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The United Auto Workers gave union leaders permission to call a strike against the biggest U.S. carmakers if they fail to agree on a new contract before Sept. 15, a procedural formality that sets the stage for three weeks of tough negotiations.

Having zipped from six-figure sedans to Costco-crushing SUVs, electrification is finally zeroing in on the auto industry’s most esoteric form: the tiny pickup truck.

Carmakers including Volkswagen AG and General Motors Co. should brace for the global semiconductor shortage to last beyond next year and redesign cars so they need fewer of the high-tech components, consultancy Roland Berger said.

The record steel rally is starting to show early signs of cooling, with one top U.S. producer scouring for buyers to take over abandoned orders of high-end metal used by automakers.

The cost of the intractable semiconductor shortage has ballooned by more than 90%, pushing the total hit to 2021 revenue for the world’s automakers to $210 billion.

A year ago, Ford Motor Co. dealer Rhett Ricart had a lot full of cars and hardly any customers. This year, he has a lot full of customers and hardly any cars.

Ford Motor Co. has acquired a startup that specializes in managing charging networks for commercial electric vehicles, a business the automaker hopes could generate as much as $1 billion in revenue by 2030.

The American father-son duo charged with helping former Nissan Motor Co. Chairman Carlos Ghosn flee trial in Japan a year and a half ago pleaded guilty in a Tokyo court June 14.

Ford Motor Co. CEO Jim Farley made a bold bid for electric supremacy May 26 by boosting his company’s bet on plug-in models by more than a third, to $30 billion, and promising to electrify virtually the entire lineup.

The shift to electric vehicles won’t happen like the flip of a light switch.