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China's BYD launches EV charging system it says works nearly as fast as a fill up
Visitors checked the China-made BYD ATTO 3 at the IAA motor show in Munich in 2023.
Matthias Schrader/Associated Press
China's energy and auto giant BYD has announced an ultra fast EV charging system that it says is nearly as quick as a fill up at the pumps. BYD, China's largest EV maker, said Monday that its flash-chargers can provide a full charge for its latest EVs within five to eight minutes, similar to the amount of time needed to fill a fuel tank. It plans to build more than 4,000 of the new charging stations across China. Charging times and limited ranges have been a major factor constraining the switch from gas and diesel vehicles to EVs, though Chinese drivers have embraced that change, with sales of battery powered and hybrid vehicles jumping 40 percent last year. — ASSOCIATED PRESS
LAYOFFS
Audi to cut 7,500 jobs in Germany to become more efficient
The logo of Audi is photographed at the Paris Auto Show in 2024.
Michel Euler/Associated Press
Volkswagen AG's Audi will cut as many as 7,500 positions in Germany by 2029 as the automaker tries to shore up its flagging profitability. The reductions, which correspond to roughly 14 percent of the brand's German workforce, won't affect factory workers. Audi pledged to invest around $8.7 billion in its German locations during the period. It's also introducing new cars to better compete in the United States and China, where its sales have slumped. 'The pressure to change is at an all-time high, with competition that has dramatically changed,' the brand's chief executive Gernot Döllner said Tuesday in Ingolstadt. Volkswagen CEO Oliver Blume is slashing spending across the group to become more competitive. The latest move brings the total number of potential job reductions at Europe's biggest automaker to more than 40,000. Audi's deliveries declined 12 percent last year as it struggled in markets including China. — BLOOMBERG NEWS
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GROCERY
Egg prices have dropped, though you may not have noticed
A customer shopped for eggs at a grocery store in Chicago.
Scott Olson/Getty
The wholesale price of eggs has dropped sharply since the beginning of March after soaring for months, but it may take a few weeks for grocery shoppers to see the decline. Wholesale egg prices, which is what retailers pay to procure eggs, have fallen to a national average of just over $4 for a dozen large white eggs, down from a peak of more than $8 at the end of February, according to data from the Agriculture Department released last week. But because eggs typically have a four-week shelf life, it might be the end of March before retail prices start to drop, said Jeremy Horpedahl, an associate professor of economics at University of Central Arkansas. Some stores, he added, may not lower prices until their current inventory sells out. Economists said that the decline in wholesale prices, which are still above long-term averages, was very likely fueled by a combination of factors: bird flu coming under control, weaker consumer demand, ramped-up supply, and producer pricing decisions. The Agriculture Department noted that there had been no significant outbreaks of avian flu in March so far, and economists say any new outbreaks could push up prices again. The virus has forced egg producers to cull tens of millions of hens since late last year. In February, the retail price of eggs rose 10.4 percent from the previous month, continuing a months-long climb, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics released last week. — NEW YORK TIMES
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WALL STREET
Nvidia CEO loses stock kingmaker status as touts fall flat
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang spoke about new products as he delivered the keynote address at the GTC AI Conference in San Jose, Calif., on March 18.
JOSH EDELSON/AFP via Getty Images
Nvidia Corp. chief executive Jensen Huang is losing his midas touch in the stock market. A year ago, when the euphoria about artificial intelligence was in full force, Huang's name dropping of customers and partners at the chipmaker's GTC conference sparked a rally in a number of the stocks, including Dell Technologies Inc. and Synopsys Inc. But similar mentions in his keynote address on Tuesday were met with shrugs. Take General Motors Co. Minutes after Huang said Nvidia will help the automaker develop self-driving vehicles, GM shares sank to a session low, swept up in the tide of the broader market downdraft. It fell as much as 1.7 percent Tuesday, ending the day down 0.7 percent. The trading shows how the mood has changed as the stock market slides while President Trump's trade war darkens the economic outlook. On top of that, tech stocks have been dragged down by growing doubts about when, if ever, the massive investments in AI spending will deliver the type of revolutionary changes that would justify the equity-price run up. — BLOOMBERG NEWS
INSURANCE
UnitedHealthcare's new CEO reflects on tragedy, challenges in first interview
Flags flew at half mast in front of UnitedHealthcare headquarters in Minnetonka, Minn., on Dec. 4, 2024, after its CEO Brian Thompson was shot and killed in New York City.
Jerry Holt/Associated Press
Tim Noel knows his new job as UnitedHealthcare CEO isn't going to be much like his predecessor's role. Noel was promoted to the position previously held by Brian Thompson, who was killed in an early morning shooting in December on his way to a UnitedHealth investor conference in Manhattan. Thompson's death prompted a social media outcry about health insurers denying care, causing Noel to look inward about his job and industry. 'I think everyone did some level of soul-searching over that period of time, I certainly did,' he said in his first media interview since taking on the new role, from the company's headquarters outside Minneapolis. Noel, who previously helmed the company's Medicare health plan business, said he had known Thompson for 15 years, worked for him for 10, and considered him a 'good friend.' 'What definitely does change is, we have to be more out there and more visible about conversations around the role that we play in the health care system and the role health insurers play.' He wants to dispel some of the misunderstandings around how insurers manage health care, saying United's claim approval rates are 98 percent for valid claims. He also said that many of the curbs put on health care spending are actually decided by the employers who are paying for the health plan, rather than by the insurance company. Even so, the threat of violence remains. The company now has security checking cars on the way in. 'We certainly have to be much more conscious of the security elements,' he said. 'It's certainly a new way that we're operating. The answer is not to get really insular.' — BLOOMBERG NEWS
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Miami Herald
29 minutes ago
- Miami Herald
Tesla Just Bucked An EV Trend In Europe, And It's A Huge Problem For The Company
Tesla's reputation has taken a significant hit since January, when CEO Elon Musk created the DOGE task force, billed as a means to decrease spending across the United States government. In doing so, Musk damaged his standing with the public, which has carried over to Tesla. New data shows that Tesla's reputational hit is not limited to the United States, as sales in Europe are down for Tesla amid a surging electric vehicle market. According to the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association, sales of battery electric vehicles across the European Union (EU) increased by 26.4 percent in 2025 compared to 2024, year-to-date. Tesla registrations in the EU have declined by 46.1 percent through April 2025, with a 52.6 percent year-over-year decrease in April alone. For 2025 (January through April; all figures are year-over-year comparisons), Tesla has sold 41,677 units. In the same period in 2024, Tesla registrations (sales) were 77,314 units. If this downward trend continues, Tesla will be one of the five worst-selling brands in the EU by mid-2025. In April alone, Tesla only sold 5,475 vehicles in the EU. Though the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association didn't break out its data by month, it's easy to conclude Tesla sales have been in decline since the beginning of the year. If April were a "normal" month, Tesla would have sold about 22,000 vehicles in the EU. Expanding the scope doesn't help much. In the EU, the UK, and across the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), which includes Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland, Tesla sold 61,320 vehicles compared to 100,255 in the same timeframe in 2024, representing a 38.8 percent decline. In April, Tesla sold 7,261 vehicles, down from 14,228 last year, signaling a 49 percent drop. Battery-electric vehicle sales in the EU from January through April 2025 are up 26.4 percent, which is the same percentage decline for ICE vehicles, suggesting that Europe is embracing the concept of replacing combustion engine vehicles with EVs. France and Estonia were the only countries to experience a decline in EV registrations year over year. EVs account for only 15.3 percent of the market in the EU, trailing behind petrol vehicles (28.6 percent) and hybrids (35.3 percent). Though total car sales dipped 1.2 percent year to date, EV sales were up 3.3 percent. Diesel and petrol sales have dropped over ten percent year over year. As Elon Musk quietly slips away from his work in government, the damage done to Tesla may be irreversible. Less than ten percent of overall Tesla sales occurred in one out of four months in 2025, which is an indicator that Tesla is a brand non grata in Europe and sales are declining sharply every month. Upstart Chinese automaker BYD, a brand some consider Tesla's main existential threat, outsold Tesla in the EU in April by about 60 cars, according to data from analyst firm JATO. BYD doesn't have a vehicle in the top 10, according to JATO, but both of Tesla's main vehicles - the Model Y and Model 3 - saw sales decline 49 percent and 41 percent, respectively. Copyright 2025 The Arena Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Bloomberg
32 minutes ago
- Bloomberg
Gold Steadies After Two-Day Loss Ahead of US-China Trade Talks
Gold was steady — after losing almost 2% over the previous two sessions — as another round of US-China trade talks offered hope trade tensions between the two largest economies can be eased. Bullion traded above $3,306 an ounce, after dropping Friday as better-than-expected US jobs data reduced some concerns about the nation's economic downturn. Top trade negotiators from Washington and Beijing are set to hold fresh talks in London on Monday, with China's dominance in rare earths production a major focus.
Yahoo
42 minutes ago
- Yahoo
China's Rare Earths Weapon Could Kill Europe's Auto Industry
China earlier this year introduced restrictions on its exports of rare earths. The move marked a new stage in the US- China trade spat, when the two sides no longer tried to out-tariff each other but took to more concrete steps. The problem is, the restrictions don't just apply to U.S. companies. And they may well deliver the fatal blow to Europe's struggling auto industry. China controls 90% of the world's rare earths processing capacity. It is the indisputable, if not exactly celebrated in the West, master of the rare earths industry. And now, it is using this position to make a point to trade partners that have gone above and beyond to restrict Chinese exports to their own countries and regions—essentially the same thing that Washington does when it uses the dominance of the dollar to sanction governments it doesn't see eye to eye with. Rare earths are used in a perhaps surprisingly wide variety of products. More specifically, it's rare-earth magnets that are troubling carmakers on both sides of the ocean. 'Without reliable access to these elements and magnets, automotive suppliers will be unable to produce critical automotive components, including automatic transmissions, throttle bodies, alternators, various motors, sensors, seat belts, speakers, lights, motors, power steering, and cameras,' the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, an industry body, wrote in a letter addressed to the Trump administration in early May. The letter, cited by Reuters in a recent report on the rare earths restrictions, is one of what looks like a cry for help that is only going to get louder. It was signed by auto industry leaders including Toyota, Volkswagen, and General Motors, which thanked the administration for trying to resolve the issue. If they didn't, the carmakers said, it would be only a matter of time before car factories started shutting same is happening in Europe, and it's worse—because with Trump, U.S. carmakers no longer have to worry about EVs. With the current European parliament and the Commission, local carmakers do have to worry about EVs, a lot. Because EVs feature greater amounts of those rare earths than internal combustion engine cars. And European carmakers have been mandated with the production and sale of certain minimum numbers of these EVs over the next three years. 'I informed my Chinese counterpart about the alarming situation in the EU car industry — the rare earth and permanent magnets are essential for industrial production… this is extremely disruptive for industry,' the European Union's trade commissioner, Maros Sefcovic, said this week, as quoted by the Financial Times. He added that the 'Carmakers are warning of huge production difficulties in a short period of time.' The clock, in other words, is ticking and China does not really seem in a hurry to stop it. The restrictions that Beijing implemented in mid-April are not literal—or direct. They are in the form of a new licensing regime for anyone who wants to buy rare earth magnets from Chinese producers. To do that, the prospective buyer needs to apply for a license, provide a substantial amount of information, and wait. As a Bosch spokesperson described it, the application process was 'complex and time-consuming, partly due to the need to collect and provide a lot of information.' Because of this complexity, only a few car parts suppliers have been granted such licenses, making the car companies' freak-out only a matter of time, really. But this is coming at a really bad time for European carmakers, despite the substantial rise in EV sales. They are still to turn in a solid profit on their electric cars and they are supposed to be making ever more of these—which means a lot more rare earths. Things are not that swell in the United States, either, after President Donald Trump accused the Chinese of violating a deal the two earlier agreed, on the temporary relaxation of trade warfare, including tariffs and other trade restrictions—only to be slapped back with the accusation that he did that first, by restricting semiconductor exports. Things are not looking good for the car industry right now but there is, as always, a silver lining. It consists in the fact that the world is entirely dependent on a single source of rare earths and this is not a sustainable or secure state of affairs. There has been a lot of talk in both Europe and the United States about building their own supply chains in such critical materials but action has not really been forthcoming. Even if it was, building a supply chain from scratch takes many years—just ask China. Yet the rare earths drama may boost Europe's resolve to actually start working on that supply chain, however long it takes to build it. Import dependence can be fatal. By Irina Slav for More Top Reads From this article on
