Free Republic

China is losing its influence; it’s in decline. At the same time, however, China, ruled by a despotic regime, is responsible for 28.7 percent of global manufacturing output (more than 10 percentage points ahead of its No. 1 rival, the United States). This utter dependence on China for manufacturing must be stopped. As I write this, three countries are working to siphon customers away from China. Will their efforts prove to be successful?I speak from experience when I say the following: communist China is not a fun place to live in. Moreover, with its frequent power cuts and the Chinese...

The IEA said daily gasoline demand dropped by a record 2.9 million barrels in 2020, down more than 10% from the previous year.The world's thirst for gasoline isn't likely to return to pre-pandemic levels, the International Energy Agency forecast, calling a peak for the fuel that has powered personal transportation for more than a century.The Paris-based energy watchdog, in its closely followed five-year forecast, said an accelerating global shift toward electric vehicles, along with increasing fuel efficiency among gasoline-powered fleets, will more than outweigh demand growth from countries in the developing world.The forecast comes as auto makers have pivoted recently...

Mercedes-Benz owner Daimler's profits slumped by almost two-thirds in 2019 as the legal costs of the "dieselgate" scandal and heavy investments in electric technology took their toll. The German carmaker's net profit fell to €2.7bn (£2.3bn) for 2019, it announced on Tuesday, almost €5bn worse than the previous year's performance. It also slashed its dividend from €3.25 per share to only 90 cents to help preserve cash to plough into electric vehicle technology. Daimler is carrying out swingeing cuts to its global workforce as it tries to save more than €1bn in costs. In November it said it would cut...

"The Horowitz report is just the beginning of the unraveling of the plot to destroy Donald Trump" That's the view of former CIA employee Larry Johnson in response to recent mainstream media reporting.... The House Judiciary Committee chairman Democrat Congressman Jerry Nadler sending a letter to President Trump today..... A stabbing attack at London Bridge with two killed and the attacker shot dead..... Later Friday in the evening a stabbing attack reported in the Netherlands in The Hague.... The late word from Iraq is that Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi will be resigning..... Russian airstrikes reported in northwestern Syria Friday.......

German automaker Daimler said it has no idea how North Korean leader Kim Jong Un acquired its high-end limousines since it has no business relationship with the reclusive nation and U.N. sanctions prevent the sale of luxury goods to the North. Kim used Daimler-branded stretch limousines at his two summits with President Trump and at his recent meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The presence of Kim with Daimler limos confounded company officials, who cited the sanctions imposed on North Korea in order to pressure the country to abandon its nuclear weapons program.

(Reuters) - German automaker Daimler officially opened a Mercedes-Benz factory near Moscow on Wednesday at a ceremony attended by President Vladimir Putin, marking a rare foreign investment into Russia's car industry. The plant in the town of Esipovo 40 kilometers north west of Moscow is the first in years to be opened by a foreign carmaker in Russia where investment into the once burgeoning auto industry dried up amid western sanctions and a stagnant economy. Speaking at the inaugural ceremony, Putin said the plant would produce 25,000 cars a year and that investment in the project had totaled 19 billion...

The European Union agreed on Tuesday to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) from new trucks and buses by 30 percent by a 2030 deadline as part of its commitment to cut its output of greenhouse gases. […] The EU currently has no limits on emissions from heavy-duty vehicles, unlike the United States, China, Japan and Canada. Trucks account for almost one quarter of the bloc’s transport-related emissions. […] Curbs on the transport sector, the only one in which emissions are still rising, aim to help the bloc meet its overall goal of reducing greenhouse gases by at least 40...

In a significant symbolic blow to the Iranian regime, the Volkswagen Group — the world’s biggest selling car manufacturer last year — has reportedly agreed to end almost all of its operations in Iran, in line with the restoration of U.S. sanctions on Tehran. The news was disclosed by U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell, who since taking up his Berlin posting in May — he presented his credentials on the same day President Trump announced the U.S. was exiting the Iran nuclear deal — has been encouraging the host government to isolate Iran and urging German companies to stop...

Ford's plan to reduce its passenger car lineup to just two models, and GM's difficulty selling passenger cars in the U.S. show how much tastes are drifting toward trucks, SUVs and crossovers. Ford will only update the Focus Active crossover and Mustang for the U.S. market, while GM called out a challenging passenger car environment. ====================================================================================================== So is it really the end of the American car on its home turf? From the way Detroit's major executives are talking, it would seem so. Ford said Wednesday it will only offer two new cars in North America over the coming years —...

Germany’s economy minister on Saturday suggested tightening the rules on foreign investment, following concern over Chinese influence on European firms. Last month, it emerged that Chinese billionaire Li Shufu had quietly bought a near-10-percent stake worth around €7.2 billion ($8.9 billion) in German car giant Daimler — making him the group’s largest shareholder. “We must always adapt our law on the external economy according to new developments, including the threshold at which (the government) can become involved,” Economy Minister Brigitte Zypries told the weekly Der Spiegel. Currently, Berlin can scrutinize a transaction and possibly prevent it, if the foreign investor...

President Donald Trump’s new tax law spells savings for BMW and other big German companies that produce and sell their products in the United States. Not so for smaller firms. And so there’s a certain irony to the fact that the tax reform bill, signed into law last week, has also given a gift to some of Germany’s larger companies, including its carmakers. The simple reason is that some of these companies already produce a large amount of their goods in the United States....

German carmakers Daimler and BMW said Friday a new sweeping US tax reform giving major breaks to corporations will add hundreds of millions of euros to their 2017 earnings. The controversial tax overhaul signed into law Friday by billionaire President Donald Trump will slash the US corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 21 percent. As a result, Daimler projected its net income to grow by around 1.7 billion euros ($2 billion) this year. "The reduction of the federal corporate income tax rate... results in an income tax benefit increasing the net income of the group for the year 2017...

Volkswagen, Daimler, and Bosch are suspected of colluding on steel prices, leading to raids on their offices by the federal competition watchdog, it was reported on Tuesday. […] Six companies were raided during the search, which was conducted by 50 antitrust agents with the support of local police and state prosecutors, the Schwäbische Zeitung reports. (Spokesperson for the Bundeskartellamt Kay) Weidner said no charges have been filed, adding that the searches do not mean that antitrust laws were violated. …

Daimler debuts self-driving semi-truck Its name is “Inspiration,” and Daimler Trucks says it is the first ever self-driving semi-truck licensed to drive on public roads — in this case Nevada’s highways — not only for testing, but business, too. Daimler Trucks North America LLC debuted the self-driving big rig Tuesday night with a drive — and a driver steering — atop the Hoover Dam on the Nevada-Arizona border. Taking a line from astronaut Neil Armstrong, Dr. Wolfgang Bernhard of Daimler Trucks and Buses told the crowd bused to the site from Las Vegas for the news conference that they were...

EU scientists have found that the new car coolant at the center of a dispute that has pitched regulators against Germany and its luxury car maker Daimler does not pose any serious safety risks, the European Commission said on Friday. The Commission, the EU executive, has launched legal proceedings against Germany over Daimler’s refusal to stop using an old-style coolant that has global warming potential more than 1,000 times greater than that of carbon dioxide. The suggested substitute, which has roughly the same impact as carbon dioxide, is the R1234yf coolant developed by U.S. conglomerate Honeywell in partnership with Dupont....

Daimler Accused of Bribing Russians 25 March 2010 By Maria Antonova German carmaker Daimler paid more than 3 million euros ($4 million) in bribes to Russian government officials, largely to secure the sale of cars to the police and Federal Guard Service, the agency that provides transportation for Russian and visiting dignitaries, the U.S. Justice Department said in a lawsuit. The maker of the Mercedes sedans favored by top officials "made improper payments at the request of Russian government officials or their designees in order to secure business from Russian government customers" between 2000 and 2005, when government purchases comprised...

German automotive giant Daimler has invested in electric-car company Tesla Motors and plans to use Tesla's battery packs in its Smart electric car due later this year. At a Tuesday press conference held at the Daimler museum in Stuttgart, Germany, Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Daimler management board member Thomas Weber said the contract between the two companies calls for joint collaboration on the Smart electric car and future models.

German carmaker Daimler has reached a deal to give up its 19.9% stake in Chrysler, the company has said. The deal, which will also see Daimler forgive Chrysler's outstanding loans, marks a definitive separation of the German and US firms, Daimler said. Daimler bought Chrysler in 1998 but sold most of the loss-making unit to Cerberus Capital Management in 2007. Earlier, Chrysler announced a cost-cutting deal with its main US union as it tries to restructure its business. The struggling Detroit carmaker has until 30 April to complete its restructuring in order to gain further state loans, without which it...

As a small step that could be considered a healthy vote of confidence in Iraq's return to stability, Mercedes has established a corporate representative office in Baghdad. Daimler set up shop in Erbil, Iraq last February, opening a training center that would get mechanics ready for coming Mercedes products. By installing a corporate representative, the company will have someone on the ground to figure out how best to introduce new Mercedes products to the country. The rep will focus on examining and developing the market for trucks and buses, which Daimler should have all to itself for a while.

BERLIN (AFP) – German carmaker Daimler, hit by falling demand amid the global financial crisis, plans to suspend production for a month beginning in December, a newspaper said in report due to appear Sunday. The break in production would begin on December 11 and last until January 12, Frankfurter Sonntagszeitung reported, citing a company spokesman. Daimler, the first luxury car maker to present its quarterly results, unveiled big falls in profits on Thursday and issued a new profit warning owing to the global banking crisis. "The financial crisis is turning into an economic crisis," Daimler chairman Dieter Zetsche told a...