Connect with us

Published

on

Just like Fords “Edsel” model in the 1950s, Trump administration economist Steve Moore cautioned that electric vehicles (EVs) may be the auto market’s “next big flop.”

“Henry Ford’s son was named Edsel, and this was going to be the great car, all of the executives said, ‘This is the car everybody’s going to want to buy.’ Ford made 500,000 of these new sedan cars, but guess what?” Moore said on “Varney & Co.” Monday. “Nobody bothered to ask consumers whether they wanted the car.” 

“And of course, the Edsel was one of the great flops of all time,” the economist continued. “I’m here to tell you, if these trends continue, we’re going to see the EV market become the next big flop because car buyers don’t want them.”

Moores comments come as the EV push at Ford and General Motors hit a speed bump thats cutting into the automakers profits and causing them to reevaluate their electric plans amid a price war and supply chain challenges.

Ford noted in its earnings report released last week that its EV unit posted a quarterly loss before interest and taxes (EBIT) of $1.33 billion an acceleration after a loss of $1.08 billion in the prior quarter. It added that its cutting production of its Mustang Mach-E while scaling back about $12 billion in planned investments in the EV segment, including delaying its second battery plant in Kentucky.

General Motors saw its quarterly profit reduced by about $1.5 billion because of higher costs and the impact of selling more EVs, though it doesnt break out losses from its EV unit in the same way Ford does.

GM CFO Paul Jacobson said that it would abandon an interim goal of building 400,000 EVs from 2022 through mid-2024, instead focusing on a goal of “getting to 1 million EVs of production by the end of 2025 alongside hitting our margin targets.”

“Given the huge losses that these companies like Ford are suffering because of the EV mania, I saw a statistic this morning that Ford is losing something like between $40,000 and $60,000 per car,” Moore reacted. “It’s been a bad bet.”

The economist further argued that auto industry-wide bailouts may be likely amid companies EV losses.

“The federal government is also already offering all of these sweeteners to get people to buy electric vehicles. You get a $7,500, basically, check from the government every time you buy an EV. Let’s not forget that we’re subsidizing the battery companies, all of these things,” Moore noted.

“The taxpayers are paying for these things,” he added. “And yet the most amazing thing is, even with all these sweeteners, Americans are still saying, I don’t want them.”

Speaking to car dealers around the country, Moore reported that their lots “are full of EVs” and only 10% of clients purchase EVs off the lot today.

“I think the car companies would be smart going to hybrids where you can have gas and an electric battery,” the economist and adviser suggested. “But the car companies aren’t making those cars. And the reason they aren’t making them is because the government has increasingly mandate[d] that all cars be EVs.”

FOX Business Eric Revell contributed to this report.

Continue Reading

Sports

Leafs finish off Senators for spot in East semifinals

Published

on

By

Leafs finish off Senators for spot in East semifinals

OTTAWA, Ontario — Max Pacioretty scored the tiebreaking goal with less than six minutes remaining, leading the Toronto Maple Leafs to a series-clinching 4-2 victory over the Ottawa Senators on Thursday night in Game 6 of their first-round matchup.

William Nylander had two goals, including an empty-netter in the final seconds, and an assist, and Auston Matthews added a power-play goal in the first period for Toronto. Anthony Stolarz made 20 saves.

Brady Tkachuk and David Perron scored for Ottawa. Thomas Chabot had two assists and Linus Ullmark made 19 saves.

The Maple Leafs advanced to take on the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers in the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs. The Panthers beat the Tampa Bay Lightning in five games in their first-round series.

Toronto grabbed a 3-0 series lead, but Ottawa stayed alive with a 4-3 overtime victory in Game 4 and a 4-0 shutout in Game 5.

The Maple Leafs finally put away the Senators in Game 6.

With the game tied at 2, Pacioretty — a heathy scratch to start the series — scored the winner with 5:39 remaining off a pass from Max Domi that beat Ullmark to the glove side. It was Pacioretty’s first goal of the playoffs.

Scott Laughton hit the post before Nylander iced it into the empty net with 18.3 seconds left.

Matthews put Toronto up 1-0 on a power play with 70 seconds left in the first period when he fired a low shot through traffic.

Nylander, on his 29th birthday, made it 2-0 just 43 seconds into the second when he ripped a shot past Ullmark after Pacioretty forced a turnover from Senators defenseman Nick Jensen.

Ottawa got on the board at 7:28 when Tkachuk tipped a shot past Stolarz.

Toronto, which beat Ottawa four times in five playoffs series in the early 2000s, came close to restoring its two-goal lead when John Tavares poked a loose puck off the post before Ullmark denied Matthew Knies and Brandon Carlo off the rush.

Perron scored with 7:20 left in regulation to tie it on a shot from below the goal line that went in off Stolarz’s back to make it 2-2.

Continue Reading

Sports

Eichel’s 1st goal of series helps Knights advance

Published

on

By

Eichel's 1st goal of series helps Knights advance

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Jack Eichel scored his first goal of the series to give Vegas the lead late in the second period, and Adin Hill held it up on a 29-save night to spur the Golden Knights on to the second round with a 3-2 victory in Game 6 against the Minnesota Wild on Thursday night.

Shea Theodore scored first and Mark Stone scored last for Vegas, which will face the winner of the Edmonton-Los Angeles series. The Oilers took a 3-2 lead on the Kings into Game 6 on their home ice later Thursday.

Minnesota has lost nine consecutive series in the NHL playoffs and last made it out of the first round 10 years ago.

Ryan Hartman had two goals for the Wild, including a wraparound with 3:27 left that came 31 seconds after Stone had just given the Golden Knights a two-goal lead.

Stone, who set up Eichel with a long pass out of the zone that was inches out of reach of the stick of Kirill Kaprizov after he dived to try to prevent the breakaway, had four points in the last three games. Neither Stone nor Eichel recorded a single point in the first three games.

Hartman tied the game for the Wild with four seconds left in the first period, a goal safe from replay review unlike his go-ahead score in Game 5 with 1:15 remaining in regulation that was revoked for an offside call after Vegas challenged.

The Wild were unshaken by the consecutive overtime losses that erased their 2-1 lead, confident they measured up to the deeper Golden Knights and could still take the series.

They were quickly playing from behind, though, after Marco Rossi got the dreaded double minor penalty for high-sticking Brayden McNabb with just 2:27 elapsed in the game.

Theodore wristed in a shot from the high slot with Stone and Tomas Hertl screening Wild goalie Filip Gustavsson, immediately quieting the crowd near the end of the first power play. Gustavsson, who was forced out of Game 5 after two periods due to an illness, had 20 saves.

Continue Reading

UK

NHS may offer weight loss jabs over the counter at pharmacies

Published

on

By

NHS may offer weight loss jabs over the counter at pharmacies

Patients will be able to get weight loss injections from pharmacies, according to reports. 

It’s claimed drugs such as Ozempic and Mounjaro could be available over the counter after a short consultation – at the cost of an NHS prescription.

This would broaden access to these jabs considerably, as the health service currently restricts injections to those regarded as having the highest clinical need.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Weight loss drugs ‘changing way we see obesity’

At the moment, there is a two-year waiting list for Wegovy on the NHS – and last year, research by Sky News showed the rollout is happening far more slowly than planned.

Thousands of people with severe obesity have been denied access to the treatment, with doctors previously claiming that a “soul-destroying” postcode lottery has emerged.

According to the Daily Mail, a multimillion-pound deal for a pilot scheme will be struck with a pharmaceutical firm, with a view to issuing prescriptions through chemists and health centres.

They would be priced at £9.90 – the same as an NHS prescription – and substantially less than the £150-a-month cost of obtaining these injections privately.

More on Nhs

But the reports have been described as “speculative”, with health experts warning obesity drugs must only be used under medical supervision by those who are eligible.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

The weight loss drug that’s ‘too good’

A government spokesperson said: “As the government shifts the NHS from sickness to prevention, we will be looking across the board at how these drugs can be made available to more people who can benefit from them.

“The NHS is already tackling obesity in innovative ways, including through community care models and digital technologies, to help deliver these drugs as part of a rounded package of care.”

Previous estimates from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) have suggested that 3.4 million people in England could benefit from weight loss injections.

But last December, NICE said these jabs would only be available to 220,000 patients on the NHS in the first three years – meaning millions of others could end up waiting up to 12 years for treatment.

Read more from Sky News:
Harrods targeted by cyberattackers

UK’s hottest start to May on record
Police horses attacked by dog in park

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

‘I need weight loss drug but can’t get it’

Studies show people lose on average 15% of their body weight within months of starting treatment with Wegovy. The drug mimics a natural hormone and people feel fuller faster and for longer.

Obesity costs the NHS £6bn a year and is linked to 200 different diseases.

Half of all obese people with three related problems, such as high blood pressure or diabetes, die within 10 years.

Continue Reading

Trending