Latest news with #US12
Perth Now
7 days ago
- Sport
- Perth Now
'Dream come true': why Minjee Lee craves another major
Birthday girl Minjee Lee is pinning her faith in a "pistol-grip" putter and trusty caddy as she shoots for redemption and the biggest pay day in women's golf. Lee and world No.8 Hannah Green will spearhead a seven-strong Australian challenge at the 80th Women's US Open starting on Thursday at famed and formidable Erin Hills near Milwaukee. The winner will pocket a cheque for US$2.4 million from the overall $US12 million purse but money can't buy the feeling of getting her hands on the trophy like Lee did three years ago. "I've seen so many US Opens on TV and all the highlights, so that it became the one that I've always wanted to win and it was just a dream come true, 2022. That win was very special to me," Lee said ahead of the season's second major championship. The one-time world No.2, who has slipped to 22nd in the rankings after enduring the longest winning drought of her pro career, last year relinquished a three-shot final-round lead in pursuit of a second US Open crown. Revered as the world's premier iron player, Lee has switched to a broomstick putter in a bid to solve her ongoing putting woes. While the 29-year-old is yet to snap a 20-month winless run, the move to a long wand has already been telling. After finishing tied for 127th, 154th, equal 141st and 157th on the LPGA Tour for strokes gained in putting for the past four years, Lee is joint-ninth on the greens in 2025. The transition has not been straightforward but Lee says she's back "in a good space" with her game after coming to grips, literally, with the putter change. "I was just trying to get the grip comfortable with my right hand, so I tried a couple different ones," Lee revealed on Wednesday before heading off with Green for birthday celebrations. "And I just ended up being comfortable with the one I'm using right now, which is just like a pistol grip. "So, yeah, I was just trying to experiment on what I felt most comfortable in and most confident in." The renewed comfort has yielded second, fourth and seventh-place finishes among six top-15 finishes from eight starts in a super consistent, no-missed-cuts start to the season. With her full game back in order, Lee will back her new, esteemed bagman Mikey Paterson, a former caddy for legend Karrie Webb, to help complete the puzzle this week and claim a third career major. "He plays a huge part in my preparation and also my course management and that's the biggest thing at the US Open," Lee said. "You have a lot of blind tee shots or the wind might swirl or be quite aggressive at times, so I really trust that he's done all his work on the course. "I'll really lean on him to tell me where the start lines are and even on the greens, some of the undulations and where I need to hit it to be in a good spot to make par or birdies. "You've got to be in the right spots and sometimes it's not where you make your pars or your birdies, it's where you make your bogeys so you're not having doubles or especially those larger scores. "US Women's Opens are renowned for arguably being the hardest championship out there to win. The course set-ups are renowned for being difficult and designed to challenge you. "So it will come into play a lot this week to have a great partnership with your caddy."
The Age
14-05-2025
- Business
- The Age
‘We create loyalty': Uber flips food delivery on its head to keep you coming back
New York: Dine-in discounts encouraging people to catch an Uber to a nearby restaurant are part of a suite of incoming features from the rideshare and food delivery giant designed to keep cost-conscious users addicted to its app. Sydney will be the first market to test and trial Dine Out, a partnership with OpenTable that offers in-person restaurant deals and allows customers to book a reservation on Uber's app. While catching an Uber to the restaurant is optional, the $US189 billion ($294 billion) transport behemoth is pitching this and a number of other features, such as price locking and route sharing, to ramp up daily Uber use and keep customers embedded in the network. Chief product officer Sachin Kansal said Uber was aiming to build loyalty by broadening choices that include pick-up and delivery for restaurant food or groceries. 'If we create a range of options, both from a price point perspective as well as a functionality perspective, we create loyalty,' he told this masthead after Uber's annual product launch event in New York. 'If you add Uber One membership, we create an ecosystem for users to come back for both rides and [Uber] Eats, and that's our strategy. Our strategy is to continue to provide more value for users.' Uber, listed on the New York Stock Exchange, has 171 million users across 70 countries and raked in $US12 billion in revenue last year, a growth of 20 per cent. The company is also targeting commuters through other new features like price lock pass, which allows customers travelling a specific route regularly to pay a lower price across multiple rides for an upfront fee. Kansal said Uber had received feedback that prices were a key concern and said the company could leverage its 'great scale advantage' across the world, including in Australia, to help them save.
Sydney Morning Herald
14-05-2025
- Business
- Sydney Morning Herald
‘We create loyalty': Uber flips food delivery on its head to keep you coming back
New York: Dine-in discounts encouraging people to catch an Uber to a nearby restaurant are part of a suite of incoming features from the rideshare and food delivery giant designed to keep cost-conscious users addicted to its app. Sydney will be the first market to test and trial Dine Out, a partnership with OpenTable that offers in-person restaurant deals and allows customers to book a reservation on Uber's app. While catching an Uber to the restaurant is optional, the $US189 billion ($294 billion) transport behemoth is pitching this and a number of other features, such as price locking and route sharing, to ramp up daily Uber use and keep customers embedded in the network. Chief product officer Sachin Kansal said Uber was aiming to build loyalty by broadening choices that include pick-up and delivery for restaurant food or groceries. 'If we create a range of options, both from a price point perspective as well as a functionality perspective, we create loyalty,' he told this masthead after Uber's annual product launch event in New York. 'If you add Uber One membership, we create an ecosystem for users to come back for both rides and [Uber] Eats, and that's our strategy. Our strategy is to continue to provide more value for users.' Uber, listed on the New York Stock Exchange, has 171 million users across 70 countries and raked in $US12 billion in revenue last year, a growth of 20 per cent. The company is also targeting commuters through other new features like price lock pass, which allows customers travelling a specific route regularly to pay a lower price across multiple rides for an upfront fee. Kansal said Uber had received feedback that prices were a key concern and said the company could leverage its 'great scale advantage' across the world, including in Australia, to help them save.
The Age
25-04-2025
- Automotive
- The Age
These cars are poised to take over our roads, and they are all made in China
BYD's electric vehicles are second in popularity only to Elon Musk's Tesla within the Australian landscape. The two brands collectively represented more than half of sales across the first three quarters of 2024, the Electric Vehicle Council said. Loading The company, based in southern China's Shenzhen, recently announced an ultra-fast EV charging system it says can provide a full charge for its latest EVs within five to eight minutes, about as long as a fill-up. It plans to build more than 4000 of the new charging stations across China. The Chinese company started out making batteries and has been refining its battery and energy storage technology while building an auto empire that is expanding outside China. While BYD's fanciest, latest premium models are expected to sell for up to about $US40,000 ($62,000), it also makes much less expensive EVs including the Seagull, which sells for about $US12,000 in China. BYD nudged ahead of Tesla in production of battery-powered EVs in 2024, making 1,777,965 compared with Tesla's 1,773,443. Great Wall Motors Great Wall Motors, with the Haval, Wey, Ora, Poer and Tank brands, is banking on overseas sales to keep growing after its sales inside China fell by nearly 15 per cent last year, even as the company's net profit jumped more than 80 per cent. The company has factories in Russia, Thailand and Brazil, where it is challenging Toyota's popular Hilux pick-up truck with its GWM Poer, a hybrid pick-up of its own. Another mainstay is the Haval H6, a hybrid sports SUV. In Australia, the Haval, Poer and Ora brands are available for sale, with Wey instead choosing to focus on the European market. GWM is the seventh best-selling car manufacturer in Australia so far in 2025 – with more than 4800 vehicles sold in March, according to the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries. While this includes EV and internal combustion engine sales, it is indicative of growing market overall. Great Wall has smoothed its transition to overseas production by buying factories of other automakers. In Thailand, it took over a factory formerly operated by General Motors. In Brazil, it purchased a former Mercedes-Benz plant. 'It is essential for volume to be big, otherwise the cost of production is too high,' Great Wall's chairman, Wei Jianjun, said in a media huddle at the show. Wei, who also goes by the name Jack Wey, was born in Beijing but moved to nearby Hebei, home of the Great Wall. He led the company's transition from vehicle modification to automaking, becoming China's biggest maker of pickup trucks and a leading SUV maker. The company has a joint venture for EVs with BMW. Chery State-owned Chery Automobile says it was the first Chinese automaker to export overseas. It has sold more than 15 million of its Chery, Exeed, Omoda and Jetour models overseas, mostly in the developing world and emerging markets, including Turkey and Ukraine. Chery reported selling 2.6 million vehicles overseas last year and is aiming for three million in 2025. It's quickly expanding overseas production, setting up factories in Russia and Spain. It is expanding rapidly in Latin America. The manufacturer launched in Australia in March 2023, and made its 20,000th overall sale earlier this year. The Omoda E5, its electric vehicle offering, was given a price cut in January due to poor sales in the Australian market. Chery's tie-up with EV-maker Visionary Vehicles aimed to sell in North America but has not yet achieved that goal. The company has a 50-50 joint venture with Jaguar Land Rover, which is a subsidiary of Tata Motors of India that makes Jaguars and Land Rovers in China. It also collaborates with Huawei Technologies and e-commerce giant Alibaba. Chery still sells far more fuel-engine cars than EVs. Its battery electric vehicle company, Chery New Energy, makes minivehicles like the eQ1, or Small Ant, and the QQ Ice Cream. Its mainstays are the Tiggo lineup of SUVs and its Arrizo sedans. Geely Geely Auto is perhaps the most famous Chinese automaker that many people have never heard of. The privately held company was founded as a refrigerator-maker by businessman Li Shufu in 1997 in eastern China's Taizhou, which early on became a hub of private industry. Li began making strategic overseas acquisitions early on, buying Sweden's Volvo from Ford Motor in 2010. Geely's purchase of a 49.9 per cent stake in Malaysia's Proton gave it a 51 per cent stake in luxury sports car brand Lotus. It formed a 50-50 joint venture to make Smart city cars with Germany's Daimler AG. It also works with Renault of France on powertrains and owns a stake in Aston Martin Lagonda. In March, it launched sales of its Geely EX5 SUVs in Australia and New Zealand, adding to its global reach. Geely and Volvo own Swedish automaker Polestar, which has struggled in the US market. As of March, only 389 Polestar vehicles had been sold in Australia during 2025, according to the Electric Vehicle Council. Wuling China's second-best selling EV brand in China is Wuling, a joint venture of Shanghai's SAIC Motor, General Motors and Guangxi Auto. It sold more than 673,000 EVs in China and has a market share of only 6 per cent compared with BYD's nearly one-third share. Tesla came in third at 659,000 cars sold. Apart from its Baojun sedans and vans, Wuling mainly makes engines, commercial vehicles and special purpose vehicles like mini-EVs and golf carts. The brand is not available for purchase in Australia. Dongfeng, Changan and Nio Other major Chinese brands of EVs include Nio, Xpeng, Li Auto and Leap Motor. State-run giants like Dongfeng Motor Group, which has an alliance with Nissan, and Changan Automobile, a partner with Japan's Mazda and with Ford, are also quickly expanding EV sales. While none of these brands are being sold in Australia, all three have previously indicated interest in expanding their market.
Sydney Morning Herald
25-04-2025
- Automotive
- Sydney Morning Herald
These cars are poised to take over our roads, and they are all made in China
BYD's electric vehicles are second in popularity only to Elon Musk's Tesla within the Australian landscape. The two brands collectively represented more than half of sales across the first three quarters of 2024, the Electric Vehicle Council said. Loading The company, based in southern China's Shenzhen, recently announced an ultra-fast EV charging system it says can provide a full charge for its latest EVs within five to eight minutes, about as long as a fill-up. It plans to build more than 4000 of the new charging stations across China. The Chinese company started out making batteries and has been refining its battery and energy storage technology while building an auto empire that is expanding outside China. While BYD's fanciest, latest premium models are expected to sell for up to about $US40,000 ($62,000), it also makes much less expensive EVs including the Seagull, which sells for about $US12,000 in China. BYD nudged ahead of Tesla in production of battery-powered EVs in 2024, making 1,777,965 compared with Tesla's 1,773,443. Great Wall Motors Great Wall Motors, with the Haval, Wey, Ora, Poer and Tank brands, is banking on overseas sales to keep growing after its sales inside China fell by nearly 15 per cent last year, even as the company's net profit jumped more than 80 per cent. The company has factories in Russia, Thailand and Brazil, where it is challenging Toyota's popular Hilux pick-up truck with its GWM Poer, a hybrid pick-up of its own. Another mainstay is the Haval H6, a hybrid sports SUV. In Australia, the Haval, Poer and Ora brands are available for sale, with Wey instead choosing to focus on the European market. GWM is the seventh best-selling car manufacturer in Australia so far in 2025 – with more than 4800 vehicles sold in March, according to the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries. While this includes EV and internal combustion engine sales, it is indicative of growing market overall. Great Wall has smoothed its transition to overseas production by buying factories of other automakers. In Thailand, it took over a factory formerly operated by General Motors. In Brazil, it purchased a former Mercedes-Benz plant. 'It is essential for volume to be big, otherwise the cost of production is too high,' Great Wall's chairman, Wei Jianjun, said in a media huddle at the show. Wei, who also goes by the name Jack Wey, was born in Beijing but moved to nearby Hebei, home of the Great Wall. He led the company's transition from vehicle modification to automaking, becoming China's biggest maker of pickup trucks and a leading SUV maker. The company has a joint venture for EVs with BMW. Chery State-owned Chery Automobile says it was the first Chinese automaker to export overseas. It has sold more than 15 million of its Chery, Exeed, Omoda and Jetour models overseas, mostly in the developing world and emerging markets, including Turkey and Ukraine. Chery reported selling 2.6 million vehicles overseas last year and is aiming for three million in 2025. It's quickly expanding overseas production, setting up factories in Russia and Spain. It is expanding rapidly in Latin America. The manufacturer launched in Australia in March 2023, and made its 20,000th overall sale earlier this year. The Omoda E5, its electric vehicle offering, was given a price cut in January due to poor sales in the Australian market. Chery's tie-up with EV-maker Visionary Vehicles aimed to sell in North America but has not yet achieved that goal. The company has a 50-50 joint venture with Jaguar Land Rover, which is a subsidiary of Tata Motors of India that makes Jaguars and Land Rovers in China. It also collaborates with Huawei Technologies and e-commerce giant Alibaba. Chery still sells far more fuel-engine cars than EVs. Its battery electric vehicle company, Chery New Energy, makes minivehicles like the eQ1, or Small Ant, and the QQ Ice Cream. Its mainstays are the Tiggo lineup of SUVs and its Arrizo sedans. Geely Geely Auto is perhaps the most famous Chinese automaker that many people have never heard of. The privately held company was founded as a refrigerator-maker by businessman Li Shufu in 1997 in eastern China's Taizhou, which early on became a hub of private industry. Li began making strategic overseas acquisitions early on, buying Sweden's Volvo from Ford Motor in 2010. Geely's purchase of a 49.9 per cent stake in Malaysia's Proton gave it a 51 per cent stake in luxury sports car brand Lotus. It formed a 50-50 joint venture to make Smart city cars with Germany's Daimler AG. It also works with Renault of France on powertrains and owns a stake in Aston Martin Lagonda. In March, it launched sales of its Geely EX5 SUVs in Australia and New Zealand, adding to its global reach. Geely and Volvo own Swedish automaker Polestar, which has struggled in the US market. As of March, only 389 Polestar vehicles had been sold in Australia during 2025, according to the Electric Vehicle Council. Wuling China's second-best selling EV brand in China is Wuling, a joint venture of Shanghai's SAIC Motor, General Motors and Guangxi Auto. It sold more than 673,000 EVs in China and has a market share of only 6 per cent compared with BYD's nearly one-third share. Tesla came in third at 659,000 cars sold. Apart from its Baojun sedans and vans, Wuling mainly makes engines, commercial vehicles and special purpose vehicles like mini-EVs and golf carts. The brand is not available for purchase in Australia. Dongfeng, Changan and Nio Other major Chinese brands of EVs include Nio, Xpeng, Li Auto and Leap Motor. State-run giants like Dongfeng Motor Group, which has an alliance with Nissan, and Changan Automobile, a partner with Japan's Mazda and with Ford, are also quickly expanding EV sales. While none of these brands are being sold in Australia, all three have previously indicated interest in expanding their market.
