Category: News

October 2 2017

China’s Pollution Curbs May Start Slowing Growth Within Months

China’s drive to cut pollution could reduce economic growth by 0.25 percentage point in the next six months while boosting factory inflation, according to Societe Generale SA. Production cuts to curb emissions and tougher nationwide environmental inspections will also support the profits of large industrial companies as producer prices rise, said Yao Wei, chief China economist […]

October 2 2017

Automakers Plan Electric Car Blitz as Tesla Burns Billions

Here are two facts that defy logic: By the end of the year, electric-car maker Tesla Inc. will have burned through more than $10 billion without ever having made 10 cents. Yet companies around the world are lining up to compete with it. Almost 50 new pure electric-car models will come to market globally between […]

October 2 2017

These Hi-Tech Knitting Machines Will Soon Be Making Car Parts

Building a machine to construct high-end Prada sweaters was just the start. Now Mitsuhiro Shima, who took over his dad’s knitting-machine firm three months ago, is setting his sights on — of all places — the car industry. The 56-year-old president of Shima Seiki Manufacturing Ltd. is in talks with auto-parts makers to use its […]

September 29 2017

VW Still Choking on Diesel as Damages Surge to $30 Billion

Chris Reiter and Elisabeth Behrmann More than two years after Volkswagen AG was thrown into chaos by the diesel-emissions scandal, the German auto giant is still choking. The latest reminder that the crisis is far from over came Friday when Volkswagen announced it will take a charge of 2.5 billion euros ($3 billion) because plans to buy […]

September 29 2017

Musk’s 100-Day Race to Biggest Battery Starts in South Australia

A pledge by billionaire Elon Musk to build the world’s largest lithium-ion battery system in the Australian outback is ahead of schedule with half the project already complete. Against a backdrop of almost 100 wind turbines 150 miles (241 kilometers) north of Adelaide, the Tesla Inc. chief executive officer announced a contract for the project had […]

September 29 2017

VW’s Diesel Woes Reach $30 Billion After Surprise U.S. Hit

Volkswagen AG will take a surprise charge of about 2.5 billion euros ($3 billion) in the third quarter as plans to buy back or retrofit tainted U.S. diesel cars proves more complex than expected, bringing total damages from the two-year-old scandal to over 25 billion euros. The charge will wipe out more than half of Volkswagen’s […]

September 29 2017

Great Wall Invests in Australian Miner Amid Electric Push

Great Wall Motor Co. will invest in a lithium-mining company in Australia, the latest example of Chinese automakers seeking control of raw materials as they accelerate development of electric vehicles. China’s biggest maker of sport utility vehicles will invest A$28 million ($22 million) for as much as a 3.5 percent stake in Pilbara Minerals, which […]

September 29 2017

Storm-Ravaged Caribbean Is Eyeing Solar, But It Won’t Come Cheap

For Caribbean islands plunged into darkness after hurricanes Irma and Maria, more resilient, small-scale electric systems powered by the sun are looking increasingly attractive. Transforming a grid, though, doesn’t come cheap. In making the case for so-called microgrids, environmental nonprofit Rocky Mountain Institute pointed to solar installations on the Turks and Caicos islands that remained […]

September 29 2017

Tesla Is ‘Structurally Unprofitable,’ Chanos Says

Tesla Inc., a perennial target of short sellers, is “structurally unprofitable” with a “way too leveraged” capital structure, said famed investor Jim Chanos. “Three years ago, this company was supposed to be making money now,” Chanos, who’s betting against Tesla shares, said in an interview Thursday on Bloomberg Television. “Now it’s supposed to be making […]

September 28 2017

Musk Heads to Australia to Unveil Progress on Giant Battery, Mars Mission

Six months after wagering he can build the world’s biggest battery, entrepreneur Elon Musk is back Down Under to defy his doubters.  The boss of Tesla Inc. descended on South Australia on Friday to unveil progress on a giant battery seen critical to averting crippling power shortages in the state. Musk has promised to have […]