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Trade Wars
Hyundai To Invest ‘Half A Billion’ In Alabama For Tucson Hybrid, New Engines, EREV Power
Hyundai is planning to invest roughly half a billion dollars in its production center in Alabama to build new engines and components for its hybrid models. CEO Jose Munoz revealed the strategy at the 2026 Automotive News Congress, saying that Hyundai will become more American than many American OEM brands. The primary target of this massive capital injection is to retool the Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama (HMMA) facility to support a major hybrid and extended-range model offensive that the South Korean automaker is planning to launch in North America.
The automaker is moving the production of its highly popular Tucson Hybrid from Ulsan, in South Korea, directly to the assembly line in Montgomery, Alabama. The brand’s CEO Jose Munoz reveals that the Santa Fe SUV will follow shortly.By moving assembly stateside, Hyundai will completely sidestep U.S. tariffs, such as the 15% imposed on the Korean-built vehicles, ensuring pricing stability in its most critical market. Last year, Hyundai shattered its previous records in the U.S., selling a total of 1,192,919 units for the first year the automaker surpassed the one-million mark in the country.
Read more at Auto Evolution
IBM Gets PILOT Agreement From IDA For $2.5 Billion Poughkeepsie Quantum Project
The Dutchess County IDA has approved a multi-million-dollar PILOT program for IBM’s proposed $2.5 billion Quantum Computing Lab at its South Road complex in the town. IBM will make annual payments of approximately $6 million to $8 million to Dutchess County, the Town of Poughkeepsie, and the Spackenkill Union Free School District. The PILOT does not include the $54 million agreement the town negotiated with IBM.
The Quantum project is the largest in Dutchess County’s history and is expected to create both construction jobs and high-wage IBM jobs once the lab is completed.
Read more at Mid-Hudson News
Caterpillar To Invest $1B In New Sanford NC Factory
Construction equipment maker Caterpillar Inc. plans to invest $1 billion in North Carolina to expand manufacturing in Sanford, the company said Wednesday. The decision comes less than two weeks after local officials approved tens of millions of dollars in tax breaks to keep the company — and 2,000 jobs — in Lee County. Caterpillar, which is one of the county’s biggest employers, says it plans to build a new manufacturing facility to increase production of compact track loaders and telehandlers — machines used in construction, landscaping, agriculture and material handling.
Caterpillar currently employs about 2,000 at its existing Sanford facility, which is a few miles southwest of Regional Crossroads. The company, which has hired at least 600 new workers this year, doesn’t plan to increase its workforce at the new facility, according to Caterpillar spokeswoman Lisa Miller. Caterpillar said Wednesday that it chose to build the new plant in North Carolina because of Caterpillar's longstanding presence in the state, the strength of the local workforce, and the opportunity to build on existing manufacturing expertise and operations in Sanford.
Read more at WRAL
The Next Frontier for Obesity Drugs Isn’t How Much Weight You Lose, but What Kind
For as long as drugmakers have been testing weight-loss drugs, the question has been: How much weight do people lose? Now it is changing to: What kind of weight are they losing? Rapid weight loss can come with a downside—people can end up injured or prone to falls if they shed significant muscle alongside fat. Drugmakers are testing a new generation of muscle-protecting and body fat-targeting drugs to fix that. Mid- and late-stage studies from companies like Novo, Eli Lilly LLY and Regeneron indicate that several drug candidates may be able to better preserve muscle and help shed problematic belly fat.
If proven out, these experimental medications could ultimately improve people’s health while they rapidly lose weight on these therapies. It would also give drugmakers a powerful argument for doctors to prescribe—and health insurers to pay for—a new set of drugs. Regeneron reported mid-stage data on a drug it is developing to preserve muscle when taken alongside a GLP-1. The study found that people taking the drug lost about two-thirds to three-quarters less thigh muscle than those taking semaglutide alone. Over 26 weeks, the highest doses of the drug roughly halved the loss of lean mass, which includes muscle, compared with those who only took semaglutide, the active ingredient in Ozempic and Wegovy.
Read more at The WSJ
Boeing Averts a Strike by Engineers, Techs
Boeing has avoided a possible strike by about 17,000 engineers and technicians after those employees approved a new four-year contract. Two separate bargaining units of the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace union endorsed the new agreement: the professional unit approved the deal with a 67.62% majority, and the technical unit accepted by a 53.48% margin.
The approved contract calls for union members to receive an initial 10% wage increase, and 4% annual raises plus merit-based increases each year from 2027 through 2030. According to SPEEA statements, it also includes new work-from-home policies and overtime limits for members of the professional unit. The final terms emerged in mid-September when Boeing apparently raised its offer concerning compensation and work rules.
Read more at American Machinist
Ex-Genentech, Meta, AWS AI Leaders Launch Health AI Lab With $500M Backing
A new frontier artificial intelligence lab for healthcare launched with a $500 million commitment from Thoreau. The AI startup, Ortet, plans to build a full-stack platform for health, spanning computer and data infrastructure, frontier research and model development and deployment. The aim is to create a foundation model centered on the individual patient that connects the biological, clinical, operational and financial dimensions of health. The founding team includes AI leaders from Genentech, Meta, Amazon Web Services, Spotify and Facebook.
The company says it wants to move past narrow AI tools that address only a single task by creating a shared intelligence foundation that can be continuously improved and adapted across scientific discovery, clinical care, health operations and financial administration, according to executives. That shared intelligence layer can learn across multiple aspects of a patient's healthcare journey, including biology, treatment, outcomes and interactions with the healthcare system, according to executives.
Read more at Fierce Healthcare
Ford Fends Off Hyundai To Retain No. 3 U.S. Sales Position In Third Quarter
Ford Motor retained its No. 3 U.S. sales position during the third quarter by a narrow margin over Hyundai Motor, which had been forecast to overtake the Detroit automaker. Ford on Friday reported a year-over-year sales decline of 6.6% during the third quarter to 507,395 light-duty vehicles. That figure excludes its largest heavy-duty trucks, which are classified differently. That compares to the South Korean automaker, including Hyundai, Kia and Genesis brands, reporting a 5.4% increase to 506,200 vehicles during the quarter.
Hyundai, including its luxury Genesis brand and corporate sibling Kia, has been making major inroads in the U.S. this year. Ford, meanwhile, has struggled with production of its crucial F-Series pickup trucks after two supplier fires last year that disrupted production and sales.
Read more at CNBC
Pentagon Invests in Startup Aiming to Supply Metal for Critical Magnets
Hertha Metals, a startup planning to produce high-purity iron for U.S.-made rare-earth magnets—essential to F-35 jet fighters and missile-guidance systems—said it closed a $133.65 million Series A round that includes a $65 million equity investment from the U.S. government. The financing comes as the Trump administration is trying to loosen China’s stranglehold on minerals vital to U.S. defense and advanced technologies, the WSJ’s Rhiannon Hoyle writes.
The U.S. investment was made via the Defense Department’s Industrial Base Analysis and Sustainment program in partnership with its Economic Defense Unit, said Hertha Metals CEO and founder Laureen Meroueh. A Pentagon official said the department doesn’t comment on speculation about potential transactions. Conroe, Texas-based Hertha will use the money to fund the construction and early operations of a roughly $100 million plant, called Chalyx. The company aims to produce 10,000 metric tons of high-purity iron and steel annually at the facility, mostly to supply U.S. magnet makers.
Read more at The WSJ
GM Is Now Using Recycled Battery Materials For Its New Evs
General Motors and Cirba Solutions provided an update on a strategic collaboration, with a pilot program demonstrating a closed-loop pathway for making electric vehicle battery cells with 100% recycled nickel, cobalt and manganese that were recovered from end-of-life GM battery packs. This month, a range of EVs were built with the recycled critical materials at the automaker’s Factory Zero plant in Detroit and its Spring Hill Assembly plant in Tennessee. Models getting the recycled batteries include variants of the Cadillac Lyriq, Vistiq and Escalade IQ, as well as the Chevrolet Silverado EV Trail Boss and the GMC Sierra EV AT4, confirmed GM in a blog post, and it said they’re “headed off to customers.”
“This pilot shows that the value of an EV battery can extend well beyond its first life — and that strong partnerships across the battery ecosystem are essential to building a more circular, resilient future for battery technology,” said Melissa Flaherty, Director of Sustainable EV Battery Ecosystem at GM in a press release from Cirba.
Read more at Ward’s Auto
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