Good morning! It's Wednesday, November 19, 2025, and this is The Morning Shift, your daily roundup of the top automotive headlines from around the world, in one place. This is where you'll find the most important stories that are shaping the way Americans drive and get around.
In this morning's edition, struggling electric truck maker allegedly hasn't been paying its employees or suppliers, Toyota wants to adopt an incredibly long nine-year lifecycle for its vehicles, Stellantis EVs finally get access to Tesla's Supercharger network and Honda is recalling over a quarter million Accords for a potential power-loss issue.
Electric truck maker Bollinger, which has only known struggle since its inception, is now facing dozens of complaints alleging unpaid wages and a slew of lawsuits by suppliers seeking millions in past due payments. Hell, even the state of Michigan is looking for money it's owed from the Oak Park-based company. Back in 2023, it promised to invest $44 million and create 237 jobs in the Detroit metro area, but now it's in default on its agreement with the Michigan Economic Development Corp. It was awarded $3 million by the state to help launch its Class 4 EV and, thus far, it has collected about a third of that cash with very little to show for it.
As is the story with many EV startups, Bollinger has sort of blown up on the launchpad. Its business case has run into major hurdles — mainly a lack of demand for high-priced vehicles following an overall market pullback and the death of federal EV incentives.
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From Crain's Detroit Business:
As of Sept. 30, Bollinger had no qualified new jobs and 50 base employees, MEDC spokeswoman Danielle Emerson said. The company has laid off employees since then, Crain's confirmed, though it is unclear how many.
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Bollinger has until May 4 to cure the default by reaching job milestones and "will be required to pay back all or a portion of those funds" if it fails to do so, Emerson said.
At the same time, the company is under investigation by the Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity, which has received 59 claims against the company about unpaid wages or benefits, department spokesperson Keely Lovern said.
"Those claims are still open and under investigation," Lovern said. "Because they are open investigations, we cannot comment any further."
Bollinger Motors was put into receivership in June when founder Robert Bollinger sued the company to recoup a loan and alleged the company was broke. David Michery, CEO and chairman of Brea, Calif.-based Mullen Automotive, which acquired a controlling stake in Bollinger in 2022, paid the founder back and promised to do the same for suppliers.
After emerging from receivership, Michery merged Bollinger Motors with Mullen to create Bollinger Innovations and consolidated operations to metro Detroit. He struck a resilient note during an interview in June, vowing that Bollinger Motors was here to stay.
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Earlier this year, six suppliers sued the automaker, looking for about $5 million in outstanding bills. Since then, they've been paid back, but now there are six different suppliers suing the company in active cases. Woof.
In the nine months that ended on June 30, Bollinger incurred a $304.4 million net loss, according to Crain's. In August, its accumulated deficit was $2.6 billion. I'll be real, guys. I don't see a light at the end of the tunnel for Bollinger here.
With products like the Land Cruiser, Toyota is already known for its long lifecycles, but now it's bringing that long-life mantra to more of its lineup. The Japanese automaker plans to lengthen the sales cycles of many of its models from seven years to nine years, which is an eternity in the world of cars. It also plans to focus more on electrification and keep the cars fresh and relevant via software updates.
At one point, full flagship model overhauls came around every five years or so, but as cars have gotten better, that timeline has gradually extended to seven years. For example, the last Rav4 lasted about seven years before it was recently redesigned, so I suppose the new car will stick around for at least nine.
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From Nikkei Asia:
Toyota is experiencing a high volume of orders, resulting in extended delivery times and order suspensions. Its Land Cruiser SUV takes years from order to delivery — and by the time the vehicle is delivered, the next iteration may already be out. A longer sales cycle will increase opportunities to purchase popular models and also increases the likelihood of selling them used at higher prices, as their value is less likely to depreciate.
With the longer sales cycle, Toyota will review wholesale prices it sets for dealerships. These prices are often gradually reduced as time passes after a model's release. Going forward, wholesale prices will be set more flexibly, depending on the model and the sales situation.
A dealer's main source of revenue is the difference between the wholesale price and the actual sales price, which may be discounted for a customer. While the wholesale price falls as time passes after a vehicle's release, discounts also become more widespread as sales become more difficult.
While lengthening the product cycle, Toyota is aiming for a revenue model that maintains vehicle value through updates, including advanced software and other features, while still carrying out major model changes that overhaul features and exterior styling.
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Toyota isn't alone in this long lifecycle mantra. Honda averages about six or seven years between revamps. Meanwhile, poor Nissan makes its cars soldier on for nearly 10 years between model updates, according to Nikkei. Tesla is another great example of an automaker that takes a massive amount of time between updates. The Model S and Model X have admittedly had work done to them, but they're still pretty much the same cars that went on sale in the U.S. in 2012 and 2015, respectively.
Stellantis, always late to the party, is finally getting around to giving its electric vehicles access to Tesla's Supercharger networks in North America, Japan and South Korea. That means its vehicles will eventually adopt North American Charging Standard ports, but in 2026, existing EVs like the Wagoneer S and Charger Daytona will gain access with an adapter.
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From Automotive News:
The company said additional details on network accessibility and adapter information for current Stellantis BEV models across brands in North America, Japan and South Korea will be shared later.
"This collaboration underscores Stellantis' strategy to offer freedom of choice by supporting vehicles that fulfill customer requirements and meet consumer demand," the company said in a statement. "By unlocking broader access to charging infrastructure, Stellantis gives customers more choice, more coverage and more control over how, where and when they power their BEVs."
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Last year, Stellantis said it would begin equipping electric vehicles with the NACS port on select 2026 models in North America. I've got a feeling that the newly introduced 2026 Jeep Recon, which goes into production early next year, will be the first vehicle we see with the new port.
Honda is recalling a tick over 256,600 Accord Hybrids because of a software issue that could lead to a pesky little, you know, sudden loss of drive power. This is less than ideal. It impacts certain 2023 to 2025 model year Accord Hybrids, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and it could cause the vehicles' internal software to reset while driving. It's really not what you want.
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From the Associated Press:
To address the error, Honda dealers will reprogram the software free of charge. The NHTSA's recall report noted that owner notification letters are scheduled to go out on Jan. 5 — but a spokesperson for American Honda confirmed Tuesday that the improved software is available now.
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Honda estimates that 0.3% of the 256,603 Accord Hybrids it's recalling have the issue, which impacts the vehicles' integrated control module central processing unit, the NHSTA's recall report notes. In a statement, American Honda said that "improper software programming by a supplier" caused the error.
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Honda first got a report of the issue in March of 2024, and as of November 6, it had received 832 warranty claims. Luckily, there are no reports of any related injuries between mid-December of 2022 and the end of this October.
I like to think that she and her kidnappers were just looking to raise funds to eventually buy MotorTrend. You can never have enough auto magazines. I kid, obviously, and if you want to learn more about Hearst's whole ordeal, head over to History.com.
I've yet to find myself in need of a man, but I'll be damned if this song isn't catchy as hell.