Products, Politics, and Players: Welcome to the 2026 MotorTrend Power List

The year that is, that was, and the people making the key decisions for the auto industry.

Chaos and uncertainty still reign in the global auto industry several months into 2026, thanks to many unknowns and changing tariffs, regulations, and policies. Snap decisions are hell for a business world that typically plans products years in advance and relies on technology years in the making. It’s always been hard enough to keep up with changing consumer tastes; add the need to account for new costs due to tariffs or to uproot your powertrain strategy because regulations play toward new favorites, and you’re looking at a chess game with a shape-shifting opponent.

If there is perhaps any consolation, it’s the fact the car industry has grappled with these issues for some time now. For those who survived 2025, the instructions for 2026 read like a shampoo bottle: rinse and repeat.

New trade deals and tariffs continue serve as moving targets; existing deals, like USMCA between the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, are up for renegotiation, regulations governing fuel economy have been struck down, and tax incentives on EVs have been discontinued. Heck, rolling coal is seemingly OK again.

The cumulative effect of all this means there is more chaos in boardrooms as CEOs hustle to make changes where they can and factor in financial hits where they can’t. Moving production to new locations is not quick, cheap, or easy. Nor is it good business under normal circumstances. That said, some production shifts have occurred, and more are planned, meaning production in Canada, Mexico, Korea, and China have all been affected.

As car companies plot their next moves, the events of 2025 weigh heavily. It was one of the wilder, more unpredictable years we’ve seen, and it set the stage for what is likely to come in 2026.

Nissan and Stellantis both have new CEOs; they are veterans pulled from internal corporate ranks, with mandates to ignite their product lineups with winning products in a critical effort to resuscitate their brands, appease dealers, and restore employee morale and consumer confidence.

Over at Honda, a proposal to merge with Nissan fell through. So Honda will continue to go alone with new hybrid powertrains in the works as it delays some of its EV plans. Toyota, meanwhile, looks like a veritable rock star for sticking to hybrids and exciting new arrivals like the gorgeous Lexus ES—and the scintillating new GR GT and Lexus LFA concept.

Back in Detroit, General Motors and Ford stand in stark contrast. GM continues to pursue its long-term EV policy but has slowed the momentum while in the interim bolstering vehicles with combustion engines. Ford is narrowing its focus to big trucks, SUVs, and performance vehicles as it tosses out cars and two-row SUVs. The Blue Oval is now betting on a new family of affordable EVs, having killed plans for a three-row electric SUV and ending production of the F-150 Lightning electric pickup.

Jumping to Deutschland, the Germans have important new models built on advanced architectures. Mercedes-Benz has new software-defined platforms for the CLA- and C-Class as well as the GLC and GLB. There’s also a new S-Class and the 1,000-horsepower Mercedes-AMG GT electric four-door tourer.

BMW at the same time unleashes its much-anticipated Neue Klasse, the next generation of vehicles it thinks will define its future. These products are also full of software and innovation, and they introduce new, edgy design language.

The Koreans continue to look unstoppable, positioning themselves as full-line automakers with a multipowertrain strategy and continued growth plans, including Magma performance trims for Genesis.

For pure EV players, we will see Tesla transition from a carmaker to a producer of robots and robotaxis. The company is discontinuing its Model S and Model X, and the Model 3 and Model Y aren’t receiving much love or updates. CEO Elon Musk says autonomous vehicles and Optimus robots are the future.

As for fellow EV-maker Rivian, the company is launching its all-important mainstream R2 midsize SUV and building a self-driving system. Volkswagen’s revived Scout brand is testing prototypes of its pickup truck and SUV. Lucid’s growth and cash burn are being watched closely.

Hot trends: Everyone is working on extended-range hybrids as an alternative to pure electric cars. In these vehicles, a gasoline engine acts as a generator for the electric motor that makes it go, providing greater range and less anxiety. And racing continues to grow in popularity around the globe and within automotive boardrooms: Genesis is headed to the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and Audi, Cadillac, and Ford are now doing battle in Formula 1.

Key to all this are the people who sketch the plans and designs, engineer the advances, and make the decisions—both big and small, tough and easy. To learn more about the players whose actions most influenced the car industry in 2025, check out the annual MotorTrend Power List, and find out who we selected as our 2026 Person of the Year.