Bloomberg Japan is famous as a land of robots, but most of those machines haven’t made their way off of factory floors. That presents an opportunity in a country with a serious labour shortage and a relatively unproductive services sector. Automation is seen as a key to better productivity and higher wages, which would in turn support consumption and help …

Bloomberg After struggling for years to address complaints with its audio and connectivity systems, Ford Motor Co. achieved its highest-ever ranking this year in a closely watched annual study of new-car quality. Ford’s namesake brand ranked fifth in J.D. Power’s Initial Quality Study, which measures problems per 100 vehicles in first 90 days of ownership. Ford was one of the …

Bloomberg Big banks cleared the first hurdle of this year’s US stress tests as the Federal Reserve found all 35 lenders examined could withstand a severe economic downturn, though Goldman Sachs Group Inc. trailed the rest of Wall Street in a key measure of leverage. The results announced mark the third straight year every bank exceeded the Fed’s minimum capital …