Attacks on two dozen ships since November are forcing shipping lines to figure out whether and when to skip the Suez Canal and send vessels on longer voyages around Africa.
The nation’s largest automaker sold more cars in 2023 than a year ago as supply chain chaos ended, but sales are now under pressure from rising interest rates.
The leading electric-vehicle maker also drew buyers eager to take advantage of government incentives that will be harder to get in 2024.
Sales by BYD, the country’s dominant automaker, topped 3 million last year, including 1.6 million fully battery-powered cars in a sign of China’s rapid growth in EVs.
Purchases of popular models like the Tesla Model 3 and the Ford Mustang Mach-E may no longer entitle buyers to tax savings because the cars do not meet tougher sourcing requirements.
Ford and other automaker have had to readjust their electric vehicle production plans because sales have been weaker than they had expected.
Two- and three-wheeled vehicles, used by billions of people, are moving away from fossil fuels to batteries faster than cars in countries that have made the energy transition a priority.
Exxon Mobil and Chevron are spending tens of billions of dollars buying oil and gas assets, betting that the International Energy Agency’s predictions of declining oil demand are wrong.
The prices of used battery-powered models have fallen sharply, as the supply of cars and trucks has improved.
Elon Musk’s electric car company is facing intensifying competition from newer Chinese automakers and established Western car companies.