious, hoodless two-screen layout that sprawls across the dash with graphics galore.
Acura
The Mazda can’t match the Bimmer either, but then it is the value play here (a role Acura usually plays). The CX-5 interior exudes class with its organic lines and horizontal layout.
For hours of interstate driving on our 800-mile round trip to Charleston, ADX was a serene companion. Mrs. Payne took over the wheel for a stint and I laid the driver’s seat (almost) flat and was snoozing comfortably in minutes.
Acura’s excellent ergonomics made for easy driving over a variety of roads. I engaged adaptive cruise control down I-75, across U.S. 35 in Ohio, and into Charleston on I-64. Speed and radio controls on the steering wheel are raised so I didn’t have to take my eyes off the road to find them with my fingers.
Acura
Happily, Acura has ditched the fussy remote True Touchpad Interface screen controller it introduced on the RDX SUV last decade. A nine-inch touchscreen does the job.
BMW, Mazda and Acura complement their controls with voice commands, and my ADX tester stands out with Google Built-in (a system familiar to owners of GM brands).
Hey Google, set driver temperature to 70 degrees.
Done.
Hey Google, navigate to Charleston, West Virginia.
Done.
Hey, Google, what is a good pizza restaurant in Charleston, West Virginia?
“Lola’s and Pies & Pints are often recommended.” Oh, Google you are good.
Acura
But Google Built-in is only offered on the top A-Spec model with the Advance Package, an oversight for this technically focused brand. Otherwise, the interior is spacious for a subcompact with 37.7 inches of rear legroom. Competitive with Bimmer, two inches shy of the Mazda value king.
Head-to-head comparisons aside, ADX sets the bar for Acura. And that’s what you want in an entry model (plus Acura reliability).
After having my fun up Loudon Heights Road, Mrs. Payne finally had enough.
“Can we slow down now?” she pleaded.
ADX SUV, take a bow. As we say in West Virginia: Almost heaven.
Next week: 2026 Honda CR-V
2025 Acura ADX
Vehicle type: Front- and all-wheel-drive, four-door, five-passenger SUV
Price: $31,590, including $1,595 destination charge ($44,925 Badlands Sasquatch as tested)
Powerplant: 1.5-liter turbocharged, inline 4-cylinder
Power: 190 horsepower, 179 pound-feet of torque
Transmission: Continuously variable automatic
Performance: 0-60 mph, 8.7 seconds (Car and Driver); top speed, 125 mph (est.)
Weight: 3,611 pounds (as tested)
Fuel economy: EPA 25 mpg city/30 highway/27 combined (26 mpg observed)
Report card
Highs: Sharp styling to match handling; suite of standard features
Lows: Less power than competitors; Google Built-in only available on top trim
Overall: 3 stars
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him athpayne@detroitnews.com or @HenryEPayne.
Payne: Struttin’ down the runway in the stylish, Nissan Murano
Posted by Talbot Payne on June 19, 2025
Farmington Hills — You don’t so much drive the Nissan Murano as wear it. It’s a fashion statement.
Even coated in salt from a days’ drive across Metro Detroit’s wintry tundra, my Aurora Blue Pearl Metallic Murano looked ready for the Detroit Auto Show Charity Preview. Bezeled silver roofline like a Saarinen arch, muscular hips, slim front light signature over a lit lower grille (a touch of Ferrari Purosangue there?).
The Nissan Murano is lovely. Always has been. Since it strutted down the runaway as the first midsized crossover in 2003, it has put the “sport” in sport utility vehicles. Elegant lines, lush grilles, high-tech interiors, albino seats you want to lick they’re so sweet.
Now in its fourth generation, the 2025 Murano is once again on the cutting edge of fashion, for good and ill.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
For good, it has lost its voluptuous Rubenesque figure from the 2010s and emerged from the gym with a more svelte, athletic torso for the ‘20s. Cars are fashion, and this is the era of sleek iPhones and Teslas. So, too, the interior, which ditches the ol’ vertical lines for lean, horizontal lines accented with high-tech screens and haptic touch controls.
For ill? Murano has conformed to the same common turbo-4 engine found in every other bot these days, from the Nissan Rogue SUV to the Hyundai Tucson to the Chevy Traverse. Sigh. Government emissions regulations force uniformity, and that works against elegant non-conformists like the Murano, which used to belt out healthy V-6 exhaust tunes.
As we danced across Huron River Parkway, I buried the throttle and … oh. like watching Beyonce leaning into a chorus and Rosanne Barr’s voice coming out.
The Ariya, Murano’s fetching electric sister, boasts smooth torque that better complements its similarly exotic wardrobe — right down to the same twin screens and haptic wood dash accents. But that comfort becomes discomfort on a cold Michigan day, where 305-mile range drops 30% and the 270-mile trip to Nub’s Nob suddenly looks challenging.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
With 505 miles of gas range, the 27 mpg highway Murano is the safer date.
While I bemoan the absence of the optional 260-horse V-6, the 241-horse turbo-4 pairs with a smooth nine-speed transmission instead of the coarse, continuously-variable V-6 tranny of yore.
Speaking of yore, many Nissan shoppers will be empty nesters looking to downsize after years carting kiddies in a three-row Pathfinder or Armada. Murano is just the ticket. As is the subcompact Kicks, another stylish turbo-4 entry that is new for ’25. Proving style doesn’t sacrifice quality, both led their segments in J.D. Power’s 2025 U.S. Vehicle Dependability Study, which tracked reliability over three years of ownership.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Both SUVs boast big backseats for leggy friends, but the Murano bring more sophistication for its higher price. The interior is a great place to spend time.
Start with “Zero Gravity” seats, which you’ll want to rip out of the car and use in your living room they are so comfy. The leather-wrapped console is easy on the eyes — and my knobby knees that rested against the console for miles.
For ill? Ergonomics are a mixed bag. Steering wheel controls are superb, with raised buttons that you can adjust without your eyes leaving the road. However, Nissan chose a push-button console shift design that requires you to look away from the road to shift gears. Better that they had chosen a stalk shifter solution like Chevrolet if it was the console space-saver they were looking for. And that stylish haptic climate control? It also requires taking your eyes off the road.
For good, Murano is tech-tastic.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
My list of safety must-haves — adaptive cruise control, blind spot-assist, rear-backup assist, are all standard. Google Built-in (standard on the SL trim and up) has good voice recognition abilities. So you change the temp by voice rather than haptic touch.
Hey, Google, turn the driver-side temperature to 70 degrees.
Done. I like a car with a sense of humor, and Murano knows dumb jokes.
Hey, Google, tell me a joke.
What’s a pig’s favorite karate move? A pork chop.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Boom. Murano has a deep bench of convenience settings. My favorite: it locks automatically when you walk away with key in pocket — or unlocks automatically as you approach. Just like a Tesla.
Unlike a Tesla: Nissan brings 360-degree camera innovation. Not only will its eight cameras provide a bird’s-eye 360-degree view, but it offers multiple views, including the ability to see through your hood so you can perfectly place your tires in a parking spot or avoid parking-lot potholes. I’m not making this up.
To discover more tech goodies, Nissan thoughtfully provides video guides in the infotainment screen.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
My Murano tester was a top drawer, $51,415 all-wheel-drive Platinum model. But I’d recommend the SL, which allows you to option all the features above. Make mine an SL with standard Google Built-in, wireless charging, panoramic roof, all-wheel drive, 360-degree camera, plus … Auria Blue Metallic paint ($425), spare tire ($180).
Boom. A state-of-the-art Murano for $47,950 that you’ll never get tired of wearing.
Next week: An Amercian in Paris, 2025 Cadillac Lyriq
2025 Nissan Murano
Vehicle type: Front-engine, front- and all-wheel-drive, five-passenger SUV
Price: $41,860 base, including $1,390 destination ($51,415 AWD Platinum model as tested)
Power plant: 2.0-liter turbocharged, inline 4-cylinder
Power: 241 horsepower, 260 pound-feet of torque
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Performance: 0-60 mph, 8.0 seconds (Car and Driver est. AWD); towing, 1,500 pounds
Curb weight: 4,438 pounds (as tested)
Fuel economy: EPA est. 21 city/27 highway/23 combined (FWD and AWD); 505-mile range
Report card
Highs: Sculpted exterior; high-tech features
Lows: Uninspired turbo-4; distracting shifter, climate controls
Overall: 3 stars
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or @HenryEPayne.
Payne: Massive Nissan Armada trades fire with Detroit mega-utes
Posted by Talbot Payne on June 19, 2025
Farmington Hills — Where Titan failed, the Armada might break through.
Nissan has sent big truck-based warriors with fierce names into battle against Detroit’s formidable armies of full-size pickups and mega-utes. The Titan pickup finally waved the red flag after bashing its brains in against endless waves of Detroit 1500, 2500, 3500 and even bigger dually pickups with more technology than a NASA launch site and enough towing power to tow, well, a Titan ballistic missile.
Doing battle against the Ford Expedition and Expedition XL looks more feasible. Based on the same truck chassis as the expired Titan, the 2025 Armada has been remade into a state-of-the-art mega-ute matching Ford, Chevy Tahoe and Jeep Wagoneer weapon-for-weapon.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Heading onto I-696, I stomped the gas and the new twin-turbo V-6 awoke with a roar. WHAAAUUGGRH! I miss the V-8s Nanny State rules have suffocated, but turbo sixes like Titan, Toyota Sequoia and Wagoneer have character and make the ocean liners fun to drive.
More compelling is the tech.
Mega-ute land yachts must endure long hours on the road. Nissan has always prioritized comparable seating with its “zero-gravity seats,” and Armada’s no different with its plush thrones. But Nissan has also stepped up with state-of-the-art, hands-free autopilot like Chevy (Super Cruise) and Ford (Blue Cruse) peers. Nissan calls it Pro Pilot Assist 2.1.
Self-driving tech is freaky at first — especially in such a big ocean liner — and Ford and Tesla, for example, smartly offer subscription packages for their systems so you can try ‘em out. Try it, you’ll like it. Unfortunately, Nissan (like Chevy) requires an expensive, $3,375 leap-of-faith purchase.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
I toggled the left steering button (nice, raised tabs like a Chevy) and I was hands-free, cruising I-75 with hands on my knees. Tug the left turn signal and Armada switched automatically into the left passing lane. Tug the right signal, and it moved back. Nissan calls such goo-gaws “super powers,” and it will impress the kiddies sitting waaaay back in the third row.
The roomy third row (I could sit behind myself sitting behind myself) benefits from independent rear suspension technology that allowed for more legroom than the traditional, truck-based solid rear axle that Toyota Sequoia employs and that proved cramped on a trip north a couple of summers back. Nothing makes a trip more tiresome than knees in your chest.
Unfortunately, Nissan doesn’t offer a panoramic roof — or split roof like the Expedition — to give third row travelers more light. Not does it attempt to compete with the Detroit utes with an extended-cab XL model like Ford and Jeep (or Suburban, in Chevy’s case).
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Such long cabs make up 40% of Chevy’s business and came in handy when, for example, I towed a sailboat with the Wagoneer L last summer and fit the entire boom through the middle of the cabin so it didn’t rattle around in the boat. Extended cabs are also useful for lots of baggage on, say, ski trips.
What Armada does offer is fold-flat seats so you can store big items (think TV screens or stacks of boxed books) when you aren’t using all three seat rows.
Nissan also keeps up with the Joneses — er, Detroiters — with big, hoodless digital displays that are choked with content and ergonomically sound. While you can outfit Armada with premium trims like the Detroiters, I would recommend starting with the SL model, which offers tech goodies like Pro Pilot and standard Google Built-in.
Google Built-in is General Motors Co.’s new secret sauce — an operating system on par with your phone — and Nissan has embraced it as well.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
“Google, tell me a joke,” I barked and Armada chose from a library of dumb one-liners to lighten the trip.
More practical is the SL’s standard surround-view that coordinates eight cameras so you can dock the big ship with precision. I turned into a cramped Walled Lake gas station and put the cameras to good use. Most impressive is the hood view, which allows you to look right through the hood to place the front wheels where you want them.
It helped me miss tall curbs as well as potholes opened up by Michigan’s’ long winter.
7Pro Pilot Assist package with a head-up display offers further ease of use on the highway. Ring it all up and Armada comes in at 73 grand, a healthy $4,000 cheaper than a comparable Tahoe LT. And with 70 more horsepower on tap from Armada’s 425-horse turbo-6, you may not miss the Chevy’s throaty 355-horse V-8. But the Ford’s flexible subscription price for Blue Cruise is much more affordable (especially if you only use it during, say, summer trips) and Ford’s Activ model clocks in at a more affordable $71,900. Oh.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Conservatively styled, the Nissan should age well, though it doesn’t have the swagger of Motown’s hunks — or even the nicely styled Toyota Sequioa. Nissan does offer a tough, armored off-road model called the Pro 4X.
Armada has come with big guns blazing so it can trade blows with the Detroit armada. It’s a better battleship than the Titan and offers a legitimate alternative to the Detroit Three.
2025 Nissan Armada
Vehicle type: Front-engine, rear- and-four-wheel-drive, six- to-seven passenger mega-ute
Price: $59,530, including $2,010 destination fee ($81,900 Platinum Reserve as tested)
Powerplant: 3.5-liter, twin-turbocharged V-6
Power: 425 horsepower, 516 pound-feet of torque
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Performance: 0-60 mph, 6.1 seconds (Car and Driver); towing, 8,500 pounds
Weight: 5,886 pounds (as tested)
Fuel economy: EPA est., 16 mpg city/20 highway/18 combined (RWD); 16 mpg city/19 highway/17 combined (AWD); 472-mile range
Report card
Highs: Roomy in all three rows; tech-tastic features
Lows: Meh styling; lacks extended wheelbase model
Overall: 4 stars
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him athpayne@detroitnews.com or @HenryEPayne.
Corvette Hypercar: ZR1X adds AWD to ZR1 formula for insane 1,250 horsepower
Posted by Talbot Payne on June 18, 2025
Austin, Texas — Corvette’s much-anticipated, 1,200-plus-horsepower, sub-two-second 0-60 mph, Ferrari-eating, all-wheel-drive Corvette hypercar is here.
All hail the ZR1X.
Long rumored as a new Corvette badge, Zora — in honor of Corvette’s influential 1960s engineer, Zora Argus-Duntov — the ZR1X instead will be a stablemate to the top-trim, 1,064-horsepower, track-focused ZR1 by adding all-wheel-drive grip and face-flattening electric torque. X as in X-treme.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
“Driving this car will change your life,” said General Motor Co. president and certified race driver Mark Reuss after climbing out of the ZR1X at a test around the formidable 14.1-mile Nürburgring track in Germany’s Eifel Mountains.
It will certainly change minds about Corvette. Once the “affordable,” front-engine American supercar, the mid-engine Corvette C8 now competes head-to-head with the world’s elite performance manufacturers on and off track. GM credits much of the eighth,-generation car’s performance to its integration with GT3 racing where the Corvette fights toe-to-toe with Ferrari, Porsche and Aston Martin at places like last weekend’s 24 Hours of Le Mans (‘Vette placed third) then feeds those learnings to its engineers.
“From day one, we designed the mid-engine Corvette architecture with ZR1X in mind,” said GM senior vice president Ken Morris. “This is the most revolutionary platform in Corvette history, supporting the widest range of American sports cars.”
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
The Detroit News first reported in 2020 that Corvette was developing performance models after the standard Stingray, including the Z06, all-wheel-drive E-Ray, ZR1 and Zora.
Scheduled for release later this year as a 2026 model — just six months after the ZR1’s first deliveries, ZR1X boasts eye-popping numbers. Pairing the ZR1’s so-called LT7, 5.5-liter, twin-turbo V-8 engine with the E-Ray’s (the first Corvette with both AWD and hybrid-electric power) front electric motor, ZR1X makes 1,250 horsepower, more than any Ferrari on the planet, including the 1,184-horsepower Ferrari F80.
That’s more horsepower than other hypercars like 1,049-horsepower Marcedes AMG One, 1,001-horse Lamborghini Revuelto and 1,160-horse Aston Martin Valkyrie. Only rare animals like the 1,600-horse Bugatti go beyond. The hypercar segment defines itself as supercars using electric motors to take them to the next — “hyper”— level of power and grip.
But the most eye-popping number is ZR1X’s price, which will likely be under $200,000 when it is announced closer to the on-sale date late this year — a fraction of the cost of its exotic European peers, including the 1,184-horsepower, $3,925,000 Ferrari F80 and 1,258, $2,100,00 McLaren W1. The rear-wheel-drive ZR1, with which the ZR1X shares everything — including bodywork, tires and a 233-mph top speed — retails for between $174,995 and $195,995.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
More numbers to wait for? The sub-zero 0-60 mph time to be released later this year by Chevy (and perhaps a Nürburgring lap time as well).
As the top model, the RWD ZR1 bookends the lineup $105,000 north of the $70k, entry-level Stingray. ZR1 more than doubles the entry-level Corvette’s price as well as its horsepower. The 2026 ZR1X will increase that by another 17%, making it the most powerful production Corvette ever made.
The so-called LT7 turbocharged engine is based on the same 5.5-liter, normally-aspirated V-8 found in the Corvette Z06 GT3 race car that competes in the North American Weathertech Sportscar Series and the international World Endurance Championship that sanctions Le Mans.
That engine resides in the track-focused, rear-wheel-drive, $103,000 production Z06, which makes a howling 760 horsepower — the most of any normally-aspirated engine in production — at 8,600 RPM. The Z06 is one of two arms in Corvette’s new, eighth-generation Y strategy — the other being the hybrid, $103,000 E-Ray — which expands Corvette’s bandwidth by offering parallel, track-focused and luxury variants.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
The strategy appears to have worked, with Corvette on course for selling 40,000 vehicles a year, far more than any other mid-engine sports car.
Though ZR1X shares the E-Ray’s hybrid, all-wheel-drive format, it remains firmly on the performance side of GM’s Y strategy. Rather than wait two years between models — as Corvette did with the 2020 Stingray, 2022 Z06/E-Ray and 2025 ZR1 models to maximize demand — ZR1X is being introduced on top of ZR1 as a 2026 model.
“They were always meant to to be twins,” said Corvette Marketing Manager Megan Dalley. “We didn’t want to place the ZR1X in the dark when it was ready to go.”
Where E-Ray marries Stingray’s 495-horse, pushrod V-8 LT2 with an electric motor up front, ZR1X thrills by combining the twin-turbo V-8 LT7 and electric motor to attain its stratospheric performance numbers.
Combine the engine’s 828 pound-feet of torque driving the rear wheels and the electric motor’s 186 pound-feet driving the fronts and combined torque is a house-pulling 1,014 (however, Chevy does not list that as an official number since the two drive units are not connected by a driveshaft).
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
“It’s important to have the ultimate traction in order to be stable,” said ZR1X lead development engineer Keith Badgley, noting the driver will experience 1.3 forward g-loads under the ZR1X’s torrid acceleration. “This is the most capable, most intelligent Corvette ever made.”
In order to harness all its gas and electric energy, the ZR1X introduces new performance features:
– PUSH TO PASS unlocks all of the battery’s power for quick acceleration bursts in track — or in blowing past slower, two-lane traffic on-road.
– ENDURANCE MODE will apportion electric power so that it can be used throughout the course of, say, a track day.
– QUALIFYING MODE makes all of the battery available for a maximum lap.
With so much thrust on tap, ZR1X engineers also had to develop new brakes to slow it down. The ZR1 already had the biggest brakes developed by Corvette with 15.6-inch, six-piston, carbon ceramic front rotors. ZR1X moves those rotors to the rear of the hypercar and adds 16.5-inch, 10-piston, carbon ceramics rotors up front.
“With great power comes great responsibility,” smiled Badgley of the so-called J59 brake system.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Hard braking from 180-120 mph will generate 1.9 g-loads on the driver’s body. Dalley said the ZR1 will ultimately offer the same brake option as the ZR1X come the 2026 model year after a short 2025 model run. ZR1X is offered with the same options as the ZR1 including a hardtop convertible (the coupe gets the cool, rear split window) and ZTK downforce package.
ZR1 will also adopt ZL1X’s updated interior for the 2026 model year, including includes three screens, a central grab handle for terrified passengers and tidier console buttons. The twins share exterior body panels and interior options — including the return of Sebring Orange paint like the last-gen, 2019 C7 ZR1.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
With its added hardware, the AWD ZR1X beefs up by about 250 pounds over the RWD ZR1’s 3,950-pound curb weight — pushing the Corvette north of 4,000 pounds.
“America’s supercar has arrived,” said Josh Holder, Corvette chief engineer. “This Corvette is more powerful than any Ferrari.”
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or @HenryEPayne.
How Cadillac integrates motorsports to compete on the world stage
Posted by Talbot Payne on June 18, 2025
Le Mans, France — For 15 years, Cadillac has been assembling the pieces to reassert itself as the Standard of the World. A cornerstone of that plan has been to take on its international competition in their backyards, at the track, on the world’s biggest stages.
From the 24 Hours of Le Mans to Paris to Miami, that vision has bloomed in 2025.
Nick Dungan, GM
As tennis legend Roger Federer waved the French tricolors to start Le Mans Saturday, two gold, Hertz-sponsored, V-8-powered, Cadillac V-Series.R Hypercars led the field of Porsches, Ferraris and BMWs into Turn One before an estimated 332,000 spectators and another 100 million-plus viewers around the globe. Among them were visitors to Cadillac’s flagship European showroom in downtown Paris watching the race on video screens surrounded by the brand’s sleek, electric Lyriq-V. More tuned in from their phones like the millions who watched Cadillac’s official May launch of its Formula One team at the Miami Grand Prix.
“We haven’t sold cars here in a long time,” said General Motors Co. President Mark Reuss in Cadillac’s Le Mans paddock suite Sunday while 62 of the world’s premier race cars — including four V-8-powered V-Series.Rs — thundered by. “What Cadillac stands for is important, so here in a race like this — or wherever we race — it’s about technology, it’s about our best, it’s about bringing it into our portfolio of cars.”
Win on Sunday, sell on Monday. It’s a hallmark of Le Mans where brands from Ferrari to Porsche to Ford have translated track success to global sales.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Reuss and his team are determined that Cadillac join that list. He says it requires commitment that GM has lacked in the past.
“Cadillac is on a real roll here by plan,” said Reuss, the architect of Caddy’s journey. “We’ve invested a lot of money over a fairly long period, which the company hasn’t done in a long, long time. So, I think that is starting to pay off. We’re not nearly done. You can see the results in the brand, what people think of the brand, and the sales.”
Reuss has followed in the footsteps of his father, Lloyd Reuss, GM president from 1990-92. Like Henry Ford II, who captained Ford’s Le Mans victories over Ferrari in the 1960s, his passion is a primal force inside GM.
The Le Mans start was a poster moment, an image that will live on garage walls like Ford’s three GT40s crossing the line 1-2-3 in 1966 or twin, yellow Chevy Corvettes crossing the stripe in a near dead heat for the 2016 24 Hours of Daytona.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
And that’s before Cadillac enters Formula One next year with its estimated 750-million fan base.
“I never imagined that a video of a brand reveal in Miami would get 10 million (viewers) the next day,” marveled Reuss. “It’s just extraordinary. “Whatever we thought, it was actually much bigger than that.”
This year’s race had a distinctive Motown sound as GT3-class Mustangs, Corvettes and Cadillac V-8 Hypercars pounded around the 8.5-mile circuit. But no Detroit badge is more aggressive at using motorsports to push its brand into Europe than Caddy.
Indeed, Ferrari is the only other manufacturer (not Mercedes, Porsche or BMW) that has committed itself to entries in both F1 and Le Mans Hypercar — the summit of motorsports. “If you don’t compete at the top tier, then you’re never going to be seen,” said Reuss.
International racing’s emphasis on manufacturer technology is important to Cadillac. Formula One is the cutting edge of automotive technology with pneumatic valves, hybrid power units (F1-speak for powertrain) and synthetic fuels. So too, its world sportscar cousin in France boasts similar technologies and speeds. On the jumbotron screen here at Le Mans, the leaderboard displays — not drivers like the Indianapolis 500 (which hosted 350,000 fans this year) — but car brands.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
“These Hypercars are not simple,” said Reuss of the 800-volt, hybrid-electric, 690-horse V-8 thoroughbreds thundering around the track behind him. “We’re doing some pretty sophisticated things here. (Formula One and World Endurance Racing) are some of the last series where you can make original parts. That’s cool, that’s creative.”
Cadillac’s history of technological innovation is why it has invested heavily in electrification. The luxury brand has been an innovator over the years in tech like the electric self-starter (1912), air suspension (1957) and magnetic ride suspension (2022).
Today, the cutting edge is battery, motor and digital tech, and the three Cadillacs sold in Europe — Lyriq, Optiq, Vistiq — are on the bleeding edge.
Significantly, Reuss said Cadillac is not going all-electric as advertised in its EV Day five years ago. Customer preference has not dovetailed with government EV mandates — especially in the United States — and automakers are focusing EVs on the niche luxury market.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
“We will continue to build up Cadillac both from an electric propulsion standpoint but also from an internal combustion engine standpoint,” said Reuss. “We are not going away with our ICE engines here (in Europe) either. (The V-Series.R) happens to be a hybrid.”
Still, despite market pushback, the European Union has doubled down on forcing the end of new ICE vehicle sales by 2035. Cities like Paris have drafted plans (currently on hold due to consumer resistance) that restrict the use of ICEs by establishing zero-emission zones.
“Things will change, and so we’ll be ready from a regulatory standpoint,” said Reuss. “But at end of the day, driving a really good vehicle — however it is propelled — is really important for us. It gets down to product every time.”
F1 has also received manufacturer pushback on its 50-50 hybrid powertrain plan for 2028, the first year Cadillac will bring its own, in-house-developed power unit to the stage (Ferrari will provide power for the 2026 season). Batteries are expensive and synfuels are in the conversation as an alternative that would not only power F1 cars — but also ICE production vehicles.
It’s another technical challenge that Reuss sees playing to GM’s strength in innovation.
Michelle Malcho, Michelle Malcho
“We are a works team,” he said emphasizing that Cadillac, like Ferrari and Mercedes, will develop its own F1 car. “Not a chassis team, not an engine team — a works team, and that separates us. First time ever there has been an American works team.”
“Cadillac is named after a small town in southwest Fance,” said Cadillac France Sales Chief Chahine Bouaiache on the Paris show floor, where a V-Series.R Hypercar greeted showroom visitors during Le Mans Week. “We are selling our cars to Parisians who love the design of the car. The (Lyriq) designer was a French woman” (Magalie Debellis, former manager of Cadillac Advanced Design).
In the Le Mans paddock 130 miles west, Senior Vice President of GM Global Design Mike Simcoe pointed to the Cadillac race car’s lines — their vertical, sharp edges echoing those of the production EVs.
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
“Design of the car is an important part of Cadillac’s rebirth,” said Reuss. “Design language is very different than it was 10-20 years ago. That is (key) to how many Lyriqs we’ve sold in France.”
Since the showroom opened last year, Cadillac has grown to France’s fourth best-selling EV maker. Four more are now open in Germany, Sweden and Switzerland. In 2024, the highest-placed V-Series.R at Le Mans was seventh. This year, the pole-sitting car finished 5th overall behind three Ferraris and a Porsche. In March, Cadillac will make its F1 debut in Melbourne, Australia.
“We’ve tried to be the Standard of the World a lot of different ways,” said Reuss. “We probably didn’t do a good job of building up the portfolio. What we are doing now is the right way: you go product-by-product, success-by-success, and keep bringing Cadillac back to what people know.”
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or @HenryEPayne.
Motown at Le Mans: Ferrari denies Porsche Penske, Cadillac posts fastest lap
Posted by Talbot Payne on June 18, 2025
Le Mans, France — It was Detroit vs. Everybody in Le Mans, France.
Motown challenger Cadillac’s V-Series.R Hypercar led the packed, international field to green at the world’s biggest sportscar event, the 93rd annual 24 Hours of Le Mans, but at the checkered flag it was European legends Ferrari and Porsche battling for the win.
Le Mans, France – #12 and #38 Cadillac V-Series.R Hypercars lead the race start from pole. Alastair Staley / Drew Gibson Photography, Cadillac
Ferrari has dominated the World Endurance Championship’s top-tier Hypercar class in Europe this year and the Italian marque continued that run with an impressive Le Mans showing, taking three of the top four spots. Only the second-place Porsche Penske 963 Hypercar was a match for the Ferrari 499P’s pace, but in the end the Italian make denied Porsche its 20th Le Mans — and Detroit racing legend Roger Penske his first Le Mans win, one of the few trophies that has eluded him.
Cadillac’s V8-powered Team JOTA dynamic duo finished fourth and seventh after the fourth-placed, #50 Ferrari was disqualified post-race for a wing infraction..
Detroit also brought the V-8 thunder in the production-based LMGT3 class, but Porsche and Ferrari were not to be denied there as well. The #92 Porsche 911 GT3 topped the class while the #21 Ferrari 296 was runner-up. The #81 TF Sport Chevy Corvette Z06 filled out the podium with a strong third-place finish.
The overall winning #83 AF Corse Ferrari 499P Hypercar with drivers Phil Hanson (Great Britain), Robert Kubica (Poland), and Yifei Ye (China) ride down pit lane toward the podium with the checkered flag as fans mob the car at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in Le Mans, France, on Sunday June 15, 2025. Chris DuMond, Special To The Detroit News
“Amazing result,” said #81 Corvette driver Charlie Eastwood. “Not one thing went wrong. Every pit stop was perfect, not a single scratch on the car for 24 hours. We didn’t have the pace (of the Porsche-Ferrari) but we ended up on the podium because of that.”
Motown muscle brought an unprecedented entry to France with Cadillac fielding four cars (two of which failed to finish) in the 62-car field. Three Corvettes and two Ford Mustangs joined the LMGT3 class.
“This is the most competitive Le Mans I’ve seen,” said five-time Le Mans champion Oliver Gavin, who has raced here for Corvette 18 times since 2000. “The competition in the Hypercar class between manufacturers is unprecedented.”
Chris DuMond, Special To The Detroit News
The competitive hype attracted a Le Mans record 350,000 people — one of the biggest motorsports events in the world, rivaling the Indy 500’s attendance — to this small French city. They witnessed a war between a who’s who of world performance brands — including Cadillac, Ferrari, Mercedes, McLaren, BMW, Aston Martin, Porsche, Peugeot and Alpine.
Race start at 4 p.m. Saturday portended anything but a Ferrari runaway. Or a challenge from the #6 Porsche.
Cadillac had locked out the front row with a brilliant qualifying effort on Thursday from the #12 and #38 Team JOTA pair. Alex Lynn put the #12 V-Series.R on pole with a 3.23.2 lap around the 8.5-mile circuit for Cadillac. The Le Mans pole was a first for Caddy — 75 years after the brand first raced here in 1950. Teammate Earl Bamber was second-fastest — just a tenth of a second slower — nipping the #4 Porsche Penske 963 Hypercar.
The fastest (of three) #50 Ferrari 499P Hypercars was back in seventh starting position, while the winning #83 Ferrari started 13th. The #6 Porsche, meanwhile, was demoted from its fourth-place qualifying spot to the back of the Hypercar field due to a weight infraction found in post-qualifying inspection. It started 21st on the grid.
The #81 Corvette exits Arnage during sunset Saturday on the way to a third-place finish in the the production-based LMGT3 class Sunday, June 15, 2025, at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in France. Chris DuMond, Special To The Detroit News
When Le Mans official starter and tennis legend Roger Federer waved the green (actually a blue, white and red French) flag, the gold Team JOTA Cadillacs’ V8-roar led the field into Turn One — a poster shot that will live in Cadillac history.
The #4 Porsche, however, quickly overtook the Caddies on the back straight to lead on Lap One — foreshadowing 24 hours that would see Porsches and Ferraris consistently beat the Cadillac (and everyone else) on top-end speed — a crucial metric on a course where straightaways make up a significant portion of the lap. Ferrari recorded the race’s top speed at a blistering 226 mph on the Mulsanne Straight.
Like IndyCars at the Indy 500, Le Mans race teams do everything to reduce aerodynamic drag given the track’s extensive, 200-mph-plus stretches — and Ferrari/Porsche appeared to find the secret sauce.
By the fifth hour, Ferrari had asserted its dominance, with all three cars swapping the lead between pit stops for fuel. Only the #6 Porsche Penske, climbing steadily through the field, would challenge them before the end.
The #6 Penske Porsche peeks through a space in the guardrail at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in Le Mans, France on June 14, 2025. The car finished second Sunday, nearly giving Roger Penske his first win at Le Mans. Chris DuMond, Special To The Detroit News
“We’re very good in high-speed corners, but our straight-line speed isn’t great and that really hurts you in traffic,” said English ex-Formula One champion and co-driver of the #38 Cadillac, Jenson Button.
Straight-line speed, however, sacrificed cornering pace, which explained the Cadillac’s ability to reel off cracking laps (see pole) on fresh tires. Over a 45-minute fuel stint, however, the Cadillac’s higher downforce would eat up tires compared to Ferrari/Porsche.
“We can’t fight as we would like to because we’re missing a little top speed, but when the track finally grips up we’ll be one of the fastest cars out there,” said Frenchman Sebastien Bourdais, one of Button’s co-drivers in the #38 Cadillac, on Sunday morning as the Detroit Hypercars established themselves as the best racers not named Ferrari and Porsche.
Bourdais would eventually record the race’s fastest lap — a Hypercar course record — at 3.26.0 minutes.
The #12 Cadillac Hertz Team Jota Cadillac V‑Series.R Hypercar driven by Will Stevens (Great Britain), Norman Nato (France), and Alex Lynn (Great Brtiain) begins its second lap at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in Le Mans, France on Saturday, June 14, 2025. The Caddy began the race on the pole and finished fifth Sunday. Chris DuMond, Special To The Detroit News
“It’s frustrating, but I’m really proud for the team that we could show that we extracted the very best of what we had,” said Bourdais. “There’s no doubt that Cadillac has a very fast car, but we need to widen the window and we haven’t quite optimized this yet.”
Endurance racing is built on such tech learnings, and they are applied to production cars like the V8-powered Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing, electric Cadillac Lyriq and Chevy Corvette ZR1. General Motors Co. says that is a key reason it races in competitive, international series like Le Mans and Formula One.
Eyeballs are another reason as Cadillac brought its EV lineup to Le Mans’ Manufacturers’ Village, where hundreds of thousands of fans streamed through — ogling the Lyriq and Optiq EVs alongside activations from Ferrari, BMW, Ford and others.
Penske’s bid to win Le Mans was his third with Porsche and came up tantalizingly short. Had the lead Ferrari faltered in the last hour, the #6 car would have won, having left the third and fourth-place Ferraris in the dust.
Le Mans, France – Cadillac store in the Manufacturer’s Village featured the Cadillac Lyriq-V, which bears the same performance badge as the Caddy race car. Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Like Ferrari in Europe, Porsche Penske has dominated North America’s MSA Weathertech Sportscar series this year. Had the team claimed Le Mans, they would have won the coveted Triple Crown of endurance racing: the 24 Hours of Daytona, 12 Hours of Sebring and 24 Hours of Le Mans.
On the LMGT3 class front, the #77 Ford Mustang finished ninth in class after its sister #88 car crashed out in the early going. Ford will join Cadillac in the Hypercar class in 2027, when the Blue Oval tries to repeat its feat of winning the race overall — just as it did in 1966 with the GT40.
Versus Ferrari.
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or @HenryEPayne.
Be iconic: Why Detroit performance brands have descended on Le Mans this weekend
Posted by Talbot Payne on June 14, 2025
Le Mans, France — If the Indy 500 is a showcase for driver glory, the 24 Hours of Le Mans is the premier race for manufacturer prowess. Win Indy, and its resulting fame will change a driver’s life forever. Win Le Mans, and an auto brand becomes legend.
Ferrari, Porsche, Audi and Ford have become international household performance names with their dominance of this 24-hour epic. No wonder, then, that the motorsports world was atwitter Thursday when General Motors Co.’s Cadillac swept the front row to claim pole position.
When the green flag drops at 4 p.m. Saturday local time (10 a.m. in Detroit), two Cadillacs — their Team JOTA liveries glistening in the French afternoon sun — will lead a packed international field of Ferrari, Porsche and Aston Martin to create an image seen around the globe.
The #12 Cadillac V-Series.R of Alex Lynn led a front-row lockout of qualifying alongside the sister #38 car at Le Mans on Thursday, June 12, 2025. Michele Scudiero, Cadillac
“Cadillac locking out the front row is an important thing,” said English driving ace Alex Lynn after putting his Cadillac V-Series.R on pole. “Only the most iconic brands have done that. Cadillac is the first American brand to take the pole since the legendary Ford GT40. We are in the shadows of greats. If we can win this race on Sunday we can cement our car as one of the icons.”
No wonder multiple Detroit brands are competing this year against the world’s best racing manufacturers in rural France before over 330,00 spectators and another 118 million watching around the world. Motorsports has been a key marketing, engineering and sales tool, but the advent of social media and the popular “Drive to Survive” Netflix series covering Formula One has taken motorsports to a new level by broadening its demographic appeal to a younger, gender-diverse audience that auto brands crave.
“’Drive to Survive’ changed everything. It’s making racing globally cool again, and the trickle-down effect we see from F1 is really big,” said Lynn. “We are riding that wave, and showcasing to young people that Cadillac is cool.”
The same electronics revolution that has transformed Hypercars into hybrid rocketships has also exposed youth to racing via simulators and online games where they can act out their fantasy to be, well, Alex Lynn.
“The consumer who is following racing these days is much younger,” said Vice President for Global Cadillac John Roth in an interview here. “They are EV-oriented, they are technologically curious and we put a lot of technology into our vehicles like the Lyriq-V that is the quickest Cadillac we’ve ever built in the marketplace. So there’s a lot of correlation between the V-Series race car and V-Series production car — customers may not attend a race, (but) it’s a great platform to elevate the brand.”
General Motors Co.’s Cadillac chief, John Roth, is using Europe’s most famous sportscar race to boost the Detroit brand’s entry into the rarified European luxury market — and Cadillac claiming the front row on the starting grid of 2025’s 24 Hours of Le Mans is a big step in the right direction. Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Le Mans also attracts the world’s best drivers, like Lynn, who is not just a fast pilot, but a global brand ambassador in an industry that craves brand awareness and looks for ways to burnish it.
Dearborn-based Ford Motor Co. has been a global icon for some time. In the 1960s, the Ford GT40 dominated Le Mans for four years — two of them as a factory-backed team, two entered by a private team.
That put the Blue Oval badge on par with Ferrari (which it tried to buy at the time) and Porsche as legends of motorsport. Ford also partnered with England’s Cosworth to produce one of the Formula One series’ premier engines, the Ford-Cosworth, in the 1960s.
Ford’s decision to return to Le Mans prototype racing in 2027 (it announced its chassis partner, Italy’s Oreca, at Le Mans Friday) and Formula One in 2026 (again as an engine partner, this time with Red Bull) reaffirms that it belongs with the world’s best.
“Ford has a special history here. It’s the moment that Ford went global in 1966,” Ford CEO Jim Farley said in an interview here. “This is a big commitment to us. There is no better advertisement for the capability of the company than winning a Le Mans, or it just says your company knows what they’re doing in the car business.”
Ford Motor Co. CEO Jim Farley at this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans:” We want to sell race cars to customers worldwide.” A certified race-car driver, Farley drove in the new Mustang challenge on the historic 8.5-mile course. Chris DuMond, Special To The Detroit News
For both Ford and General Motors, the international World Endurance Championship and North American IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Series have provided a proper platform to justify the enormous dollar investment that motor racing requires. By agreeing to the same set of sports car rules across continents (and across races like the 24 Hours of Le Mans and 24 Hours of Daytona in Florida), IMSA/EC has opened a global stage for GM and Ford to sell GT race cars as rivals Porsche and Ferrari have done.
“We want to sell race cars to customers worldwide. I have made my career making bad decisions in motorsports,” said a smiling Farley as he overlooked the Ford Chicane on the Le Mans course. “And most of it was a marketing program to get someone interested in a brand. We needed to make motorsports a sustainable part of the company.”
Ford introduced the Mustang GT3 race car for the first time at Le Mans last year — just as it entered the same car in IMSA’s North American series. It made a big splash, placing third and fourth, and the factory team — run by Proton Racing — is back this year. Just like its Ford F-150 Raptor off-road entries in the Baja 1000 and King of the Hammers, the Mustangs are here to sell to customers.
“Racing is an indigenous sport for our industry — we don’t make shampoo,” said Farley. “There are a few events like Le Mans that really put you on the map. We want to sell more (F-150) Raptors and Tremors and Broncos, so we race the King of the Hammers, too.”
Chevy pioneered the GT3 effort back in 2000 with its Corvette entries, racking up nine Le Mans class wins over the last 25 years. It has now pivoted to a customer-based race model, and its three cars here this weekend are entered by customer teams TF Sport and AWA Racing.
As the racing and production programs became more integrated over that time, Chevrolet attracted more engineering talent. Roth points to Tony Roma, who has worked on both the Corvette and Cadillac production performance programs.
“Tony is a race car driver and a great example of translating that feel of what it is like to be behind the wheel of a high-performance Cadillac,” said Roth. Then he “translates that back to the vehicles that will sell to a new generation of buyers.”
The #51 Ferrari 499P Hypercar exits “Indianapolis” during Hyperpole qualifying and takes P3 at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in Le Mans, France on June 11, 2025. Ferrari has three entries in the Hypercar class of the 2025 24 Hours of Le Mans. Chris DuMond, Special To The Detroit News
That integration has carried over to Cadillac’s European expansion. Keely Busn is program manager for the Cadillac V-Series.R Hypercar and regularly advises, for example, Caddy’s Paris showroom.
“We introduced the livery for our Team JOTA race car in the Paris showroom, for example,” she said in Cadillac’s Le Mans pit. “We coordinated the motorsports display in the showroom that drives home the brand’s performance and precision. If you want to translate what it means to be at the pinnacle of motorsports, it’s good to have a dealership in Paris.”
The V-Series.R that took pole here has a distinctly American V-8 sound. But Roth said racing informs more than just powertrains.
The #12 Cadillac V‑Series.R Hypercar enters “Indianapolis” during Hyperpole qualifying and takes P1 at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in Le Mans, France on June 11, 2025. Cadillac has four entries in the Hypercar class of the 2025 24 Hours of Le Mans. Chris DuMond, Special To The Detroit News
“Not only do we go out every day to compete with global luxury brands that we compete with in the retail space, we also get accelerated learnings on how vehicles perform. What’s the aero like? What’s the brake feel like?”
He continued: “That translates back to our EV vehicles that we sell in our retail environment. Aero gives an EV better range. Tires in an EV give better range. Racing is a great platform (that brings) learning back to what consumers enjoy in a vehicle.”
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or @HenryEPayne.