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The European Union is falling further behind global rivals on growth and governments are failing to grasp the urgency to act, former European Central Bank president and Italian prime minister Mario Draghi said on Tuesday. Draghi, who delivered a far-reaching report on EU competitiveness at the European Commission’s request 12 months ago, said the EU’s growth model was “fading fast”, vulnerabilities were mounting and there was no clear path to financing necessary investments. Draghi said the bloc had come up with ambitious plans, but it was moving ahead too slowly and governments had “not grasped the gravity of the moment”. “To carry on as usual is to resign ourselves to falling behind. A different path demands new speed, scale and intensity. It means acting together, not fragmenting our efforts,” he told an audience of EU officials, including European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, in Brussels. Squeezed by U.S. tariffs Draghi addressed a number of challenges facing the European Union, now squeezed by U.S. tariffs and a trade deficit with China that has expanded by 20% since December 2024. In AI, the European Union was building gigafactories and expanding data centre capacity, but gaps were clear. The United States produced 40 large foundation modelslearning based on large datasetslast year, China 15 and the EU just three. Draghi said more action was needed to address barriers to scaling up in Europe, regulation on the use of data and adoption of AI by industry. Energy prices, such as natural gas nearly four times higher than in the United States, were also a constraint on technology, with AI electricity demand set to rise 70% in Europe by 2030. Europe had structural problems to fix, but the main step taken by EU countries had been to subsidise prices for temporary relief. “The more we push reforms, the more private capital will step up and the less public money we will need. Of course, this path will break long-standing taboos, but the rest of the world has already broken theirs,” Draghi said. Philip Blenkinsop and Tierney Kugel, Reuters
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E-Commerce
Nissan Motor has reduced its production plan for the new model of its Leaf electric vehicle by more than half for September-November owing to delays in battery procurement, the Nikkei business daily said on Tuesday. Lower than expected battery yields at a Nissan affiliate had caused the revision, the Nikkei said, adding that the Japanese automaker planned to release the new EV model by the end of the year. The newspaper did not specify the original or revised production targets but said that the output plan has been cut by up to several thousand vehicles a month at its Tochigi plant in eastern Japan, where the new version of the Leaf is made for the U.S. and Japanese markets. Nissan said it did not have any comment on speculative reports, adding that the new model was progressing on schedule towards its planned launch. The company, which has gone from mass-market EV pioneer to laggard since its first model entered showrooms in 2010, is betting on the new version of its Leaf model to revive its fortunes. This is not the first time Nissan’s EV production has hit a snag. Another of Nissan’s electric vehicles, the Ariya, was hampered by problems at its high-tech production line at the Tochigi plant in 2023, Reuters reported at the time. Shares in Nissan closed 0.4% down before the Nikkei report, underperforming a 0.3% gain for the benchmark Nikkei average. Daniel Leussink, Kiyoshi Takenaka and Satoshi Sugiyama, Reuters
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E-Commerce
Shares in Tesla Inc. (Nasdaq: TSLA) are finally positive again for the year, after the companys stock price closed up nearly 3% yesterday to $410.04. The companys stock price is up another point today as of the time of this writing to just above $415marking its highest point for the year since late January, when the electric vehicle makers stock began crashing. The companys stock price was trading below $400 on the first trading day of 2025. However, while Teslas stock price is back in the black this year, its latest rise doesnt have anything to do with the companys fundamentals. Instead, it has to do with the actions of Elon Musk himself. Heres what you need to know about TSLAs recent return to growth. Musk announces he bought $1 billion in TSLA shares On Monday, Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced that the previous Friday, his family foundation purchased 2.57 million shares in TSLA in various tranches throughout the day, reports CNBC. The total value of the TSLA shares Musk purchased totaled about $1 billion. Following the news of Musks Friday share purchase, on Monday, TSLA stock rose, and it is again up today. The main reason for this is that investors see Musk’s family foundations purchase as a vote of confidence in the beleaguered EV maker. If Musk is buying shares in the company, many are likely to argue that he believes their value will increase, which causes other investors to buy into the stock, too. But investors also seem to be taking Musks purchase of $1 billion worth of Tesla shares as a sign that Musk will also be devoting more time to the company. Throughout 2025, Musks attention has been diverted to his government and political antics. The Tesla CEO spearheaded the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) during the first half of 2025and continues to be an outspoken critic of progressive and liberal politics in the United States and Europe. Musks political antics have alarmed Tesla investors, who think his politics are distracting him from running his company. The Tesla CEOs controversial involvement in politics has also served to alienate many of Teslas more liberal customer baseone of the factors leading to declining Tesla sales in the United States and abroad throughout much of 2025. With Musks $1 billion Tesla share purpose, many investors are hoping it signifies the CEO will redouble his focus on the company and away from alienation politics. Whether that happens, however, remains to be seen. TSLAs chaotic 2025 Tesla shares began trading for the year just below $400 per share. They rose to above $428 by mid-January. But as Musks involvement with the Trump administration deepened and protests broke out at Tesla dealerships around the world, Teslas stock took a hit. President Trumps Libaeration Day tariffs, announced in April, didnt do TSLA shares any favor either. That month, TSLA shares bottomed out below $220. Since then, however, Teslas stock has made a slow, cautious comeback, despite many hurdles for the company remaining, including increased competition from Chinas BYD and a slow robotaxi rollout. However, as of yesterday, TSLA shares are now up more than 85% from their April lowsand are finally positive for the year. Before Fridays roughly $1 billion TSLA share purchase, CNBC notes that Elon Musk last bought TSLA shares in 2020, when he purchased around 200,000 shares that were then worth about $10 million. And in the future, Elon Musk could own even more shares of Tesla. The company has recently introduced a proposed pay package for Musk worth nearly $1 trillion, which would see the CEO get millions more shares in the company should Tesla, under his leadership, meet certain goals. This deal, if approved by shareholders, could make Elon Musk the world’s first trillionaire.
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E-Commerce
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