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The Guardian
4 days ago
- Business
- The Guardian
Dollar strengthens against euro as US-EU trade deal limits uncertainty
Update: Date: 2025-07-28T13:40:28.000Z Title: US dollar Content: Live, rolling coverage of business, economics and financial markets as European stock market rally fizzles out Jasper Jolly Mon 28 Jul 2025 15.40 CEST First published on Mon 28 Jul 2025 09.08 CEST From 2.55pm CEST 14:55 The has strengthened against the euro in the wake of the trans-Atlantic trade deal, as investors appeared to welcome an easing in Donald Trump's trade war. The euro dropped by 0.7% on Monday, with one euro buying $1.1648. That was a much bigger decline than other currencies relative to the dollar. The pound was down by less than 0.1%, with a pound buying £1.34. The euro's decline came after an initial jump (just before halfway along in the below chart) as trading restarted after the weekend break, when Trump and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen agreed the framework deal. However, investor sentiment quickly shifted to a stronger dollar. The question for investors will be whether that dollar strength will continue: many economists have said that tariffs – essentially taxes on US companies and consumers – will slow economic growth in the world's largest economy. That would weaken demand for the greenback. The dollar has weakened notably over the course of 2025, with a euro buying 13 cents more than it did on 1 January. Dean Turner, chief eurozone and UK economist at UBS Global Wealth Management, said: From an investment perspective, news of the trade agreement is likely to initially play out in foreign exchange markets. This could provide some support to the in the short term as trade uncertainty fades. However, we would view any near-term rallies in the USD as opportunities to fade any strength, preferring to continue reducing or hedging USD exposures. Given the broader backdrop of easing trade tensions, our expectation remains that the dollar will gradually weaken into year-end. 3.40pm CEST 15:40 Donald Trump is answering questions from British media in Scotland. Amid comments on Gaza and immigration, Trump also suggested that US tariffs on pharmaceuticals are imminent. He said the US will be announcing pharma tariffs in the very near future, according to Reuters. It came after some confusion over whether pharmaceuticals will be included in the US-EU trade deal. Trump has claimed that medicines were not included, but European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has said that the 15% baseline tariff agreed with Trump will apply. A senior US official later also said that they were in fact covered by the 15% tariff. Yet the confusion highlights the difficulty that many companies still face in working out what will happen if they export to the world's largest market, despite a 'deal' being agreed. (See also: UK steel imports are meant to attract zero US tariffs, but there has been no sign of that deal being honoured.) 3.33pm CEST 15:33 US stock market indices have risen on Monday at the opening bell on Wall Street – but it is not quite the jump that we saw at the open in Europe. Here are the opening snaps from Reuters: S&P 500 UP 8.37 POINTS, OR 0.13%, AT 6,397.01 NASDAQ UP 62.17 POINTS, OR 0.30%, AT 21,170.49 DOW JONES UP 38.02 POINTS, OR 0.08%, AT 44,939.94 2.55pm CEST 14:55 The has strengthened against the euro in the wake of the trans-Atlantic trade deal, as investors appeared to welcome an easing in Donald Trump's trade war. The euro dropped by 0.7% on Monday, with one euro buying $1.1648. That was a much bigger decline than other currencies relative to the dollar. The pound was down by less than 0.1%, with a pound buying £1.34. The euro's decline came after an initial jump (just before halfway along in the below chart) as trading restarted after the weekend break, when Trump and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen agreed the framework deal. However, investor sentiment quickly shifted to a stronger dollar. The question for investors will be whether that dollar strength will continue: many economists have said that tariffs – essentially taxes on US companies and consumers – will slow economic growth in the world's largest economy. That would weaken demand for the greenback. The dollar has weakened notably over the course of 2025, with a euro buying 13 cents more than it did on 1 January. Dean Turner, chief eurozone and UK economist at UBS Global Wealth Management, said: From an investment perspective, news of the trade agreement is likely to initially play out in foreign exchange markets. This could provide some support to the in the short term as trade uncertainty fades. However, we would view any near-term rallies in the USD as opportunities to fade any strength, preferring to continue reducing or hedging USD exposures. Given the broader backdrop of easing trade tensions, our expectation remains that the dollar will gradually weaken into year-end. 2.09pm CEST 14:09 At lunchtime across Western Europe, stock markets appear to have settled down after the initial excitement of the reaction to the US-EU trade deal. The Stoxx 600, tracking the biggest European companies, is up 0.5%. Germany's Dax index is flat, while France's Cac 40 is up 0.3%. Interestingly, the Italian FTSE MIB in Milan is performing more strongly. The lead riser is STMicroelectronics, up 3% amid a broad move up by computer chip companies. Otherwise, Italian banks appear to be performing well, wikth Banco BPM, BPER Banca, Unicredit and Intesa Sanpaolo all up between 1% and 3%. The FTSE 100 is the worst performer of the big European stock markets (perhaps because it is not directly impacted by the trade deal – and has performed relatively well in recent weeks): it is down 0.2%. US futures also suggest that Wall Street indices will rise at the open in about 90 minutes. S&P 500 futures suggest a 0.2% increase, while the tech-focused Nasdaq is set to rise 0.4%. 1.01pm CEST 13:01 Heineken has said it could brew more beer in the US in order to try to avoid 15% tariffs on EU exports. The world's second largest beer brewer, behind only AB Inbev, said that it the end of uncertainty around the tariff rate – with a threat of levies of up to 30% – was welcome. However, chief executive Dolf van den Brink said the Dutch company would look at the possibility of shifting some production. Reuters reports that he told journalists on Monday: We look at all options from... continuing with our current setup, a more hybrid version, or otherwise. If and when we deem them financially to be more attractive in the mid- to long-term, we would for sure explore them. Investing in breweries in the US would be costly, and would lock the company into producing with higher American labour costs. However, it could be attractive if if believes that the 15% tariffs will be in place for the long term. 12.37pm CEST 12:37 The FTSE 100 hit a new record in the opening trades this morning at 9,169.01 points – continuing the recovery from Donald Trump's trade turmoil in April. London's blue-chip companies have recovered and then some from the pummeling they and businesses around the world received from the trade war uncertainty. However, the index has lost its momentum in the late morning, and is now marginally down for the day. BT Group is the biggest faller, down 3.6%. 12.33pm CEST 12:33 UK retail sales slumped for the 10th consecutive month in July, according to a survey of the biggest shops that underlined the weakness of Britain's consumer spending. A third of retailers said that sales declined in July, according to a survey weighted by the size of the business, according to the Confederation of British Industry, a lobby group – although that was an improvement from the 46% balance who said sales had declined in June. The retailers also reported worse expectations for next month. The last time retailers in the survey reported sales growth was September. Since then the UK economy has struggled, with the economy not helped by the huge uncertainty caused by US tariffs. Data from the Office for National Statistics, this month showed that Britain's official unemployment rate rose to 4.7% in the three months to May, up 0.1% from April to reach the highest level since June 2021. Martin Sartorius, principal economist at the CBI, said: Retail annual sales volumes continued to fall in July, although the pace of decline moderated from June's sharp drop. Firms reported that elevated price pressures – driven by rising labour costs – and economic uncertainty continue to weigh on household demand, which has contributed to sales volumes falling since October 2024. These trends of weak demand and uncertainty were mirrored across the wider distribution sector, with wholesale and motor trades also seeing declining sales. 11.50am CEST 11:50 The UK economy will grow faster than previously thought after a stronger-than-expected start to the year, according to forecasters at EY – although some of the faster growth might have come from companies bracing for Donald Trump's tariffs. The EY Item Club, which tries to mimic government modelling, has upgraded its forecast for UK GDP growth in 2025 from 0.8% to 1%. It said that came from a 'significant increase in business investment, which rose by 3.9% in Q1'. However, this is thought to partly reflect the acceleration of business investment and purchase decisions by some companies in March, ahead of the implementation of US tariffs in April. That increase in business investment may not be sustainable in the second half of 2025, the forecasters said – and they do not expect any growth in business investment during 2026. Anna Anthony, a regional managing partner at EY,said: After a strong start to the year, uncertainty in the global economy and international trade policy has continued to slow momentum. While the agreement struck with the US offers welcome relief to certain sectors and boosts the trading outlook, the UK's access to a key export market is still reduced from where it was at the start of 2025, which is likely to weigh on growth. Business investment is expected to remain modest until 2027 and while interest rate cuts should reduce debt service costs and make financing cheaper, this will take time to materialise. Until then, businesses face a period of international uncertainty, alongside elevated labour and energy costs. 11.18am CEST 11:18 France's prime minister, François Bayrou, has described the EU's trade deal with the US as a 'submission'. Writing on the X social network, Bayrou, who leads France's government and is second only to President Emmanuel Macron, said: It is a dark day when an alliance of free peoples, united to affirm their values and defend their interests, resolves to submission. It is not, then, a rousing reception for the trade deal from EU leaders. However, the leaders are unlikely to try to derail the deal; indeed, complaining about EU policies while quietly accepting them is a well trodden path for leaders of individual countries. 11.07am CEST 11:07 Russian airline Aeroflot has said it cancelled more than 40 flights on Monday 'due to a failure in our information systems', with an unverified online statement claiming it was the result of a hack. The state-owned airline announced the cancellations on the Telegram social network. It did not give a reason for the failures. However, an online statement purporting to be from a hacking group called Silent Crow claimed responsibility on Monday for an attack, Reuters reported. Aeroflot told passengers of cancelled flights at Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport to collect their previously checked baggage, and to leave the airport. Reuters again: News outlet Baza reported scenes of chaos at the airport, with logjams forming as passengers queued just to get out. Aeroflot has been limited mainly to internal flights since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, as well as cities in allied countries like Minsk in Belarus. Yet it remains a crucial part of transport infrastructure across the world's biggest country by geographical area. Updated at 11.08am CEST 10.43am CEST 10:43 Also on the automotive chip front, the share price of South Korea's Samsung Electronics jumped 6.8% on Monday after it agreed a semiconductor supply deal with Elon Musk's Tesla. Musk said the companies signed a $16.5bn supply deal. Samsung agreed to allow Tesla and Musk access to the fab to 'maximise manufacturing efficiency' for its newest chip, labelled A16. The deal will be seen as a major fillip for Samsung, which has struggled to keep up particularly with Taiwan's TSMC when it comes to manufacturing the most advanced chips. Samsung agreed to allow Tesla to assist in maximizing manufacturing efficiency. This is a critical point, as I will walk the line personally to accelerate the pace of progress. And the fab is conveniently located not far from my house 😃 10.25am CEST 10:25 It has also been a positive start for European semiconductor companies. A 15% tariff is bad news, but it is not a disaster for the sector – which is crucial to US ambitions to be the world leader in artificial intelligence. No European company is more crucial than ASML, the maker of the advanced lithography machines that use extreme ultraviolet light to etch transistors at the nanometre scale. Its machines are the only ones capable of making the world's most advanced chips. Its share price gained 4% on Monday. STMicroelectronics, which supplies Apple and Tesla, rises 3.1% in Milan, Germany's Infineon, which mainly serves the global automotive market, gained 2.2%. 10.06am CEST 10:06 Germany's car industry lobby group has expressed relief that the EU and US could reach a deal – but they are hardly overjoyed. Hildegard Müller, president of the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA), said it was 'fundamentally positive' that the two sides had prevented further escalation of the dispute started by Donald Trump. However, she added: It is also clear that the US tariff of 15% on automotive products will cost German automotive companies billions annually and place a burden on them in the midst of their transformation. The hit to Germany's carmakers is expected to come through lost sales if they pass the tariffs on to American buyers, or through a hit to their margins if they absorb the cost themselves. Either way though, the tariffs will function effectively as a tax on US consumers, who must either pay a higher price, or else see protected US manufacturers able to raise prices themselves. 9.45am CEST 09:45 The relief for European carmakers is clear. The 15% deal averted a 30% tariff on 1 August. Mercedes-Benz's share price rose 1.8% to its highest since late March, and Porsche gained 1.7%. Volkswagen gained 0.8%, although its gained were limited by a cut in guidance from its premium brand, Audi, which cut its sales forecasts by a further €2.5bn because of the tariffs. Reuters reported: Audi now expects revenue between €65bn and €70bn, down from a previous range of €67.5bn to €72.5bn, and an operating margin between 5 and 7%, down from a previous range of 7 to 9%. Stellantis, a group forged from a mixture of brands spanning from Detroit, to Italy and France, gained 1.2%. 9.21am CEST 09:21 Investors might be cheered, but the reaction this morning from European leaders to the EU's trade deal with the US is decidedly mixed. Hungary's prime minister, Viktor Orbán, has long been one of the most divisive voices within the EU, and he wasted no time in criticising European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen for what he described as a worse deal than the UK managed to secure. According to Reuters, Orbán told a podcast: This is not an agreement ... Donald Trump ate Von der Leyen for breakfast, this is what happened and we suspected this would happen as the US President is a heavyweight when it comes to negotiations while Madame President is featherweight. Belgium's prime minister, Bart de Wever, struck a different tone – firmly placing the blame for tariffs on Donald Trump. He posted on the social network X: This is a moment of relief but not of celebration. I sincerely hope the United States will, in due course, turn away again from the delusion of protectionism and once again embrace the value of free trade – a cornerstone of shared prosperity. In the meantime, Europe must continue to deepen its internal market, cut unnecessary regulation, and forge new partnerships to diversify our global trade network. May Europe become the beacon of open, fair, and reliable trade the world so urgently needs. 9.08am CEST 09:08 Good morning, and welcome to our live coverage of business, economics and financial markets. Global stock markets have rallied after the US and EU agreed a trade deal, removing a major source of uncertainty for companies around the world even as it promised a permanent cost to trans-Atlantic goods trade. European stock markets surged on the opening bell on Monday, a day after US President Donald Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, shook hands on a deal in Turnberry, Scotland, on Sunday. Germany's Dax rose 0.8% in early trading, France's Cac 40 gained 1%, while Spain's Ibex gained 0.8%. The FTSE 100 in London gained 0.5%. Asian stock markets also mostly rallied. Australia's ASX200 rose by 0.4%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.4%, Korea's Kospi index gained 0.6%, while Shanghai's CSI300 gained 0.1%. However, Japan's Nikkei 225 fell by 1% amid doubts over the details of its own trade deal with the US. The US-EU deal will put a 15% US tariff on most imports from the EU, including cars and computer chips. Steel and aluminium still face 50% tariffs – but only above certain quotas. There are zero tariffs on aerospace parts, some chemicals and raw materials. The EU will also agree to buy $750bn in US energy, and more military equipment – both of which fit with moves since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. There is good news and bad news in the deal, said Holger Schmieding, chief economist at Berenberg, an investment bank: The crippling uncertainty seems to be largely over. The trade deal which the US and the EU struck in Scotland on Sunday with a 15% tariff on most US goods imports from the EU is bearable for the EU, much more so than the 30% tariff would have been which US president Donald Trump had threatened before. However, the outcome remains much worse than the situation before Trump started his new round of trade wars early this year. The extra US tariffs will hurt both the US and the EU. […] The trade tensions with the US will subtract a cumulative 0.3 percentage points from European and 0.5 percentage points from German growth in 2025 and 2026 taken together. The deal is asymmetric. The US gets away with a substantial increase in its tariffs on imports from the EU and has secured further EU concessions to boot. 11am BST: UK Confederation of British Industry distributive trades (retail) survey (July; previous: -46%; consensus: -26%) 12:30pm BST: Donald Trump press conference in Scotland
Wall Street Journal
16-07-2025
- Business
- Wall Street Journal
EU Exports to U.S. Cool as Trans-Atlantic Trade Faces Tariff Test
Europe's exports to the U.S. fell for the second consecutive month in May after a first-quarter boom, but remained higher than a year earlier, a sign of resilience that will be tested as higher tariffs look set to become a settled feature of trans-Atlantic trade. Exports to the U.S. from the European Union edged down to 46.2 billion euros, or around $53.6 billion, in May from 47.6 billion euros a month earlier, statistics agency Eurostat said Wednesday. Overall exports fell 0.8%, with the EU's overall trade surplus rising to 13.4 billion euros.
Motor Trend
15-07-2025
- Automotive
- Motor Trend
Alternative History: What if AMC Had Survived the '80s?
American Motors Corporation was an absolute mess by the mid-1980s, and its financial problems in the U.S. market were compounded by infighting at its European corporate parent, Renault, where executives went back and forth about how much money they were willing to pour into their trans-Atlantic subsidiary. Writer Benjamin Hunting imagines an alternate history where AMC survives the 1980s by leveraging government contracts, launching popular models like the "Space Van" and Grand Cherokee, and thriving under Renault's support—ultimately leading to huge industry shifts. This summary was generated by AI using content from this MotorTrend article Read Next The assassination of Renault's chairman in 1986 by French terrorists caused AMC to lose its most powerful supporter, and a hasty sale to Chrysler ultimately condemned it to the dustbin of automotive history. Chrysler hoovered up the tastiest bits of the American Motors portfolio—namely, Jeep—and slowly phased out the rest of the AMC's offerings over the course of the next decade. In retrospect, however, AMC was holding not one, not two, but three aces up its sleeve that could have seen it weather the financial storm throughout the '80s. It's entirely possible that had a few key moments in the company's timeline gone a different way, it would have been American Motors and not Chrysler enjoying the fruits of Jeep's mainstream renaissance in the early 1990s—a rebirth that AMC in fact already had in development when it was scooped up by the suits in Auburn Hills. How different would the car industry have looked at the turn of the millennium if AMC had never changed hands? It turns out that this ripple in the chronological pond had the potential to upset big chunks of established history, not just in America, but in nearly every corner of the established automotive hegemony. Here's our alternative timeline in which AMC not only survives but thrives—and what the resulting fallout would have likely meant for one of Detroit's longtime stalwarts. 1983 After intense lobbying by American Motors, the U.S. government carves out an exception to a law forbidding foreign ownership of defense contractors, contingent on Renault spinning off AM General (the builder of the Humvee owned at the time by AMC) as an independently managed concern under the AMC umbrella. The continued, steady flow of government contracts acts as a lifeline for American Motors, and it cancels plans to take out a significant loan from its corporate parent to fund operations. 1985 The Renault Espace arrives in AMC showrooms, where it is rebadged as the 'Space Van,' an Americanized take on the literal translation of the French vehicle's European identity. Surprisingly, the funky badge helps give the people-mover some personality, which, combined with its genuine practicality and roomier interior versus rivals from Ford (the Aerostar) and Chevrolet (the Astro), helps put it alongside the Dodge Caravan and Plymouth Voyager as a popular and affordable family ride. Following the introduction of the redesigned Jeep Cherokee the year before, this gives AMC a presence in two of the highest-growth segments in the American auto industry, and for the first time in years the company is cash-flow positive. This convinces American Motors to accelerate investment in a larger sport utility vehicle that would complement the Cherokee, called the Grand Cherokee, the design of which is already well underway. Renault chairman Georges Besse's chauffeur is surprised to see two armed women in front of the home of his boss while driving back from the office on a cold November evening. He immediately hits the gas, slamming the rear door shut before Besse can exit the vehicle, and the pair escapes with just a few bullet holes in the rear quarter panel. After surviving the assassination attempt, Besse is given carte blanche at Renault to move forward with his plans for focusing on Jeep as the automaker's piggybank to fund not only AMC, but to also further the expansion of the French brand onto American shores. 1987 Chrysler, on a brash spending spree that includes buying a controlling stake in Lamborghini and an expansion of its partnership with Mitsubishi to form Diamond Star Motors, sees exactly the same potential in Jeep as Georges Besse. An offer is made to Renault not just for the off-road brand but for all of AMC, with Chrysler trying to cloak its true intentions about what it considers the real prize of the transaction. Besse won't be bought, however, and Chrysler returns hat-in-hand to Auburn Hills. 1988 Ambitious planning begins for the upcoming decade in the American market. With Jeep as its crown jewel, both Eagle and AMC are slated for repositioning beneath Renault. The French badge is no longer interested in its role as an entry-level brand hawking low-spec Le Cars and lays the groundwork for leveraging existing dealerships to form a stronger toehold for the revitalized company. The Jeep Grand Cherokee breaks cover as a 'concept' at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. The response from both the media and show attendees is overwhelmingly positive, leading to a brief spike in compact Cherokee sales from customers too impatient for what they assume will be a lengthy wait for the production version. No one realizes that Besse's pressure to keep pumping cash into Jeep has dramatically accelerated the Grand Cherokee's timeline. 1990 The Grand Cherokee makes its debut in showrooms to universal acclaim. On top of offering a choice of either AMC's old faithful inline six-cylinder engine or a newly developed, 5.9-liter fuel-injected V-8, it also provides a turbodiesel option borrowed from the Renault parts bin. The latter choice positions the Jeep in its higher trim levels as something more than an off-roader, pushing it onto the radar of Europhiles who have become used to parking Range Rovers in their driveways. This opens a second front of European sales for Jeep in the luxury sphere. 1991 The Ford Explorer joins the midsize SUV scene, splitting the difference between the Grand Cherokee's off-road chops and the practical character prized by family buyers now tempted to abandon their minivans. SUV sales are soaring, leaving General Motors and Chrysler playing catch-up. Chevrolet and GMC are at least able to soak up some sales thanks to the four-door compact Blazer/Jimmy and full-size four-door Suburbans sitting on full-size truck platforms, but the two-door Dodge Ramcharger remains in a distant fourth place as it plays out the string on a dated pickup chassis. 1992 Buoyed by strong Jeep sales, Renault launches the initial phase of its ambitious American strategy. First, it spins off AMC as a value-focused brand selling cars on a 'no-haggle' model: What you see advertised is what you pay at the dealership. Along with a redesigned Espace, an entirely new lineup of hatchbacks, small wagons, sedans, and budget coupes are gradually deployed over the course of the next few years, some sharing components with Renault's European offerings while others benefit from AMC's next-generation four-cylinder engine program. This puts AMC in direct competition with GM's Saturn brand, which arrived on the scene in mid-1990. Next, a revitalized Eagle steps out of the AMC shadow and becomes its own brand. The focus remains on what are now being called 'crossovers,' automobiles that sit between a wagon and a sport utility vehicle. Eagle also benefits from Renault's technical prowess in the form of unibody models that feature sophisticated all-wheel-drive systems in place of their earlier, low-range four-wheel drive setups. The new Eagles are an immediate hit in regions like Colorado and New England. 1993 Chrysler, facing considerable financial strain as sales of the Grand Caravan and Voyager slow in the face of the SUV onslaught, are forced to sell Lamborghini to MegaTech, an Indonesian company owned by Tommy Suharto, the son of that country's president-for-life. The automaker takes a loss on the deal, but it helps stem some of the financial bleeding that's beginning to concern both executives and Wall Street alike. 1994 Dodge introduces a new Ram pickup that instantly makes it a player in the full-size segment after years of disappointing sales. Unfortunately, that same success doesn't translate to its revised version of the SUV, which updates the two-door Ramcharger with the new pickup's underpinnings. As the market continues to move toward family-friendly four-door haulers, many of them taking their cues from Eagle's crossovers, the Ramcharger is out of step with what customers are actually looking for in a sport utility. 1995 Renault implements the next stage of its U.S. transformation by introducing the second generation of what had originally been planned as the Eagle Premier sedan. Originally kept exclusive to the European market, where it was sold as the Medallion, the new Renault Premier pushes the automaker into a higher class than it had previously enjoyed among American buyers, leading some to compare the car to offerings from Oldsmobile and even Audi. 1996 After a fraught development process, the Dodge Viper concept car makes a late debut at the Detroit auto show. Although it was originally hoped that Lamborghini's engineers could be more involved in the design of the vehicle's drivetrain, the early sale forced Dodge to move on from its planned V-10 and instead supercharge the company's long-standing 5.9-liter V-8. Heart-stopping styling doesn't make up for the lack of an exotic engine, making it harder for the public to stomach the no windows/no roof inconveniences of its cabin. Production plans for the Viper are quietly scuttled. The Viper team is diverted to focus on the Dodge Durango, a four-door, Grand Cherokee–sized SUV that the company hopes will turn its fortunes around. 1997 Subaru, in the face of strong sales from Eagle eating into its core customer base, makes a product cancellation of its own. The Outback, a tall-riding version of its Legacy wagon, is deemed too derivative of the Eagle lineup to make a dent in the market, and its development is halted. Facing dwindling revenues, and unable to finance new product development, Subaru's leadership initiates back-channel talks with Toyota about a possible merger. 1998 Renault, emboldened by the money pouring into its coffers from the success of AMC, Jeep, and Eagle, makes the surprise move of purchasing Volvo, scooping Ford who had planned on making overtures for the Swedish brand to join its nascent Premier Automotive Group. After decades of working together on various shared projects, Renault hopes to leverage Volvo's dealer network and customer base to continue its colonization of the near-luxury space in the United States. Talks also begin with Nissan about a potential alliance. Two new premium models emerge on American roads bearing the Renault badge: the Megane sport hatch and the Laguna hatchback sedan, with the latter praised for its near-crossover utility and excellent handling. 1999 Concerned by Renault's burgeoning acquisition portfolio, Toyota signs a deal to bring Subaru in-house. At the same time, executives announce a new subbrand called Scion that's intended to take on both AMC and Saturn, which have split much of the entry-level market between them in the United States. Chrysler, looking for a savior of its own, begins talks with Daimler about a potential 'merger of equals.' The German automaker's boardroom doesn't see much of value in Chrysler's mishmash of cheap cars, fading minivans, and almost-luxury sedans, and while the Dodge Ram is appealing, it's too far outside the Daimler playbook to integrate properly into its American operations. Discussions never advance past the initial stages. 2000 Emboldened by its newfound partnership with Nissan (which involved a stock share and co-investment in each other's companies), Renault has the cash to add the missing piece to its U.S. portfolio: Dodge, which it plucks from a flailing Chrysler as part of a general takeover bid. While the Ram pickup fills an important void, the Ramcharger is quietly put out of its misery, along with any plans to bring the stillborn Durango to market. The Chrysler brand is relegated to special trim levels on several Renault models, specifically those sold to livery companies for use as limousines. The Walter P. Chrysler package becomes a popular choice in the black car business over the course of the next decade.
Wall Street Journal
07-06-2025
- Business
- Wall Street Journal
New York to Paris in Under Four Hours? Inside the Effort to Build the Next Concorde
When the Concorde was grounded in 2003, done in by strained economics and a fiery crash on a Paris runway, it appeared to be the end of the line for supersonic travel. Nothing emerged to replace it. In fact, the speed of air travel moved in the opposite direction, with many routes getting slower in recent years as congestion and air-traffic control inefficiencies jammed up the skies. A former Amazon software engineer named Blake Scholl founded a company to change this. A decade ago, he launched Boom Supersonic, betting that his Denver-based startup could tap in to the allure of ultrafast travel—a desire that has never quite been extinguished despite the financial and practical challenges that ended the Concorde's nearly 30-year run. Scholl sees a world where round-trip trans-Atlantic business journeys happen in a single day.
