BHP Billiton chairman Jac Nasser announces he will not seek re-election next year October 20, 2016 The chairman of BHP Billiton will step down next year after seven years of leading the board of the world's biggest miner. Australian Jac Nasser, who was appointed chairman in March 2010 and has been a board member since 2006, told shareholders at BHP's annual meeting in London today that he will not seek re-election next year. "Last [...]
Before the bell: What you need to know before the US market open October 20, 2016 Markets are further backing a Clinton victory in the US presidential election next month after last night's final debate, while the European Central Bank is expected to keep policy on hold when it meets this afternoon. Here's what you need to know before the US market open at 2:30pm London time. US futures are pointing higher [...]
Watch: Tesla’s self-driving cars revealed in video shared by Elon Musk October 20, 2016 All Tesla cars will have the capacity to drive themselves, company boss Elon Musk has revealed in a highly anticipated announcement which the entrepreneur had teased in tweets. All models, including the Model 3 and and Model X, will now be fitted with hardware that will make it possible to drive without human control. However, that [...]
Surprise, surprise: Oil majors face a “resoundingly negative” threat from the rise of electric cars October 18, 2016 A leap forward in battery technology could pose a "resoundingly credit negative" threat to the oil sector and disrupt global credit markets, according to a report from Fitch Ratings. Falling demand for fuel could scupper oil majors' prospects in particular as transport accounts for 55 per cent of total oil consumption. "Widespread adoption of battery-powered vehicles is [...]
Forget the Prius. The hybrid Hyundai Ioniq is soon to become the Uber car of choice October 17, 2016 The meteoric rise of Uber minicabs means more and more of us are familiar with the passenger experience in the backseat of an (invariably slightly stained) Toyota Prius. Indeed, an investigation by Motoring Research found the Prius minicab to be more ubiquitous in London than even Addison Lee’s black Ford Galaxys. But is it any [...]
Apple’s driverless car plans have totally veered off course October 17, 2016 Apple's not-so-secret plans to create a fleet of driverless iCars have apparently veered off course with the tech giant seriously dialling back on its plans for the technology. Project Titan, as it's known internally, has been Apple's worst kept secret for the past year or so and has been credited for its rocketing spend on R&D. Now, Apple has "drastically scaled [...]
Why Donald Trump should be closely watching the Mexican peso October 17, 2016 As the odds of a Donald Trump victory lengthened last week, few will have welcomed the news as much as Mexico. The Mexican peso, which fell by 12 per cent in the first nine months of this year, has bounced back as market fears of a Trump win calmed. “The peso has become a bellwether [...]
European car sales grew in September October 14, 2016 European car sales grew by 7.3 per cent last month with both volume and luxury car makers reporting strong performances. Registrations of new passenger cars in the European Union and the European Free Trade Association rose to 1.5m vehicles in September, a seasonally strong month, from 1.4m a year earlier, the Brussels-based Association of European Carmakers [...]
How to cut EU migration without leaving the Single Market October 13, 2016 The Tory MEP Vicky Ford has taken a major step back from the idea of closing frontiers to European citizens which still appears to be the throbbing desire of Tory-Ukip hard Brexiters. In a newspaper interview, she set out ideas for reducing inflows of European workers within EU rules. She cites Liechtenstein, which was allowed [...]
Caterham Seven Sprint review: This limited-edition car isn’t as old-fashioned as it looks October 10, 2016 Whether it’s retro cars, vintage clothes or Instagram filters on photos, making new stuff look old has never been so popular. Perhaps we yearn for simpler times – or maybe we’ve just run out of ideas. Either way, if the retro-future looks half as good as the Caterham Seven Sprint, I’m all for it. The [...]