Business

When a Chinese billionaire became Daimler AG’s biggest shareholder in 2018, it caused quite a stir. Another Chinese investor took an even bigger stake the following year, the Mercedes-Benz maker just disclosed for the first time.

Central Freight Lines is ceasing operations after nearly a century in business, according to reports Dec. 11.

The head of the nation’s second-largest bank said consumers are spending “at a faster rate” than he has ever seen, but he remains concerned about how inflation and supply chain issues will influence the economy going into the winter.

Volkswagen AG will invest 2 billion euros in a planned battery hub in Germany as part of a decision to create a dedicated company for the carmaker’s battery business.

More Retail, an Indian grocery chain backed by Amazon.com Inc., is considering an initial public offering that could value the company at as much as $5 billion, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

DHL’s supply chain unit doubled its use of robots in the U.S. this year and now has about 1,500 picking robots at its warehouses around the country, on top of adding 15,000 seasonal workers, Oscar de Bok, chief executive of the unit, said in an interview with Bloomberg TV Dec. 10.

Saia has completed deployment of the new RouteMax mobile app to more than 3,000 city drivers across the United States, its development partner, HaulSuite, announced Dec. 8.

U.S. Class 8 retail sales in November were 16,539, or 7.1% lower compared with a year earlier, as results were mixed among the truck makers, WardsAuto .com reported.

The first major update of U.S. international ocean-shipping laws in more than two decades, which passed in the House this week, will help boost transparency in the industry if passed by the Senate, the head of the Port of Los Angeles said.

Deutsche Lufthansa AG’s cargo division said it’s seeking more freighter planes to keep pace with booming global demand and that purchases could include Airbus SE’s new A350F model.