TOP NEWS
* Japanese carmakers Toyota Motor Corp. and Suzuki Motor Corp. signed a cross-shareholding agreement as part of a tie-up focused on sharing technology. Toyota will acquire about 4.94% of Suzuki, while Suzuki will buy Toyota shares equating to about 0.002% of the company's stock.
* The U.S. Department of Justice charged Anthony Levandowski with 33 counts of trade secrets theft after he allegedly downloaded engineering, manufacturing and business files from Google's self-driving technology startup Waymo LLC and used them to found Otto, a self-driving truck company acquired by Uber Technologies Inc. Levandowski faces 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each count, or about $8.25 million in total. Uber fired Levandowski as its self-driving head in 2017 and agreed to pay Waymo $245 million in 2018.
CARMAKERS
* Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. had decided not to renew the contracts of 3,000 temporary workers, Reuters reported, citing Maruti Suzuki Chairman R.C. Bhargava's statements at the company's annual general meeting. The move comes as the Indian carmaker tries to offset increased vehicle costs amid declining sales in its home market, the report said. Bhargava, however, said the carmaker will continue investing in new products.
* Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. named David Kershaw vice president of sales and regional operations for Nissan North America, effective Sept. 1. Kershaw is vice president for regional sales and marketing in Nissan Southeast Region and will replace Billy Hayes, who will leave Nissan for personal reasons.
ELECTRIC VEHICLES
* Volvo Cars-owned Polestar opened its factory in Shanghai, where it will begin producing its Polestar 1 luxury plug-in hybrid. The carmaker will produce 500 units of the Polestar 1 per year.
* Struggling electric-vehicle startup Faraday&Future Inc. is planning a restructuring that would see CEO Jia Yueting step down from his post, Pandaily reported, citing sources.
* Japanese carmaker Nissan said it would lend its Leaf electric vehicles to Hikone City as an emergency power source during disasters. Nissan and Shiga Nissan locations will also serve as evacuation centers, the carmaker said.
MOBILITY SERVICES
* Ride-hailing giant GrabTaxi Holdings Pte Ltd. will invest $500 million in Vietnam through to 2024 to boost financial tech, logistics and mobility services in the country, confirming an earlier report. The investment will also help expand Grab's other services, including food and package delivery, logistics and payment network services.
POLICY, REGULATIONS AND SAFETY
* BMW of North America LLC, the U.S. arm of German automaker Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, will recall a total of 41,981 cars and 5,938 motorcycles over component defects that could heighten the risk of a crash or fire, according to documents from the U.S. Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
* Hyundai Motor Co. and its unionized workers reached a new wage and collective bargaining agreement, Yonhap News reported, citing union spokesman Hong Jae-gwan. Hyundai will increase monthly salaries by 1.7% and provide performance-based pay and new cash-based bonuses. It is the first time in eight years that workers did not need to strike to reach a new deal.
* Auto-parts maker Continental AG unveiled Connected Parking software, which will reward drivers with virtual coins for sharing their ride data through an open-source networking platform based on blockchain platform Crossbar.io.
Early morning futures indicators pointed to a higher opening for the U.S. market.
In Asia, the Hang Seng fell 0.19% to 25,615.48, and the Nikkei 225 rose 0.11% to 20,479.42.
In Europe, around midday, the FTSE 100 was up 0.23% % to 7,105.45, and the Euronext 100 lost 0.54% to 1,039.34.
On the macro front
The U.S. state street investor confidence index, the U.S. Energy Information Administration petroleum status report and the U.S. survey of business uncertainty are due out today.
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