Ford Motor stated on Monday that its new-vehicle gross sales in the USA fell 17 % within the first three months of the yr, consistent with different automakers which might be struggling to maintain their factories working amid a worldwide scarcity of laptop chips.
Ford stated it had offered 429,174 automobiles and lightweight vehicles within the first quarter, in comparison with 517,711 in the identical interval a yr in the past. Its gross sales included 6,734 Mustang Mach-E electrical sport utility autos, solely 120 greater than a yr in the past, a mirrored image of the impression of the chip scarcity.
Stellantis, the maker of Jeeps and Ram pickups, stated its U.S. gross sales fell 14 % to 405,221 automobiles and lightweight vehicles. Jeep model gross sales solely fell 2 %, thank to 2 new S.U.V.s, the Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer. The corporate’s Chrysler and Dodge manufacturers noticed declines of 27 % and 36 %.
Established automakers have been battling the chip scarcity for months, some for greater than a yr. Against this, Tesla, the largest vendor of electrical automobiles, stated on Saturday that its new automotive gross sales have been up practically 70 % within the first quarter.
Ford stated its sellers had 268,000 autos in stock on the finish of March, down from 370,000 a yr in the past. G.M. had shares of 273,760 autos, down from 334,628 a yr in the past. Years in the past, the 2 automakers usually held inventories of 800,000 autos or extra.
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Ford, Common Motors and different corporations have stated that they anticipated manufacturing and gross sales to return to extra regular ranges within the second half of the yr.
Ford is seeing sturdy demand for its pickup vehicles and sport-utility autos, Andrew Frick, Ford’s vp of gross sales, distribution and vehicles, stated in an announcement. The automaker took in 50,000 orders from retail prospects for F-series vehicles in March, which Mr. Frick stated was a file.
Toyota Motor, which initially weathered the chip scarcity higher than its American rivals, outsold each Ford and G.M. within the first quarter, promoting 514,592 autos, simply forward of G.M’s 512,846. Toyota additionally outsold Ford and G.M. in 2021, turning into the primary producer primarily based outdoors the USA to attain that feat within the business’s practically 120-year historical past.
President Biden’s top antitrust enforcers have promised to sue monopolies and block big mergers — a cornerstone of the administration’s economic agenda to restore competition to the economy.
Below are 15 major cases brought by the Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission since late 2020 (including cases against Google and Meta initially filed during the Trump administration just before Mr. Biden took office).
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The government has won several but not all the cases. And with only a few months remaining for the current administration, the number of suits is climbing, as regulators go after dominant companies in tech, pharmaceuticals, finance and even groceries.
new video loaded: Federal Reserve Cuts Interest Rates for the First Time in Four Years
transcript
transcript
Federal Reserve Cuts Interest Rates for the First Time in Four Years
Jerome H. Powell, the Fed chair, said that the central bank would take future interest rate cuts “meeting by meeting” after lowering rates by a half percentage point, an unusually large move.
Today, the Federal Open Market Committee decided to reduce the degree of policy restraint by lowering our policy interest rate by a half percentage point. Our patient approach over the past year has paid dividends. Inflation is now much closer to our objective, and we have gained greater confidence that inflation is moving sustainably toward 2 percent. We’re going to take it meeting by meeting. As I mentioned, there’s no sense that the committee feels it’s in a rush to do this. We made a good, strong start to this, and that’s really, frankly, a sign of our confidence — confidence that inflation is coming down.