In 2020, we met COVID-19.

Final 12 months was all concerning the microchip scarcity.

In a refreshing reminder of what the Earlier than Instances had been like, 2022 did not have one ongoing story that dominated the auto trade.

As a substitute, it marked a return to lots of the matters that automakers, sellers and suppliers had been speaking about earlier than all of us received sidetracked for a very good whereas:

• Electrical automobiles — which there are much more of.
• Self-driving vehicles — which nonetheless aren’t a lot of a factor.
• The way forward for franchised dealerships — which nonetheless is a factor, regardless of the perfect efforts of Tesla and Carvana.
• And, after all, the omnipresent Elon Musk — who nonetheless hasn’t produced the Cybertruck or robotaxis he stated had been imminent pre-COVID.

In consequence, this was the primary time since these halcyon days of the final decade that we at Automotive Information weren’t instantly sure what to think about the 12 months’s high story. The lingering stock and provide shortages? The transition to EVs? Michigan beating Ohio State once more?

So, for the seventieth consecutive 12 months, we put it to a workers vote. Drama-filled negotiations in Washington emerged as the largest information of 2022 by only one level. Here is a recap of the highest 10: