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Ford Q2 sales drop 10.3% due to F-Series supplier issue, falling EV demand

DETROIT — Ford Motor on Thursday reported a 10.3% decline in its second-quarter U.S. new vehicle sales as the company battled a supplier issue for its F-Series pickup trucks and a significant drop in all-electric vehicles. The Detroit automaker said its pure EV sales fell by 40.7% during the quarter compared with a year earlier. Sales of its F-Series trucks, including the F-150, slipped 11% as Ford began ramping up production after its top aluminum supplier restarted production following two fires late last year. "Although customer demand remains high, first-half F-Series sales reflect a retiming of commercial production following last year's aluminum supply shortages. Ford expects supply to recover more fully in the second half of the year," Ford said in a release. Ford sold 549,200 vehicles during the second quarter compared with 612,095 units a year earlier. While that's among the largest expected industry declines, the results slightly beat Cox Automotive's expectations for Ford sales to fall 11.5%. The automaker has sold 1 million vehicles year to date through June, down 9.6% from 1.1 million during the first half of last year. Ford noted that despite the declines, the F-Series remained America's top-selling truck. The company also estimates its U.S. retail market share to end the quarter was up 0.2 percentage point compared with a year earlier, to 12.3%. Ford's sales come a day after most major automakers reported second-quarter numbers that were better than expected, largely driven by increased demand for hybrid vehicles. Crosstown rival General Motors saw its sales fall 4.2%, however, as its EV sales dropped. Automotive data firm Motor Intelligence on Wednesday estimated U.S. industry sales for June were up 7.5% compared with a year ago, leading to a monthly adjusted selling pace of 16.67 million units, which was higher than many forecasters had expected. As of last week, Cox Automotive expected U.S. auto sales to be down 2.9% to 15.8 million vehicles, including a 3.4% decline in retail sales. That included a 16.1 adjusted selling rate forecast for June. Get this delivered to your inbox, and more info about our products and services. Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes. Global Business and Financial News, Stock Quotes, and Market Data and Analysis.

Ford Q2 sales drop 10.3% due to F-Series supplier issue, falling EV demand
Europe
BBC Business

Goat and skin in millions of 'lamb' kebabs compared to horsemeat lasagne scandal

Millions of people are likely to have eaten takeaway kebabs made with goat, skin and fat when they thought they were buying lamb meat, in a fraud that investigators have compared to the 2013 horsemeat lasagne scandal. BBC News has been told the kebabs from Kismet Kebabs, which describes itself as one of the UK's largest doner kebab makers, were sold to fast food outlets across the country for years. The firm was fined £500,000 after pleading guilty in court to a fraud that dates back to 2021. Kismet Kebabs, which is estimated to have made £6m from the fraud, said it related to "historical events that occurred over five years ago" and when they "operated under a different leadership structure". Kismet Kebabs advertised and labelled its lamb doner kebabs as being made with up to 87% lamb – depending on the kebab. But concerns were raised when trading standards officers in Swansea began to randomly DNA test doner meat from takeaways in the city in 2020 and 2021. Kebabs that were meant to be "70% lamb" came back as showing "less than 10% sheep". "I think some customers won't be surprised there's a lot of skin and fat in these products - but I don't think many people will be expecting goat," said Swansea trading standards officer Rhys Harries. "A consumer buying a kebab knows it's probably not the best quality ingredients, but it's still got to be what it says it is," said Harries. "It's almost the same as the horsemeat scandal, because of the volume of product that was going out of this factory." The 2013 horsemeat scandal is one of the most high-profile food fraud crises in recent history, when DNA testing revealed horsemeat in beef products and led to a range of processed foods being withdrawn from sale across Europe. Investigators raided the Kismet factory in Essex in May 2021 to find out what was in the kebabs, as takeaways thought they were buying lamb as advertised on the package.

Goat and skin in millions of 'lamb' kebabs compared to horsemeat lasagne scandal
Asia
The Hindu BusinessLine

Time has come to look at separate AI legislation: IT Secretary

India appears set to move towards a dedicated regulatory framework for artificial intelligence, with IT Secretary S Krishnan on Friday saying the time has come to look at a separate AI regulation. Krishnan noted that while existing legal provisions have so far been adequate in addressing initial concerns on issues like deepfakes and AI-generated synthetic content, an "additional regulation or law may be needed." "It is a conversation which has commenced, and my Minister (IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw) and I have both been on record earlier that we will look at AI regulation when the time is right, and it appears that the time is getting right, and we will start looking at it," Krishnan said. He added: "We have used the IT rules, and other provisions of existing law to address various concerns that AI raises, but now, probably the time has come to look at a separate legislation." Asked about the timelines for bringing out a new AI regulation, the IT secretary said: "As Ministry, at an official level, what we can do is prepare draft legislation...when it finally comes out, is not something which I can comment, especially when it is a legislation." Last month, in an interview to PTI, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had said that the current information technology law was framed much before the rapid emergence of Artificial Intelligence (AI), and that a new legal framework may be required to deal with the changing landscape. Vaishnaw had said discussions are on with the industry and that the government will seek to strike a balance between innovation and regulation. Policymakers, across the globe, are grappling with challenges posed by generative AI, including deepfakes, misinformation, and online harms. In February this year, the government brought in stricter obligations for online platforms on handling AI-generated and synthetic content, including deepfakes, saying platforms, such as X and Instagram, must take down within three hours any such content flagged by a competent authority or court. The government notified amendments to the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, that formally define AI-generated and synthetic content. The amendments defined "audio, visual or audio-visual information" and "synthetically-generated information", covering AI-created or altered content that appears real or authentic. Routine editing, accessibility improvements, and good-faith educational or design work have been excluded from this definition. The Centre has also mooted stricter disclosure norms for AI-generated content, proposing tweaks to IT rules that would require clear and continuous labels identifying synthetically generated information to be visible throughout the entire duration of the visual display. Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments. We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.

Time has come to look at separate AI legislation: IT Secretary
Asia
The Hindu BusinessLine

Tata Power commissions 100.8 MW wind farm in Maharashtra

Tata Power Renewable Energy Limited (TPREL) on Friday commissioned its 100.8 MW Jewali Wind Project in Dharashiv district, Maharashtra, adding to its growing clean energy portfolio. The project will supply electricity to Tata Power Mumbai Distribution and support its Renewable Purchase Obligation compliance. The facility comprises 28 SG 3.6-145 horizontal-axis wind turbine generators and is expected to produce approximately 299 million units of electricity annually. The project is projected to offset roughly 245 million kg of CO₂ emissions each year, based on an estimated reduction of 0.82 kg of CO₂ per unit generated. With this addition, TPREL’s wind energy portfolio now exceeds 3.9 GW, of which more than 1.3 GW is operational. Projects under various stages of development span Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu. TPREL’s total renewable utility capacity has reached 11.6 GW following the commissioning. Of this, 6.7 GW is currently operational — comprising 5.4 GW of solar and 1.3 GW of wind — while 4.9 GW remains under implementation, including 2.1 GW of solar, 2.6 GW of wind, and 0.2 GW of battery energy storage, expected to be commissioned over the next 6–24 months. The Jewali project is part of Tata Power’s stated goal of achieving 100 per cent clean energy generation by 2045 and Net Zero emissions by the same year. Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments. We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.

Tata Power commissions 100.8 MW wind farm in Maharashtra
Europe
BBC Business

'We give up to £400': How much should you gift at a wedding?

Being a wedding guest can be expensive - there's travel, accommodation, you might even treat yourself to a new outfit - then there's another cost to factor in: the gift. It's now commonplace for invitations to read: "Your presence is enough, but if you would like to give us a gift, please donate to our honeymoon fund." But replacing the traditional gift list with bank transfer details, can leave guests with a new etiquette dilemma: how much are you expected to give? Wedding list service Prezola says it has seen a rise in couples inviting guests to pay for specific experiences rather than a generic cash pot. It says the average guest contribution is £116. But expectations can vary widely, depending on everything from closeness and culture to the cost of attending. Johnny, 34, says he and his wife Lottie contribute between £250 and £400 depending on how close they are to the bride and groom and what they can afford at the time. At his own wedding, most close friends gave between £100 and £200, one couple gave £400 and they received £2,000 from Johnny's dad. They used it as spending money on their 17-day honeymoon in Canada which Johnny says they'd saved for "because it's not worth the risk of relying on donations". Hannah Rose-Thorn, 30, says she "always gives £50 in a card" and found that the average contribution to her own honeymoon fund was the same. "We mentioned money on our invitations and also created print-out QR codes for people to scan at the bar," she says. She received £3,000 which will be used as spending money for the honeymoon which she had already paid for. According to Hitched, a UK-based wedding planning website, the average UK couple spends around £4,000 on their honeymoon.

'We give up to £400': How much should you gift at a wedding?
Asia
The Hindu BusinessLine

Gujarat’s Kharif sowing slows sharply as 82% rain deficit keeps farmers off fields

An 82 per cent rainfall deficit has brought Kharif sowing in Gujarat to a crawl, with farmers postponing planting amid the delayed advance of the southwest monsoon. By the end of June, only 12.71 lakh hectares had been sown—62 per cent lower than the 33.9 lakh hectares covered during the same period last year—raising concerns over the pace of the sowing season if widespread rains do not arrive soon. The area sown so far is just 15 per cent of Gujarat’s normal Kharif acreage of around 85 lakh hectares, highlighting the extent to which weak monsoon activity has disrupted farm operations. While scattered showers have been reported in some parts of the state, most farmers are waiting for sustained rainfall before taking up large-scale sowing. The biggest setback has been in Gujarat’s key cash and oilseed crops. Farmers have sown only 4.29 lakh hectares under oilseeds so far, nearly five times lower than the corresponding period last year. Groundnut, the state’s largest Kharif crop, has been planted on 4.12 lakh hectares, a steep 73% decline from a year ago, while soybean acreage has plunged 87 per cent to just 15,406 hectares. Cotton, another major Kharif crop, has fared little better. Farmers have covered only 6.83 lakh hectares, down 51 per cent from the area sown by the end of June last year, reflecting widespread caution amid uncertain rainfall. Among cereals, however, sowing has bucked the broader trend. Farmers have planted 38,874 hectares, about 7 per cent more than during the same period last year. Pulses, on the other hand, have seen a sharp decline, with sowing limited to just 5,479 hectares, nearly one-fifth of last year’s coverage. The uneven progress of the monsoon is evident across the state. While Surat and Tapi in south Gujarat received heavy showers over the past 24 hours, large parts of Gujarat continue to remain dry, delaying field preparation and planting. The situation is most acute in Saurashtra, where Devbhumi Dwarka continues to record a 100 per cent rainfall deficit. Nine other districts in the region are also grappling with rainfall deficits of more than 90 per cent, leaving farmers reluctant to begin sowing until there is greater certainty over moisture availability. There is, however, some relief in sight. According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), conditions have become favourable for the further advance of the southwest monsoon into more parts of Gujarat.

Gujarat’s Kharif sowing slows sharply as 82% rain deficit keeps farmers off fields
Europe
The Guardian

Tesla sales surpass expectations for second quarter as Musk backlash seems to cool

Tesla vehicles and super chargers are shown at a Tesla dealership in Buena Park, California, on 28 January 2026. Photograph: Mike Blake/ReutersView image in fullscreenTesla vehicles and super chargers are shown at a Tesla dealership in Buena Park, California, on 28 January 2026. Photograph: Mike Blake/ReutersTeslaTesla sales surpass expectations for second quarter as Musk backlash seems to coolStrong figures suggest Tesla’s auto business is regaining momentum after two straight annual sales declines Tesla blew past ​Wall Street estimates for second-quarter deliveries on Thursday, posting a record for the period as recovering demand in Europe outweighed persistent weakness in North America. The strong figures suggest Tesla’s ⁠mainstay auto business is regaining momentum after two straight annual sales declines, providing the spending cushion needed to power its ambitions in autonomous driving and artificial intelligence – the main drivers of the company’s roughly $1.6tn valuation. Tesla expects to spend more than $25bn on capital expenditure in 2026, nearly triple the $8.5bn last year, to expand ​AI infrastructure, battery production, Cybercab manufacturing and Optimus robots. “I ‌think the huge growth in Europe ‌is the key driver for Tesla right now. US sales still appear to be down, albeit less than the broader ‌US EV decline, while China is seeing small growth,” said Seth Goldstein, senior equity analyst at Morningstar. Tesla’s recovery in Europe was aided by government EV incentives, faster electrification of corporate fleets, higher fuel prices and an easing of the consumer backlash over CEO Elon Musk’s far-right politics last year. The company delivered 480,126 vehicles in the April to June period, a record for the second quarter and up about 25% from a year earlier, easily surpassing analysts’ average estimate of 402,776 vehicles, according ‌to Visible Alpha data. Tesla produced 451,758 vehicles during the quarter. The deliveries exceeded production by more than 28,000 vehicles, leading the company to draw down inventory that it built up during the first quarter. The ​company’s China-made EV sales have risen this year, helped by production of the refreshed Model Y, despite intense competition from BYD and other domestic automakers. Earlier in the day, smaller ​rival Rivian raised its annual deliveries forecast and ​beat estimates for second-quarter deliveries. Tesla has continued to roll out its “full self-driving” (FSD) advanced driver assistance ​software in Europe, although it ‌is only available in a ​handful of countries. Analysts ​expect broader availability over the coming months to support demand. The company expanded its robotaxi operations after launching a limited commercial service in Austin in June. Musk has said the company intends to rapidly expand the service through 2026.

Tesla sales surpass expectations for second quarter as Musk backlash seems to cool
Europe
The Guardian

US employers added just 57,000 new jobs in June, lower than expected

A hiring sign for sales professionals is displayed at a store in Vernon Hills, Illinois, on 15 April 2026. Photograph: Nam Y Huh/APView image in fullscreenA hiring sign for sales professionals is displayed at a store in Vernon Hills, Illinois, on 15 April 2026. Photograph: Nam Y Huh/APUS unemployment and employment dataUS employers added just 57,000 new jobs in June, lower than expectedThe country’s unemployment rate dropped slightly to 4.2% as US job growth also slowed for the month US job growth slowed in June as employers added 57,000 new jobs – just about half of what economists had predicted – and the Bureau of Labor Statistics revised its figures from the past two months down by a total of 74,000. The country’s unemployment rate dropped slightly to 4.2%, but the number of unemployed people changed little, according to the latest data, as 720,000 people left the labor force. The bureau revised the unexpectedly high May figures from 172,000 new jobs to 129,000, and revised the April figures from 179,000 to 148,000. Though the numbers fell short of economists’s expectations, the average number of jobs added in the last three months was about 111,000, indicating a relatively strong job market despite economic uncertainty and higher inflation brought on by the war in the Middle East. The figures also remain much higher than the sluggish growth seen last fall and winter. Private employers added 98,000 jobs in June, according to data from the payroll supplier ADP, and pay was up 4.4% year-over-year for those who have stayed in their jobs for the year. Workers in finance saw the highest increase in their annual pay, at 5%. The healthcare industry, which has so far been key in driving job gains, added 22,000 jobs in June – a slower pace than its average monthly gain of 38,000. The hospitality and leisure industry unexpectedly declined by 61,000, reflecting weaker than usual seasonal hiring despite the World Cup soccer matches hosted across the US. According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, also released earlier this week, the number of job openings, hires and voluntary separations all changed very little in May, indicating that the economy is still in a “low hire, low fire” mode. “The pace of hiring is telling a story of both supply and demand. We know it’s taking people longer to find work, but there also are signs of labor supply constraints in certain industries,” said Dr Nela Richardson, ADP’s chief economist. “For now, the overall effect is a slowdown in job creation.” The latest jobs numbers make it all the more likely that the US Federal Reserve will continue to focus on inflation at its next meeting in late July. Last month, the Fed’s new chair, Kevin Warsh, emphasized “price stability” in his first press conference since taking office and said the central bank will continue to pursue its longstanding goal of a 2% inflation rate. But this week, he told a conference of central bankers that “inflation risks have come down”. Since February, the war in the Middle East has rapidly pushed up inflation, reaching a three-year high of 4.2% in May. Despite the fragile peace deal reached between the US and Iran, prices at the pump remain elevated and it is unclear whether the June inflation figures, which are scheduled to be released later this month, will reflect the latest negotiations. In their June meeting, Fed officials also released projections indicating that most members believed that at least one rate hike would occur before the end of the year. The central bank has held rates steady since December.

US employers added just 57,000 new jobs in June, lower than expected
Europe
The Guardian

EU sets up three months of talks with China over €360bn trade deficit

Transport ships loaded with cars destined for overseas markets lie at berth at Taicang in China’s Jiangsu province. EU tariffs have failed to stem imports of electric vehicles. Photograph: VCG/Getty ImagesView image in fullscreenTransport ships loaded with cars destined for overseas markets lie at berth at Taicang in China’s Jiangsu province. EU tariffs have failed to stem imports of electric vehicles. Photograph: VCG/Getty ImagesEuropean UnionEU sets up three months of talks with China over €360bn trade deficitTwo sides agree to try to make bilateral relationship ‘more balanced’ after weeks of threats The EU and China have agreed to enter three months of talks to try to avoid a trade war over the bloc’s €360bn (£310bn) annual import/export imbalance. In their first joint statement in seven years, the two sides agreed in Brussels to open a formal trade consultation after weeks of threats and recriminations from China if the EU imposed any measures to stop the flood of goods and components into the bloc. The EU’s trade commissioner, Maroš Šefčovič, said he hoped the “dialogue would bring tangible results” before the next meeting in Beijing in October. He met his Chinese counterpart, the commerce minister, Wang Wentao, for talks on Monday as part of a diplomatic offensive. They said in a joint statement: “The EU and China as key trade partners, agree that the main objective of the TIC [trade and investment consultations] is to strengthen dialogue at ministerial level on trade and investment policies with the view to stabilise and make our bilateral relationship more balanced.” EU leaders met two weeks ago to discuss concerns over what is now widely being described as China Shock 2.0 – a threat to European industries and jobs that extends far beyond electric vehicles and green energy. Eurostat, the EU’s statistics agency, said on 15 June that Chinese exports to the EU outweighed imports from the bloc by €1bn a day. View image in fullscreenMaroš Šefčovič, the EU’s trade commissioner, updates reporters on Monday about talks with China. Photograph: Olivier Matthys/EPA“We simply cannot afford to continue in the unsustainable growth of the trade deficit from the European perspective,” said Šefčovič. “We just didn’t want to wait too long. You hear it from European leaders, you heard it from the president of the European Commission, that what is very important for us is engagement, it’s dialogue. But it has to bring tangible results, and we believe that we can achieve them by October.” Industry groups including the European Chambers of Commerce in China say the level of exports going to Europe is threatening to “cannibalise” EU factories heavily reliant on components from China. The two sides have agreed to enter into consultation on four areas: the rebalancing of trade and investment; export controls including those on rare earths; intellectual property rights and World Trade Organization reforms. They have also agreed to a joint monitoring mechanism going beyond the headline figures recorded by Eurostat and GACC, the Chinese customs database.

EU sets up three months of talks with China over €360bn trade deficit