Tausi Insider

In an upscale Seoul neighbourhood two years ago, a white Tesla Model X smashed into a parking lot wall. The fiery crash killed a prominent lawyer – a close friend of South Korea’s president. Prosecutors have charged the driver with involuntary manslaughter. He blames Tesla. Choi Woan-jong, who had eked out a living by driving drunk people home in their own cars, says the Model X sped out of control on its own and that the brakes failed in the December 2020 accident. The criminal trial about to begin in South Korea hangs on questions about the safety of Tesla cars, at a time when the EV maker faces a range of lawsuits and increased scrutiny by regulators. Choi, 61, is now unable to find work as an independent driver, or what is known in Korea as a “replacement driver.” He says he suffers flashbacks and depression ahead of a trial that pits his credibility against the world’s most valuable auto maker. “When I wake up, I feel abandoned, floating alone in the middle of the ocean,” said C...

Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem in Ottawa on Jan. 26. Blair Gable/Tausi Insider John Rapley is a political economist at the University of Cambridge and managing director of Seaford Macro. Central bankers must be feeling punch-drunk. For years, they strode like superheroes. We praised their genius, bestowed them with titles such as “maestro” – as one journalist labelled Alan Greenspan in a now-infamous encomium – and revelled in the New Jerusalem to which they’d delivered us: a Promised Land of low inflation and endless credit, where all we had to do to get rich was buy a house and watch it grow. But then, almost overnight, the story changed. Central bankers turned into villains – architects of soaring inflation, punishing mortgage costs, plunging house values and the inevitable advance toward recession. Unifor chief Lana Payne, leader of Canada’s largest private-sector union, recently charged that, by raising interest rates, Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem “has basically de...

Chrysler parent Stellantis STLA-N said Tuesday it is recalling 1.4 million pickup trucks worldwide because tailgates may not latch properly and could open while driving. The automaker said the recall covers various 2019 through 2022 model year Ram 1500, 2500, and 3500 pickup trucks. The company said it has no reports of crashes or injuries but more than 800 warranty claims and other reports potentially related to the issue. Dealers will inspect the tailgate striker alignment to the box latch and adjust if necessary, the company said. The recall includes more than 1.23 million vehicles in the United States, 120,000 in Canada, 26,000 in Mexico and about 27,000 outside North America. Owner notification letters will be mailed in late January. The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said an unintended tailgate opening while driving could result in a loss of unsecured cargo, potentially creating a road hazard and increasing the risk of a crash. The automaker opened an inter...

The U.S. government’s highway safety agency said Thursday it will send teams to investigate two November crashes in California and Ohio involving Teslas that may have been operating on automated driving systems. The probes bring to 35 the number of crashes investigated by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration since 2016 in which either Tesla’s “Full Self-Driving” or “Autopilot” systems likely were in use. Nineteen people were killed in the crashes. The California crash occurred on Thanksgiving Day involving eight vehicles on the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. The driver told authorities that the Tesla TSLA-Q Model S was using the company’s “Full Self-Driving” software, according to Highway Patrol report obtained by CNN. The Ohio crash happened Nov. 18 near Toledo, when a Tesla Model 3 crashed into an Ohio Highway Patrol SUV stopped on a roadway with its emergency lights flashing. A message was left Thursday seeking comment from Tesla on the latest NHTSA action. The co...

Chrysler parent Stellantis STLA-N said Tuesday it is recalling 1.4 million pickup trucks worldwide because tailgates may not latch properly and could open while driving. The automaker said the recall covers various 2019 through 2022 model year Ram 1500, 2500, and 3500 pickup trucks. The company said it has no reports of crashes or injuries but more than 800 warranty claims and other reports potentially related to the issue. Dealers will inspect the tailgate striker alignment to the box latch and adjust if necessary, the company said. The recall includes more than 1.23 million vehicles in the United States, 120,000 in Canada, 26,000 in Mexico and about 27,000 outside North America. Owner notification letters will be mailed in late January. The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said an unintended tailgate opening while driving could result in a loss of unsecured cargo, potentially creating a road hazard and increasing the risk of a crash. The automaker opened an inter...