Automobile manufacturing

A tyre is used to mark the entrance to Firestone's garage in the town of Harbel, Liberia Saturday, July 18, 2020. The rubber industry in Liberia has gotten so bad that some farmers are cutting down their rubber trees with hopes of producing palm oil instead and Firestone recently announced plans to lay off 374 people with the company citing the impact of the global COVID-19 economic crisis among other factors. (AP Photo/Jonathan Paye-Layleh)
August 22, 2020 - 7:52 am

Future for Liberia's rubber farmers shaky amid economic woes

GBARNGA, Liberia (AP) — Christopher Reeves has farmed rubber for more than three decades in Liberia, selling his crop to the international tire-maker Firestone, which also operates the world’s largest rubber plantation here. Now Reeves, 61, and thousands of others working in Liberia's once-thriving...
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August 20, 2020 - 8:26 am

Chinese electric car brand NIO looks at expansion abroad

BEIJING (AP) — Chinese electric car brand NIO plans to start expanding to Western markets next year and might export a battery-swapping service that could help it compete with rival Tesla, the company’s chairman said Thursday. NIO, founded in 2014, pushed back foreign plans due to the coronavirus...
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President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference at the White House, Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
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August 19, 2020 - 7:37 pm

Trump lashes out at Goodyear about its policy on `MAGA' wear

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Wednesday urged people to boycott tires from Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co., tweeting that the Ohio-based company had “announced a BAN ON MAGA HATS.” But the company didn't announce such a specific ban, only that it asks employees to refrain from workplace...
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FILE -- May 31, 1988 file photo of Gianni Agnelli, right, chairman of Italy's auto giant FIAT, and chief operating officer Cesare Romiti, as they leave the Banca d'Italia (Bankitalia)in Rome. Romiti has died Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2020, in his house in Milan at the age of 97, according to Italian media. (AP Photo/Gianni Foggia, file)
August 18, 2020 - 10:21 am

Cesare Romiti, who steered Fiat through tough times, dies

ROME (AP) — Cesare Romiti, an industrialist and champion of Italian capitalism who steered automaker Fiat through years of strikes and domestic terrorism in the 1970s and 1980s, died in Rome on Tuesday, Italian state TV said. He was 97. Italian President Sergio Mattarella hailed Romiti as an “...
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FILE - This May 27, 2019, file photo shows the Fiat Chrysler Automobiles world headquarters in Auburn Hills, Mich.Fiat Chrysler Automobiles is denying allegations by General Motors that FCA used foreign bank accounts to bribe union officials so they would stick GM with higher labor costs. In court papers filed Monday, Aug. 10, 2020, the Italian-American automaker said GM was using court records to make “defamatory and baseless" claims. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)
August 14, 2020 - 2:48 pm

Judge refuses to reconsider GM lawsuit against Fiat Chrysler

A federal judge in Detroit said Friday that he will not reconsider his July dismissal of General Motors’ racketeering lawsuit against Fiat Chrysler Automobiles. U.S. District Judge Paul Borman wrote in an opinion that new evidence presented by GM regarding bribes and foreign bank accounts “is too...
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FILE - In this May 13, 2020, file photo, Ford Motor Co., line workers put together ventilators that the automaker is assembling at the Ford Rawsonville plant in Ypsilanti Township, Mich. American industry rebounded last month as factories began to reopen for the first time since being shut down by the coronavirus in Aprll. The Federal Reserve said Tuesday, June 16, 2020, that industrial production — including output at factories, mines and utilities — rose 1.4% in May after plummeting a record 12.4% in April and 4.6% in March. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio, File)
August 14, 2020 - 9:30 am

US industrial production up 3%; factory output up 3.4%

WASHINGTON (AP) — American industry continued to regain ground lost in the coronavirus recession last month but production remains well below where it was before the pandemic struck. The Federal Reserve reported Friday that industrial production — including output at factories, mines and utilities...
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August 13, 2020 - 8:34 pm

Michigan plans dedicated road lanes for autonomous vehicles

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — The state of Michigan and some private partners are taking steps toward building or assigning dedicated lanes for automated vehicles on a 40-mile (65-kilometer) stretch of highway between Detroit and Ann Arbor. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and other state officials announced the...
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August 13, 2020 - 6:34 pm

Mazda-Toyota boosts investment in Alabama plant by $830M

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (AP) — Mazda Toyota Manufacturing, the new joint-venture between the two auto companies, on Thursday announced an additional $830 million investment in its new Alabama plant. Gov. Kay Ivey said in a news release that the investment in the new auto facility is now $2.3 billion, up...
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August 06, 2020 - 9:10 am

AAA: Partially automated driving systems don't always work

DETROIT (AP) — Two tests by AAA during the past two years show that partially automated driving systems don’t always function properly, so the auto club is recommending that car companies limit their use. Researchers with AAA recently tested systems from five manufacturers over a distance of 4,000...
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FILE - In this Jan. 30, 2020, file photo, a visitor stands by the logo of Toyota Motor Corp. at its showroom in Tokyo. Toyota’s April-June profit plunged 74% as the coronavirus pandemic crushed vehicle sales to about half of what the top Japanese automaker sold the previous year, reported Thursday, Aug. 6, 2020. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, File)
August 06, 2020 - 2:32 am

Toyota's profit plunges as pandemic halves vehicle sales

TOKYO (AP) — Toyota’s profit plunged 74% in the last quarter as the coronavirus pandemic sank vehicle sales to about half of what the top Japanese automaker sold the previous year. Toyota Motor Corp. reported on Thursday a profit of 158.8 billion yen ($1.5 billion) in April-June, down from 619...
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