|
Industry News
Trade Wars
Ford and GM Are Locked in a New Battle Over Who’s the Most American Carmaker
General Motors and Ford Motor are clashing as they jockey for tailored tariffs and policies, while talks intensify around overhauling a North American trade deal crucial to each company’s business model. Ford, for instance, wants higher tariffs on imports from South Korea, where GM builds its most inexpensive cars. GM is targeting aspects of Ford’s electric-vehicle battery strategy. The friction reflects how fundamentally different the two Detroit giants have become as diverging manufacturing footprints and supply chains have led them to seek contrasting favors in Washington.
GM, in a statement, said vehicles made with North American labor and parts should receive preferential tariff treatment, while Ford touted its position as the country’s top vehicle manufacturer and employer of hourly auto workers. “The Administration and Congress continue to be collaborative partners to ensure that Ford’s massive investment in America continues,” the automaker said in a statement.
Read more at the WSJ
Navy Awarded $22.9B Contract To Raytheon To Accelerate Tomahawk Missile Production
On Monday, acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao announced that the U.S. Navy awarded a $22.9 billion contract to Raytheon to accelerate production of Tomahawk missiles amid a munitions shortage in the months after the start of the Iran war. The contract “reinforces the Department’s commitment to rebuilding the defense industrial base and ensuring Navy and Marine Corps forces remain equipped with the advanced weapons required to maintain maritime superiority,” the Navy said in a statement.
The Navy stated that by reducing procurement lead times, the contract will go directly toward supporting the Defense Department’s “rapid capability fielding goals.” Raytheon, in its own statement, said that the seven-year contract allows the annual Tomahawk production to increase to more than 1,000 missiles, as the company currently makes 60 missiles a year.
Read more at The Hill
GE Aerospace, Kratos’ GEK800 Engine Awarded Contract With United States Air Force
GE Aerospace and Kratos Defense & Security Solutions announced one of their engines has been awarded a contract with the United States Air Force. The GEK800 received the contract for development of the turbofan as a second-source propulsion system for the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile, and a U.S. Military Engine Type Designation of F143. Officials with GE Aerospace said the contract marks advancement of the program that is designed to provide small, low-cost and high-performance engines for cruise missiles, collaborative combat-type aircraft and other uncrewed aerial vehicles.
“The F143 designation and EMD award are a testament to the strong performance and capability of the GEK800 engine and the strength of our partnership with Kratos. This reflects years of disciplined engineering to deliver propulsion systems that meet the evolving, mission-critical requirements of our military customers,” Amy Gowder, President and CEO of GE Aerospace Defense & Systems, said.
Read more at WLWT Ohio
PepsiCo Inc. Cut Virgin Plastic Use By 6 Percent In 2025, Outpacing A Goal Of An Annual 2 Percent Reduction.
PepsiCo has published its 2025 ESG reporting, detailing progress against certain 2030 goals under its pep+ (PepsiCo Positive) strategy. The food and beverage company reported developments spanning its agricultural supply chain, manufacturing operations, logistics, packaging and product portfolio. Jim Andrew, Chief Sustainability Officer, PepsiCo, said: “… We’re making significant progress — from expanding regenerative, restorative and protective practices to 4.7 million acres, reducing emissions of our operations, to evolving our product portfolio to offer more choices — and we’re doing it in ways that we believe will strengthen our business for the long term.”
Against its 2022 baseline and including system contributions, PepsiCo reported reductions of 24 per cent for its Scope 1 and 2 goal, 12 per cent for its Scope 3 Energy and Industry goal and 18 per cent for its Scope 3 Forest, Land and Agriculture goal. The company also sourced 96 per cent, or approximately 4,300 GWh, of electricity requirements for its company-owned operations from renewable sources, including through renewable energy credits. PepsiCo reported in July that regenerative, restorative and protective practices had expanded to 4.7 million acres. Since 2021, approximately 224,000 people across its agricultural supply chains and communities have also been supported through programmes designed to improve economic prosperity and farmer and farm worker security.
Read more at Food & Beverage Outlook
L3Harris Ousts Chairman, CEO After Investigation Into Conduct
L3Harris Technologies has replaced Christopher Kubasik as chairman and chief executive after an investigation into an alleged violation of the defense contractor’s code of conduct. Kubasik’s alleged conduct didn’t involve and has no impact on the Melbourne, Fla., company’s financial reporting, controls, customer relationships or operational performance, L3Harris LHX -3.00%decrease; red down pointing triangle said Monday. Kubasik is an aerospace and defense sector veteran who was set to take the top job at rival defense contractor Lockheed Martin in 2012 before that company ousted him for engaging in a “lengthy, close personal relationship” with a subordinate.
The defense contractor named Sam Mehta, the head of its space and communications systems business, as president and CEO. The two units that Mehta ran account for more than 80% of the company’s revenue. Lewis Hay III, who had been lead independent director, will now serve as chairman. Despite the leadership change, the company affirmed its previously disclosed 2026 financial targets.
Read more at The WSJ
Amazon Strikes Global Warehouse Automation Deal With Autostore
Amazon has struck a strategic global supply agreement with AutoStore to step up investment in robotics and automated fulfilment. he deal establishes a framework for AutoStore to supply its warehouse automation products and solutions to Amazon around the world, the Norwegian technology group confirmed on Thursday. However, AutoStore stressed that the agreement does not currently contain any purchasing commitments, meaning Amazon has not disclosed how many systems it could ultimately deploy or how much the partnership could be worth.
The agreement comes as Amazon continues to make robotics a central part of its efforts to make deliveries faster and lower the cost of fulfilment. Amazon chief executive Andy Jassy revealed earlier this year that Amazon now has more than one million robots operating across its fulfilment centres, carrying out tasks spanning picking, stowing, sorting and moving goods around its warehouses. Jassy said it remained in the “early stages” of how it intended to use robotics, with the business continuing to invest in new robot formats, greater intelligence and a wider variety of use cases.
Read more at Retail Gazette UK
Boeing Picked for Army Helicopter Updates
Boeing has drawn $636 million in a three-year U.S. Army award for complex component repair, system component support, and consumable items supply for AH-64 Apache helicopters. The award, which is a modification to a 2024 contract, also covers: test equipment support; supply/retrograde transmission infrastructure management; a comprehensive obsolescence management program; and supply chain management for the Apache airframes. The new award is scheduled to run through April 2029.
Boeing has manufactured the Apache since it acquired McDonnell Douglas in 1997. Its Apache program operations are centered in Mesa, Ariz., where it assembles helicopters and also produces advanced composite aerostructures. More than 2,700 Apache helicopters have been produced since the program launch in 1975, and more than 800 are in service now with the U.S. Army. Other allied defense forces have an estimated total of 500 in service.
Read more at Nikkei Asia
Carvana Flourishing As Used-Car Inventory Grows
Giant used-car retailer Carvana continues to add used-car inventory — a first step in a virtuous circle, according to CEO Ernie Garcia III. The short version goes like this: Provided Carvana delivers “great experiences” for customers, more inventory creates more sales. More sales make marketing more efficient, and therefore more affordable. More advertising and marketing create more demand. More demand necessitates more inventory. Repeat.
Carvana set all-time records in the second quarter for revenue, net income and retail units. Total revenue was about $7.4 billion, an increase of 52% compared with the second quarter of 2025. Net income was $513 million, up 66.6%. Retail units sold were 197,325, up 38%. On the downside, gross profit per unit was $7,014, down 5.4%. Driving the top-line improvement was used-vehicle inventory of about 77,000 units offered for sale online as of June 30, up from about 75,000 units as of Dec. 31, 2025. It was 53,000 a year earlier and 33,000 at the end of 2023. Carvana acquires used-vehicle inventory directly from customers, from used-car auctions and from wholesale used-vehicle suppliers, according to its quarterly report.
Read more at Ward’s Auto
Did You Know Most Of Your Daily Online Activities Rely On Data Centers? Here’s How It Works
While data centers are not new, growing numbers of them have been built around the country in the last few years, increasing locals’ concerns about the sites raising electric bills and depleting water sources. Some hopefuls for elected office have called for regulations while others have boasted about the potential economic boon. The term “data center” generally refers to the physical building that houses powerful computers (usually thousands of them), data storage systems and networking equipment. These facilities are active 24/7 storing and managing the data associated with different web applications and services.
- The average data center is about 100,000 square feet, comparable to the average Walmart Supercenter or Costco warehouse.
- Data centers have been around for decades; the first one in 1945 housed the world’s first programmable computer designed to calculate U.S. Army artillery fire during World War II.
- A typical AI data center can consume as much electricity annually as 100,000 households; the largest data centers under construction will demand 20 times that amount, the International Energy Agency estimated in 2025.
- The facilities use freshwater, usually from local municipal water systems, to cool the computers.
- The centers have large air conditioning units, fans and chilled water pipes that cool the computers, which generate a lot of heat while continuously running.
“Every day digital communications like the internet, banking, healthcare systems, cloud computing/gaming, and websites all use remote servers and therefore data centers,” said via email Ke Xu, a Rochester Institute of Technology professor who develops energy efficient AI hardware. “AI changed the scale and type of computing, and the intensity normal people use them.”
Read more at WBAL Maryland
|
