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Japanese carmaker Toyota said on Wednesday it will invest 680 million euros ($792 million) on a new production line in the Czech Republic to make a battery electric car.The line will be built with a government incentive of up to 64 million euros ($75 million) to expand Toyota’s existing plant in Kolin, around 50 kilometers (31 miles) east of Prague, the Czech government and the company said in a joint statement.It will become the first Toyota plant to produce battery electric cars in Europe.Prime Minister Petr Fiala said the new line will create another 245 jobs at the factory that already employs 3,200 people.Toyota did not disclose details of when production would start or of the model.The world’s top automaker currently makes Aygo X and Yaris Hybrid models at the plant, which made over 225,000 cars last year. Associated Press
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E-Commerce
If theres one thing that digital platforms really dont want, its you giving login details to people outside of your household. The past few years have seen Netflix, Disney, and HBO Maxto name a fewcrack down on password sharing with anyone who doesnt live under your roof. Now, Amazon has joined them. The Seattle e-commerce giant is ending its Prime Invitee program as of October 1 and is offering up the Amazon Family plan in its place. What’s the difference between Prime Invitee and Amazon Family? The former allowed Prime subscribers to share their free shipping benefits with a select number of individuals outside their abode. By contrast, the Amazon Family plan is restricted to people living in your household. It will allow you to add one other adult who shares your address and four children. The plan also includes four teen accounts, but those accounts must have been created before April 7 which is when Amazon discontinued its teen program. These individuals can access benefits including free delivery on Prime eligible items, Prime Video (with ads), Amazon Music (ad-free on shuffle mode), and other content like audio books and games. Like its fellow tech companies, Amazon is angling for a boost in subscriptions. The announcement comes just as Reuters reported Amazons Prime signups failed to meet last years numbers or current targets ahead of Julys Prime Day event. Amazon told Reuters that its membership numbers continue to grow, but didnt provide figures. Fast Company has reached out to Amazon for comment and will update this post if we hear back.
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E-Commerce
Last August, a federal judge issued a historic ruling against search giant Google: The company engaged in monopolistic behavior when it offered payment to be the default search engine on tech platforms owned by other companies. Months later, the historic antitrust verdict led the Department of Justice (DOJ) to seek numerous possible remedies against Google, including limiting the companys ability to enter into paid search deal agreements and selling off its Chrome browser. But yesterday, the federal judge overseeing the case issued his remedies, which manyincluding those on Wall Streetsee as a win for Google, as the company has been allowed to escape the harshest consequences. As a result, shares in Google and Apple are up in premarket trading on Wednesday. Here’s what you need to know: Whats happened? Yesterday, the U.S. district judge presiding over the DOJ’s long-running antitrust case against Google issued remedies that the company would be liable for. And many industry watchers and legal experts say Google got off much better than it could have. After the same judge, Amit Mehta, ruled last August that Google engaged in monopolistic behavior in several aspects of its search business, the U.S. Department of Justice proposed several possible remedies, including: Selling off its Chrome web browser Selling off its Android operating system Barring Google from entering into preferred search agreements with third parties If Google were forced to sell off Chrome and Android, it would lose control over the software that billions of people across the globe use to interact with the internet, the companys services, and its search tools. This impact would also greatly harm Google’s search business, and any new owner of Android and Chrome likely wouldnt keep Google as the default search engine of the software. Barring Google from entering preferred search agreements would have also greatly affected the companys advertising revenues, as that DOJ provision would have forbidden Google from paying third parties, such as Apple, to make Google the default search engine on other companies devices. That remedial provision would have also significantly hurt the revenues of Samsung and Apple, with which Google has preferred search deals. The company reportedly pays Apple a staggering $20 billion a year to be the default search engine on the iPhone. DOJ ‘overreached’ Yet none of these DOJ-proposed remedies will be levied against Google, Mehta revealed yesterday. Google will not be required to divest Chrome; nor will the court include a contingent divestiture of the Android operating system in the final judgment, the decision stated, as noted by CNBC. It went on to say that the DOJ overreached in seeking forced divestiture of these key assets, which Google did not use to effect any illegal restraints. At the same time, Google didnt get off scot-free. Judge Mehta said that while the company can continue to make payments to preload its products on third-party devices and services, it is not allowed to enter into exclusive contracts that bar those third parties from offering other search options. This means Google can continue to pay Apple billions to have its search featured on the iPhone. Announcing this decision, the filing stated (via CNN), Cutting off payments from Google almost certainly will impose substantialin some cases, cripplingdownstream harms to distribution partners, related markets, and consumers, which counsels against a broad payment ban. The judgment also requires Google to share search data with rivals. How have Google, Apple, and the DOJ reacted? Despite walking away relatively unscathed, Google has taken issue with the remedies that the judge did levy against it in a statement published to its blog. Now the Court has imposed limits on how we distribute Google services, and will require us to share Search data with rivals, the statement read. We have concerns about how these requirements will impact our users and their privacy, and were reviewing the decision closely. The Court did recognize that divesting Chrome and Android would have gone beyond the cases focus on search distribution, and would have harmed consumers and our partners. The Department of Justice framed the ruling as a win, despite the agency not seeing its major proposed remedies adopted by the court. In the statement on the ruling, the DOJ said that the courts ruling recognizes the need for remedies that will pry open the market for general search services, which has been frozen in place for over a decade. The agency also said that the ruling recognizes the need to prevent Google from using the same anticompetitive tactics for its [generative artificial intelligence] products as it used to monopolize the search market, and the remedies will reach GenAI technologies and companies. Apple has not issued a public response to the ruling, though in late 2024, the company filed a motion to support Google in the antitrust casea request Mehta ultimately denied. Fast Company reached out to Apple for comment. How has Google stock reacted? Its not hard to guess how the stock price for Googles parent company, Alphabet (Nasdaq: GOOG), reacted after the company avoided the harshest proposed consequences of the antitrust verdict. GOOG shares are currently trading up above 5.6% in premarket trading as of this writing. Currently, GOOGs stock price is $224 per sharea high for the year. Before Alphabets share price jump after the ruling, GOOG shares were already up more than 11% for the year as of yesterdays close. Over the past 12 months, GOOG shares have risen more than 28% as of yesterdays close. How has Apple stock reacted? While Alphabet shares are seeing the most benefit from yesterdays ruling this morning, Apple stock (Nasdaq: AAPL) is also benefiting. As of the time of this writing, in premarket trading, AAPL shares are currently up over 4% to $239. Thats the highest price they have seen since March, before they got pummeled by Trumps tariff orders. Before this mornings 4% jump, AAPL shares were down more than 8% for the year so far, as of market close yesterday. Over the past 12 months, AAPL shares were up a paltry 0.3% as of yesterdays close.
Category:
E-Commerce
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