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.

Renesas Electronics Corp., one of the biggest makers of automotive chips, said a fire halted production at one of its Japanese plants. The incident may exacerbate a shortage of semiconductors that has already curbed vehicle output across the industry.

The Biden administration is working to address the global semiconductor shortage that has caused auto manufacturers and other U.S. industries to halt production, a White House official said.

Investors are rewarding U.S. automakers as they embrace electric vehicles to boost growth amid a burgeoning demand for environment-friendly cars.