Author: Reuters

Shailen Bhatt, administrator of the Federal Highway Administration, testifies before the Senate on Wednesday. (AP)   WASHINGTON — Just seven electric-vehicle (EV) charging stations have begun operating with funding from a $5-billion U.S. government program created in 2021, marking “pathetic” progress, a Democratic senator said on Wednesday. Automakers and others say drastically expanding EV-charging stations is crucial to the wide deployment of electrical vehicles, that are a part of the Biden Administration’s efforts to scale back greenhouse gas emissions. The seven EV-charging stations deployed up to now under a 2021 U.S. program consist of a number of dozen total charging…

Tesla has ignored its goal of delivering 20 million vehicles a 12 months by 2030 in its latest impact report, one other sign the corporate is tempering its auto ambitions because it shifts focus to robotaxis. Musk said in 2020 that Tesla aspired to sell 20 million vehicles by the top of the present decade — nearly twice as many as those sold by Toyota, the world’s largest automaker. “Our goal is to construct and deliver 20 million vehicles a 12 months by 2030. To realize this goal, we’d like to make our products much more accessible,” the corporate had…

WASHINGTON – Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump vowed to reverse dozens of the Biden administration’s environmental rules and policies at a gathering with top U.S. oil executives, where he also asked them to lift $1 billion for his presidential campaign, the Washington Post reported on Thursday. The Post, citing unidentified sources accustomed to the meeting last month in Florida, said Trump promised to finish President Joe Biden’s emissions rules geared toward promoting electric vehicles and halt the Biden administration’s freeze on permits for brand new liquefied natural gas exports, amongst other actions. Trump told the chief executives that giving $1…

Aston Martin posted a bigger-than-expected first-quarter pretax loss on Wednesday because the British luxury carmaker made fewer cars and burned extra cash than analysts anticipated, sending its shares 7% lower. Aston Martin, which has launched several recent cars over the past yr including its next-generation sports cars the DB12 and Vantage, stopped production of old models ahead of the ramp-up in production of fresh models later this yr. “Our first-quarter performance reflects this expected period of transition,” Chairman Lawrence Stroll said. The shares fell as much as 14% to their lowest level since November 2022 and were last down 7%…

  DETROIT — General Motors on Tuesday posted quarterly results that topped Wall Street targets and raised its annual forecast, citing stable pricing and demand for its gas-engine vehicles, sending shares up 5%. The Michigan automaker upped its adjusted pre-tax profit projection for the yr to $12.5 billion to $14.5 billion, from its previous range of $12 billion to $14 billion. “Our consumer has been remarkably resilient in this era of upper rates of interest,” GM Chief Financial Officer Paul Jacobson said. He said demand held up well in the primary quarter and pricing was stable in April, but GM…

A Volkswagen worker celebrates results of the unionization vote. (Getty Images)   CHATTANOOGA, Tennessee — Staff at Volkswagen’s Tennessee plant have voted to affix the United Auto Staff, in a seismic victory for the union because it drives beyond its Detroit base into the U.S. South and West. A majority of eligible employees forged ballots in favor of the union, with the ultimate tally on Friday at 2,628 to 985, or 73% for joining the UAW. The victory will make the Chattanooga factory the primary auto plant within the South to unionize via election for the reason that Forties and…

BEIJING/SHANGHAI — Chinese automakers and shippers are ordering a record variety of car-carrying vessels to support a boom in EV exports, data showed, putting China heading in the right direction to amass the world’s fourth-largest fleet by 2028. China currently has the world’s eighth-largest fleet with 33 car-carrying ships, showed data from shipping consultancy Veson Nautical. Japan has the world’s largest with 283 ships, followed by Norway’s 102, South Korea’s 72 and Isle of Man’s 61. But Chinese firms have 47 ships on order, accounting for 1 / 4 of all orders globally. Buyers include SAIC Motor, Chery Automobile and…

  WASHINGTON — The U.S. government has reimbursed auto dealers for greater than $580 million upfront point-of-sale consumer electric vehicle (EV) tax credit payments since Jan. 1, the Treasury said on Friday. Prior to 2024, U.S. auto buyers could only make the most of the brand new EV credit of as much as $7,500 or the $4,000 used EV credit once they filed tax returns the next 12 months. The Internal Revenue Service has received roughly 100,000 time of sale EV reports this 12 months and paid greater than $580 million upfront payments to dealers since Jan. 1, Treasury said.…

  WASHINGTON — The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said on Wednesday it was opening an investigation right into a March 3 fatal crash between a Ford Mustang Mach-E and two stationary cars on the I-95 interstate in Philadelphia. In March, the NTSB said it was investigating using a complicated driver assistance system in a Ford Mustang Mach-E that was involved in a Feb. 24 fatal crash in San Antonio, Texas, during which the Mach-E struck rear of a Honda CR-V that was stationary in a traffic lane on Interstate Highway 10. Ford offers BlueCruise, a complicated hands-free driving…

Dan Ariens laid off staff, cut shifts, and halted nearly all hiring last summer after sales slumped at his company, best known for making shiny orange snow blowers and lawnmowers sold all over the world. Headcount fell 20% to 1,600 people, and he doesn’t see business improving until 2025.  The experience of the Ariens Company, a fourth-generation family-owned firm in Brillion, Wisconsin, shows the stark contrast between U.S. factory employment – essentially flat-lining for greater than a 12 months – and the four-year boom in the broader job market.  President Joe Biden’s industrial policy, headlined by laws passed in 2022…