A long-term supply deficit has led prices of the metal, used mainly in engine exhausts to curb harmful emissions, to double over the last year. In the futures market, prices of metal for near-term delivery have also moved sharply above those for later-dated contracts - a situation known as backwardation, which also indicates buyers fear a lack of ready supply. Before this rally began, palladium prices had never exceeded $1,100.

Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg would push for all new cars to be electric by 2035 and new buildings to produce zero carbon emissions by 2025 as part of clean energy plans he released this week. Bloomberg's latest climate plans build off his December plan to cut the United States' carbon emissions by 50% by 2030. Bloomberg's plans do not include total costs or specifics on how they would be paid for, details his campaign advisers say they will share later.

The U.S. Senate on Thursday approved a revamp of the 26-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement that includes tougher rules on labour and automotive content but leaves $1.2 trillion in annual U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade flows largely unchanged. The legislation to implement the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement passed on an 89-10 bipartisan vote, sending the measure to President Donald Trump for him to sign into law. The Democratic-controlled U.S. House of Representatives passed the legislation on

Hyundai Motor Co and sister firm Kia Motors Corp are making the investment of 100 million euros (84.34 million pounds) in Arrival Ltd. Founded in 2015 and based in London, Arrival has developed a boxy, futuristic-looking shuttle bus aimed at the commercial delivery market. In a statement, Arrival said it will work with Hyundai and Kia to develop a variety of electric vehicles, initially for the commercial market.

Italian American automaker Fiat Chrysler and Taiwan's Hon Hai plan to set up a joint venture to manufacture electric vehicles and to engage in the business of wirelessly connected vehicles, Hon Hai said on Thursday. Fiat Chrysler (FCA) and Hon Hai are negotiating to set up a 50-50 joint venture, Hon Hai said in a statement.

We're playing F1 2019 today.

U.S. electric car maker Tesla plans to open a design and research center in China to make "Chinese-style" vehicles, the company said in a recruitment notice on its official WeChat account. "In order to achieve a shift of 'Made in China' to 'Designed in China', Tesla's CEO Elon Musk has proposed a very cool thing - set up a design and research center in China," it read.

One of the Japanese lawyers for former Nissan Chairman Carlos Ghosn has stepped down from that job after his client fled the country. Junichiro Hironaka had been representing Ghosn in his defense against financial misconduct charges. Hironaka said in a statement that the entire team working on the case at his office will quit but did not outline reasons.

French carmaker PSA Group said on Thursday global sales fell 10% last year to 3.49 million units, compared with a record 3.88 million in 2018, as it suffered from declining volumes in China, the Middle East and Africa. In its European home market, Paris-based PSA's sales declined by 2.5% in 2019 to 3.11 million vehicles, with its Opel-Vauxhall brand suffering the steepest fall, down 6.4%. In Europe, helped by an increase in sales of light commercial vehicles (LCVs), PSA said in a sta