Tesla has recalled 675,000 cars in the United States and China over issues with the trunk and front hood of two models, raising new questions about the safety of the popular electric vehicle. 

Chinese regulators announced the recall of almost 200,000 cars on Friday, hours after some 475,000 Tesla vehicles were flagged in the United States. 

The problems with the trunk and hood increase the risk of crashes, according to U.S. and Chinese regulators. 

Authorities said the repeated opening and closing of the trunk of the Model 3 can damage a cable for the rearview camera. 

An issue with the latch assembly for the front hood of the Model S could cause it to open without warning and obstruct the driver’s visibility, according to the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). 

Tesla estimates that the problems affect 1% of Model 3 and 14% of Model S vehicles recalled in the United States, without causing any accidents so far. 

Mass recalls are not rare in the auto industry.

Volkswagen had to take 8.5 million cars out of circulation in 2015 due to the Dieselgate scandal, in which the German company admitted tampering with millions of diesel vehicles to dupe emissions tests. 

At least 100 million vehicles were recalled by car companies across the world in recent years due to a defect with airbags made by bankrupt Japanese group Takata. 

Tesla’s recall represents a quarter of the number of cars Elon Musk’s young company has produced so far. 

“It is a reality wake-up call for Tesla though, with a slap-in-the-face welcome to the automotive world that is perhaps more complex than the smartphone industry that many like to compare it to,” said German auto analyst Matthias Schmidt. 

“After all, a dysfunctional car on four wheels can do a lot more potential damage than a dysfunctional iPhone,” Schmidt said. 

Other incidents 

In June, Tesla recalled more than 285,000 cars in China over issues with its assisted driving software that could cause accidents. 

The company also recalled thousands of Model 3 and Model Y vehicles earlier that month to inspect brake calipers for loose bolts. 

In November, the NHTSA recalled nearly 12,000 Tesla cars due to errors with their communication software. 

U.S. safety officials are also investigating Tesla’s Autopilot after identifying 11 crashes involving the driver assistance system. 

The previous month, U.S. highway safety regulators demanded details from Tesla on issues with its new autonomous system, building on a previously announced probe. 

Tesla executives have downplayed the regulatory inquiries, saying they were to be expected with “cutting edge” technology and that they were cooperating “as much as possible.” 

Banner year 

The issues have been blights to an otherwise banner year for Tesla, as it joined the exclusive club of companies with a market capitalization of $1 trillion. 

The company delivered a record 240,000 vehicles in the third quarter, and Tesla’s billionaire chief Elon Musk was named Time magazine’s person of the year. 

Tesla’s good fortune contrasted with other, traditional automakers that were heavily affected by the coronavirus pandemic and a shortage of semiconductors that are key components in cars. 

Trip Chowdhry, analyst at Global Equities Research consultancy, said the latest Tesla recall is a “non-event” as the company still holds a big advantage over its competitors. 

 
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Кілька категорій виробників зможуть купувати газ українського видобутку за ціною, в якій максимальна націнка становитиме 25%
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Торги на українському міжбанківському валютному ринку завершуються на рівні 27 гривень 31–33 копійки за долар
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Applications for state unemployment benefits fell by 8,000 from 206,000 applications last report to 198,000 for the week ending December 25, the U.S. Labor Department reported Thursday.

Economists had predicted 205,000 applications.

The number of applications was near a 50-year low, but concerns over COVID-19, low labor market participation rates and rising inflation continue to add to economic uncertainty.

Labor participation, the number of people working or actively seeking a job, continues to hover at rates not seen since the early 1970s

“The claims data may be more volatile in the upcoming weeks due to the seasonal adjustment process, but looking past that noise, we expect claims to remain around 200,000 as layoffs remain low amid tight labor market conditions,” said Nancy Vanden Houten, lead economist at Oxford Economics, according to CBS News.

Continuing claims reportedly were 1.72 million for the week ending December 18, which is the lowest since March of 2020, when the pandemic began to peak.

n October, the U.S. had nearly 11 million job openings, a near record.

The news sent the stock market slightly higher on low, pre-holiday volume.
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Торги відбуваються на рівні 27 гривень 30–32 копійки за долар
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Бюджет 2022 року передбачає 8 мільярдів гривень доходів від приватизації
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The Dow and S&P 500 closed at all-time highs on Wednesday on a boost from retailers including Walgreens and Nike as investors shrugged off concerns on the spreading omicron variant. 

The Dow has now risen six straight trading days, marking the longest streak of gains since a seven-session run from March 5-15 this year. 

Walgreens Boots Alliance and Nike rose 1.59% and 1.42% respectively against the backdrop of recent reports suggesting holiday sales were strong for U.S. retailers. 

Data on Wednesday showed the U.S. trade deficit in goods mushroomed to the widest ever in November as imports of consumer goods shot to a record and the coronavirus pandemic has limited spending by Americans on services. 

Some early studies pointing to a reduced risk of hospitalization in omicron cases have eased some investors’ concerns over the travel disruptions and powered the S&P 500 to record highs this week. 

Meanwhile, the S&P 1500 airlines index dipped. Delta Air Lines and Alaska Air Group canceled hundreds of flights again on Tuesday as the daily tally of infections in the United States surged. 

Typically, the final five trading days of the year and the first two of the subsequent year are seasonally strong for U.S. stocks, in a phenomenon known as the “Santa Claus Rally.” Market participants, however, warned against reading too much into daily moves as the holiday season tends to record some of the lowest volume turnovers, which can cause exaggerated price action. 

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 90.42 points, or 0.25%, to 36,488.63, the S&P 500 gained 6.71 points, or 0.14%, to 4,793.06 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 15.51 points, or 0.1%, to 15,766.22. 

As 2021 draws to a close, the main U.S. stock indexes are on pace for their third straight year of stunning annual returns, boosted by historic fiscal and monetary stimulus. The S&P 500 is looking at its strongest three-year performance since 1999. 

The focus next year will shift to the U.S. Federal Reserve’s path of interest rate hikes amid a surge in prices caused by supply chain bottlenecks and a strong economic rebound. 

Volume on U.S. exchanges was 7.89 billion shares, compared with the 11.15 billion average for the full session over the past 20 trading days. 

 
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The U.S. trade deficit in goods mushroomed to the widest ever in November as imports of consumer goods shot to a record ahead of the second straight COVID-19-distorted holiday shopping season along with industrial supplies, while exports slipped after a historic gain a month earlier.

The goods trade gap reported Wednesday by the Commerce Department is likely to remain historically high as long as the coronavirus pandemic continues, economists said. The emergence of the fast-spreading omicron variant of COVID-19 that has driven U.S. and global caseloads to a record this week may exacerbate it further in the near term if it limits American consumers’ spending on services and restokes demand for imported goods.

Omicron also stands as a downside risk in the housing market. A reading of pending home sales also out Wednesday showed an unexpected drop in November, and while that data largely predated omicron’s ascendance in the United States, the highly contagious new variant could further limit home sales in the near term, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) said.

The goods trade deficit widened last month by 17.5% to $97.8 billion from $83.2 billion in October, Census Bureau data showed. That exceeds the previous record deficit set in September of $97 billion and may damp optimism that trade might finally add to U.S. economic growth this quarter for the first time in more than a year.

Imports rose by 4.7% with industrial supplies leading the way with an increase of $5.7 billion to $63.2 billion, followed by consumer goods rising by $2.9 billion to just shy of $67 billion as retailers rushed to fill store shelves ahead of Christmas. Both were record highs.

“The emergence of the omicron variant may further ignite demand for imported goods if services activity is restricted” in the first quarter of 2022, Nancy Vanden Houten, lead economist at Oxford Economics, wrote after Wednesday’s report.

Goods exports, meanwhile, declined 2.1%, with weakness across the board outside of a 4.3% increase in food exports. The drop was led by declines of $1.4 billion in industrial supplies and $1.3 billion in capital goods.

The worldwide surge of coronoavirus cases to a record in recent days – including a record U.S. caseload – may weigh on global demand in the months ahead, risking an even wider trade gap, Vanden Houten said.

The so-called Advance Indicators report also showed wholesale inventories climbed 1.2% last month, while retail inventories increased 2.0%. Retail inventories, excluding autos, which go into the calculation of gross domestic product, edged up by 1.3% to $465.2 billion, the latest in a string of record-high readings.

The economy grew at a 2.3% annualized rate in the third quarter, a step-down from earlier in the year, but activity has rebounded in the fourth quarter with a consensus among economists building around a growth rate of 6% to 7% in the final three months of 2021.

Trade has been a drag on gross domestic product growth for five straight quarters, while inventories added to output in the third quarter.

Earlier this month, the Commerce Department reported a sharp reduction in the overall trade deficit – including services – for October, which had generated some optimism that trade may contribute to the improvement in output in the final quarter of the year. The big reversal to a record goods trade gap in November may prompt a rethinking of that.

Economists at Action Economics have dialed back their fourth-quarter GDP growth estimate to 6.5% from 7.0%, with exports now seen subtracting from growth rather than adding to it as had been previously expected. Economists at JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs, meanwhile, left their estimates intact at 7%.

Meanwhile, contracts to buy U.S. previously owned homes fell unexpectedly in November as limited housing stock and lofty prices crimped activity, and the explosion of new coronavirus cases poses a risk to the housing market headed into 2022.

NAR said its Pending Home Sales Index, based on signed contracts, fell 2.2% last month to 122.4. Pending home sales were lower in all four regions.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast contracts, which typically become final sales after a month or two, would rise 0.5% in November.

“There was less pending home sales action this time around, which I would ascribe to low housing supply, but also to buyers being hesitant about home prices,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist.

Looking ahead, Yun said Omicron poses a risk to the housing market’s performance, as buyers and sellers are sidelined, and home construction is delayed.
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