Welcome to the Daily 5 report for Wednesday, Jan. 22.
We don't know what Stellantis Chairman John Elkann and then-CEO Carlos Tavares were talking about when one of our editors by sheer luck snapped a picture of them chatting at a popular suburban Detroit restaurant last summer.
A few months later, Tavares resigned and Elkann began the search for a new CEO to lead the far-flung global automaker and its many brands, led in North America by Jeep, Ram, Chrysler and Dodge.
Based on company statements and announcements since then, it wouldn't be a stretch to conclude Elkann was having some difficult conversations with Tavares about the company's direction under his leadership. As our report today shows, Stellantis is moving to repair relations with its North American dealers.
And with today's news of the company's renewed commitment to reopening its plant in Belvidere, Ill., it's clear the post-Tavares management team wants to mend ties with its U.S. union, which spent most of last summer threatening to strike over the future of that dated assembly plant.
It's still too early to tell whether these are strategic decisions or just interim tactical maneuvers while Stellantis recruits a new CEO. It's also too early to tell whether the automaker plans to thaw out its troubled supply chain relations, marked by litigation and low ratings from supplier executives over the past year.
Meanwhile, the weather in New Orleans continues to disrupt travel and schedules at the 2025 NADA Show. Automotive News updates the plans in this story.
In other news, President Donald Trump's plans for higher tariffs on most of the countries where the U.S. auto industry does business continue to make headlines. If you want to dig deeper, our affiliates in Europe, China and Canada are also providing excellent coverage of the challenges ahead. We're also tackling all the issues surrounding Trump's move to undo former President Joe Biden's EV initiatives, as this story explains.
Finally, our Hans Greimel wrote about Honda Motor Co. embarking on a $100 million employee reeducation program to give workers the basic foundations of the new technologies that undergird development and production of tomorrow's software-packed, artificially intelligent, autonomous-driving electrified vehicles.
Looking ahead, we'll continue to keep you up to date on the NADA Show in New Orleans.
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— Philip Nussel, online editor
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