Bloomberg Volkswagen AG is flanking its push into electric cars with plans to roll out battery-powered commercial vehicles targeted at urban areas as growing public concerns about air quality boost demand. The Volkswagen Truck & Bus division will invest 1.4 billion euros ($1.7 billion) in new technology including electric drivetrains, autonomous systems and cloud-based software, Andreas Renschler, head of the ...

Bloomberg Facebook Inc. unveiled a cheaper virtual-reality headset that works without being tethered to a computer, rounding out its plan for pushing the emerging technology to the masses. The new $199 wireless headset, called Oculus Go—meant to be the company’s most accessible VR device—will be available in early 2018. Facebook also trimmed the price of its high-end Oculus Rift headset ...

Bloomberg Amazon.com Inc. introduced a waterproof Kindle e-reader long-awaited by enthusiasts, the latest in a string of consumer devices from the online retail giant this year. The device, an updated version of the Kindle Oasis, has a faster 4G wireless connection, six-week battery life, and a brighter 7-inch screen, slightly larger than the previous model. Waterproofing has long been an ...

Bloomberg Prime Minister Narendra Modi has kicked off India’s race to turn all new passenger car sales electric by 2030. The largest order has gone to a company that hasn’t commercially started producing the vehicles. Tata Motors Ltd. hasn’t sold a single electric car yet, though Chief Executive Officer Guenter Butschek says its late-mover status is an advantage at a ...

Bloomberg Judging from General Motors Co.’s test cars and Elon Musk’s predictions, the world is headed towards a future that’s both driverless and all-electric. In reality, autonomy and battery power could end up being at odds. That’s because self-driving technology is a huge power drain. Some of today’s prototypes for fully autonomous systems consume two to four kilowatts of electricity—the ...

Bloomberg Economic indicators show ‘stabilized and stronger growth’ and the momentum of a 6.9 percent expansion in the first six months of 2017 ‘may continue in the second half,’ People’s Bank of China (PBOC) Governor Zhou Xiaochuan said. Imports and exports increased rapidly, fiscal income grew, and prices have been steady, Zhou said, according to a statement the central bank ...

Bloomberg Brian Moynihan’s efforts to boost Bank of America Corp. profit through cost cutting finally got some help from interest rates. The lender posted the highest net income in six years as the chief executive officer cut expenses more than forecast and net interest income rose to the highest since 2011. During his seven years as CEO, Moynihan has worked ...

Bloomberg FirstRand Ltd., Africa’s biggest lender by market value, offered to buy UK challenger bank Aldermore Group Plc for about 1.1 billion pounds ($1.4 billion). Shares in the British firm soared. Aldermore received ‘an indicative proposal’ from Johannesburg-based FirstRand of 313 pence per share, 37 percent more than its average share price this year, and directors at the UK lender ...

Bloomberg BNP Paribas SA plans to substantially increase the number of client advisers employed by its Asian wealth-management business, seeing an opportunity in the retreat of some European rivals from the region. BNP has been investing and hiring in Asia for several years and intends to continue its push, said Vincent Lecomte, co-head of the French bank’s wealth-management business. Asked ...

Bloomberg Former HSBC Holdings Plc currency trader Mark Johnson took the witness stand, insisting that he cheated no one in a $3.5 billion foreign-exchange transaction. Johnson is accused of fraud for buying British pounds ahead of a client’s order, forcing the client to pay a higher price. The bank made an $8 million profit as a result of the currency ...