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Toyota was quick to pump the brakes on a claim that President Donald Trump made this week regarding an alleged promise by the Japanese automaker to invest $10 billion in the U.S. We didnt specifically say that well invest $10 billion over the next few years,” Toyota executive Hiroyuki Ueda told reporters on Wednesday during the Japan Mobility Show in Tokyo, as first reported by Reuters. While Ueda stressed that the automaker will continue to invest and create jobs in the U.S. over the next few years, it hasnt made any explicit promise of an investment of the magnitude Trump referencednor, in fact, of any particular amount. The confusion, it seems, may stem from investments the worlds largest automaker made in U.S. auto plants during Trumps first administration, which ended in early 2021, and totaled roughly $10 billion, according to Ueda. The topic of investing in the U.S. also didnt come up when Toyota chairman Akio Toyoda spoke briefly with Trump at a U.S. Embassy event on Tuesday, Ueda said, according to Reuters. GAME OF TELEPHONE Where this supposed promise of an investment came from is a game of telephone of sorts. On Tuesday, Trump referenced that $10 billion figure during a speech aboard the aircraft carrier USS George Washington during his visit to Japanand said hed just heard about it from Japans newly elected prime minister, Sanae Takaichi. I was just told by the prime minister that Toyota is going to be putting auto plants all over the United States to the tune of over $10 billion, Trump said, before urging U.S. military members: Go out and buy a Toyota. A spokesperson for Toyota USA didnt immediately respond to a request for comment from Fast Company. However, in a statement to The Hill, Toyota reiterated its commitment to investing in its U.S operations, without specifying an amount. With nearly $50 billion already invested and 49,000 direct employees across the United States, this ongoing commitment strengthens our support for American manufacturing, supply chains, jobs, and customers, the statement to The Hill read. More details will follow soon. Shares of Toyota fell nearly 0.8% on Wednesday.
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Uber said Wednesday that the San Francisco Bay Area will be the first market for its specially built autonomous taxi, which is expected to launch in late 2026. The San Francisco ride-hailing company said in July it was developing a robotaxi with the electric car company Lucid and the self-driving technology company Nuro Inc. The vehicle is exclusive to Uber but is based on the Lucid Gravity SUV. Uber said Lucid recently delivered test vehicles to Nuro and said it plans to have 100 test vehicles on the road in the coming months. Within six years, Uber plans to deploy 20,000 or more Lucid-based autonomous taxis in multiple locations. The vehicles will be available to riders through the Uber app. Uber is working with multiple companies to speed the deployment of autonomous taxis. On Tuesday, Uber said its also developing robotaxis with the tech company Nvidia and the automaker Stellantis. Uber said Tuesday that in 2028, Stellantis expects to start production of at least 5,000 vehicles powered by Nvidia software for autonomous taxi operations in the U.S. And last week, Uber said it has begun offering autonomous taxi rides in Saudi Arabia as part of a partnership with WeRide, a Chinese autonomous tech company. Uber also works with WeRide in Abu Dhabi. Autonomous taxis arent new, but as the worlds largest ride-hailing service, Ubers adoption of them is significant. Uber operates in 15,000 cities in more than 70 countries. Waymo, which is owned by Google parent Alphabet, has been testing autonomous taxis for years. Those taxis are currently available in Phoenix, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Atlanta, and Austin. Waymo said earlier this month it plans to expand to London next year. Uber is partnering with Waymo on autonomous taxis in Phoenix, Austin, and Atlanta. Dee-Ann Durbin, AP business writer
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E-Commerce
U.S. stocks are rising toward more records on Wednesday as Wall Street waits to hear from the Federal Reserve in the afternoon about what it will do with interest rates. The S&P 500 added 0.3% in morning trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 231 points, or 0.5%, as of 10:15 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.6% higher. All three indexes are coming off their latest all-time high. The bond market was also relatively steady as the countdown ticked to the announcement from the Fed. The widespread expectation is that it will announce the second cut of the year to its main interest rate in hopes of helping the slowing job market. More important will be whether the Fed gives hints about another cut to rates in December and beyond. Wall Street is banking on it. In the meantime, the deluge continues of big U.S. companies reporting how much profit they made during the summer. The pressure is on to deliver growth because thats one way they can quiet criticism that their stock prices have shot too high in recent months. Caterpillar rallied 12% after reporting stronger profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected. CEO Joe Creed said Caterpillar saw resilient demand, as customers bought more equipment, even with a dynamic environment. Teradyne soared 14.6% after the company, which makes automated test equipment and advanced robotics systems, likewise reported a stronger profit than analysts expected. CEO Greg Smith credited strength related to artificial-intelligence applications and said AI-related test demand remains robust. Nvidia, meanwhile, was the strongest force lifting the S&P 500 after rallying 4.4%. It became the first company valued at $5 trillion on Wall Street, just three months after the AI darling was the first to break through the $4 trillion barrier. They helped offset a 42.6% plunge for Fiserv. The payments and financial technology company reported weaker profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected, slashed its profit forecast for the year and revamped its board of directors and leadership team. The stock is heading toward its worst day since it began trading in 1986. Mondelez International fell 2.8%, even though it reported stronger results than analysts expected. The company, whose brands include Oreo cookies and Toblerone chocolate, has been dealing with record-high inflation for the cost of cocoa. It expects challenging conditions to continue in some markets, though it hopes that price increases are moderating for cocoa. In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed in Europe following a stronger finish in Asia. Tokyos Nikkei 225 jumped 2.2% to another record. Seouls Kospi rose 1.8% to its own all-time high after President Donald Trump met with South Koreas leader following his visit in Japan. Stocks rose 0.7% in Shanghai ahead of a meeting between Trump and Chinas leader, Xi Jinping. The worlds two largest economies have been locked in an escalating trade war, with Washington imposing high tariffs and tightened technology controls and China retaliating with curbs on rare earth shipments, one of its key sources of leverage. In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury was holding at 3.99%, where it was late Tuesday. It’s been coming down from nearly 4.80% early this year, a notable move for the bond market, as expectations have climbed for several cuts to rates by the Federal Reserve. But the Fed has also warned that it may have to halt the cuts if inflation accelerates beyond its still-high level, because lower rates can worsen inflation. Making an already tough course for Fed officials more difficult is the U.S. governments shutdown. That has delayed important updates on the economy that would normally help guide the Feds decision-making process. Stan Choe, AP business writer AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.
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