Briefs for Wednesday
NEW YORK – Ford Motor Co. has hired a former executive from Apple and Tesla to be the company’s head of advanced technology and new embedded systems, a critical post as the auto industry moves to adopt vehicles powered by electricity and guided by computers.
Before Doug Field joined Ford, he was a vice president of special projects at Apple and a engineer at Tesla. Apple has been rumored to be working on its own car project for some time, but the details have been kept under tight wraps. Field also worked on Tesla’s Model 3 vehicle.
Field will be in charge of building out passenger systems like navigation, driver-assist technology, connected systems and cybersecurity across all of Ford’s products. He will also be in charge of making sure Ford products work well with other pieces of technology, such as a smartphone or watch.
China exports grew in August
BEIJING – China’s import and export growth accelerated in August despite disruptions because of the spread of the coronavirus’s delta variant.
Exports rose 25.6% over a year earlier to $294.3 billion, up from July’s 18.9% growth, customs data showed Tuesday. Imports rose 33.1% to $236 billion, up from the previous month’s 28.7%.
That came despite lingering disruptions in industrial production chains due to last year’s global economic shutdown and a renewed rise in infections in the United States and some other markets that has dampened consumer sentiment.
China has so far defied forecasts that export demand would level off as anti-disease controls eased, entertainment and other service industries reopened and foreign rivals returned to global markets.
“Exports and imports were much stronger than anticipated last month thanks to buoyant demand, even as the data point to some lingering supply shortages,” Sheana Yue of Capital Economics said in a report.
This year’s trade figures are distorted by comparison with 2020. Global demand plunged in the first half after governments shut factories and shops to fight the pandemic.
From wire reports