We're heading into a big week for the auto industry — and a really big week for Automotive News.
We start the week off with a couple of exciting releases: One is entirely new, and the other is a perennial favorite.
First the familiar: Automotive News readers will get to meet the 2023 class of Rising Stars. These are two dozen leaders and high achievers, age 45 or younger, working at automakers, suppliers and other nonretail entities in the automotive industry. (Young dealership folks are honored with the 40 Under 40 program.)
Also dropping is "Driving to Zero," a limited series podcast about the auto industry's efforts to reduce and even eliminate carbon emissions throughout the value chain and vehicle life cycle. The first four episodes come out this week, with four more to come. Jake Neher, our terrific coordinating producer for audio, led this project as reporter and host on top of his work on "Daily Drive," the weekday news and interview podcast. It was my pleasure to help him. (I also wrote a column about why we did the series.)
On Tuesday, the industry's best and brightest will converge at Crain Communications headquarters in Detroit for the Automotive News Congress. Speakers include General Motors President Mark Reuss, Ford Blue President Kumar Galhotra and Hyundai Motor Co. COO Jose Muñoz. Plus several PACE Award finalists will be demonstrating their innovations, and we'll celebrate the 2023 Rising Stars. It should be a very cool reinvention of a longstanding industry tradition.
Then comes the Detroit auto show. Ford is going to show a freshened F-150 on Tuesday night — similar to how it revealed the Mustang last year, which was probably the highlight of the 2022 show. (Even better than the giant ducky!) The rest of the show is on Wednesday: Jeep, Cadillac and GMC have press conferences scheduled. The show will also include the Mobility Global Forum, with author Malcolm Gladwell headlining.
But the bigger draw may be half an hour to the northwest at The Battery Show in Novi, Mich., with 800-some exhibits on electric vehicles, hybrids, batteries and supporting technology.
Keep an eye on our live blog that covers all of the happenings at both shows and the Automotive News Congress.
You might think that would be enough, but no. The week wraps up with the expiration of UAW contracts with the Detroit 3 and the risk of an unprecedented strike against all three automakers at once. Michael Martinez breaks down potential UAW strategies.
The companies and union leaders have been exchanging proposals, and while they're still far apart, the gap is less than it was a week ago. Maybe it won't come to a strike, or maybe it will be a short one. Or perhaps we'll see a protracted dispute that sends shock waves throughout the industry, rocking a fragile supply base and skewing market shares in a retail environment still defined by historically tight supply.
Whatever happens, you'll be able to stay informed by reading our coverage at autonews.com, on our UAW-Detroit 3 negotiations live blog and on the pages of Automotive News.
