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☆ Branding’s corporate titans face moment of truth
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-22 | by ( Aimee Donnellan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +8 min

Now for the first time this century, sales volumes at the big consumer goods manufacturers are falling. In the first nine months of the year, Kraft Heinz said the quantity of its sold items declined by nearly 6 percentage points year-on-year. That’s likely to allow Nestlé, Kraft Heinz and Unilever to see flat or modest increases in 2023 sales, LSEG data shows. Earlier this year, outgoing Kraft Heinz Chief Executive Miguel Patricio said the company lost market share to a branded competitor that spent more. Unilever, Nestlé and Kraft Heinz have all pointed to a slowing of price growth in the coming year.

Persons: Kraft Heinz, Nestlé, ’, Xavier Roger, Kraft, what’s, John Furner, Miguel Patricio, Mars, ”, François, EY, George Hay, Streisand Neto, Thomas Shum Organizations: Reuters, Consumer, Kraft, Unilever, Danone, ’, United Nations, Reuters Graphics Reuters, Nestlé, Kraft Heinz, Target, Reuters Graphics, Obesity, Mondelez, Walmart, “, Thomson Locations: U.S, Europe, Australia, Norway, Chocolat, London

☆ What Tesla charging partnerships with Ford and GM mean for the EV industry
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-09 | by ( John Rosevear | In Jrosevear | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Most other EVs and charging stations in the U.S. use the public domain Combined Charging System (CCS) plug standard. Currently, Tesla EVs can use CCS chargers with an adapter, but only Teslas can use NACS chargers. An August 2022 study by JD Power found similar results for CCS chargers in other parts of the country. Notably, it also found Tesla's charging network to be much more reliable. Potential buyers of a Ford or GM EV might like what they experience on a test drive, but without a reliable charging network, both have been at a disadvantage to Tesla.

Persons: Harry Langer, Tesla, JD Power, we've, Barra, CNBC's, Jim Farley, Farley Organizations: American, Detroit, University of California, San Francisco Bay Area, JD, CCS, Ford, GM, ICE Locations: Merklingen, Germany, U.S, Berkeley, San Francisco Bay, Canada

☆ GM CEO stands by her bet on autonomous vehicles
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Companies General Motors Co FollowDETROIT, June 2 (Reuters) - General Motors Co(GM.N) Chief Executive Mary Barra had a message on Friday for investors and rivals who see no profitable future in autonomous vehicles: You're wrong. Barra told attendees at a Sanford Bernstein conference that she sees a "giant growth opportunity" in GM's Cruise autonomous vehicle unit, and predicted personal self-driving cars would be on the market before the end of the decade. Barra reiterated a forecast that Cruise could generate $50 billion a year in annual revenue by 2030. GM currently is losing money on Cruise at the rate of $2 billion a year. Rivals, including Ford Motor Co and Volkswagen AG, have pulled the plug on autonomous vehicle efforts as losses mounted.

Persons: Mary Barra, Barra, Sanford Bernstein, Joe White Organizations: General Motors, General Motors Co, GM, Cruise, Rivals, Ford Motor Co, Volkswagen AG, Thomson Locations: DETROIT, GM's

☆ Boeing CEO says fixing supply chain constraints is 'frustratingly slow'
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

June 2 (Reuters) - Boeing Co. (BA.N) CEO Dave Calhoun on Friday said progress on resolving supply chain problems has been "frustratingly slow" even as airlines' demand for planes has bounced back to pre-pandemic levels. Boeing has seen improvements in certain elements of its supply chain, such as engine forgings and castings, Calhoun said. "We've got to be smart about how we manage supply against that demand spike," Calhoun said at a Bernstein conference. Boeing regularly tracks 25-30 parts from a subset of suppliers that have previoulsy faced production headwinds. But surprise issues can still crop up from "the supplier who lost some experience, talents, talents, somewhere along the way didn't replace them in kind," he said.

Persons: Dave Calhoun, Calhoun, We've, Guillaume Faury, Valerie Insinna, Jason Neely, Frances Kerry Organizations: Boeing Co, Boeing, Airbus, Spirit, Thomson

DETROIT, June 2 (Reuters) - General Motors Co (GM.N) Chief Executive Mary Barra had a message on Friday for investors and rivals who see no profitable future in autonomous vehicles: You're wrong. That target assumes deployment of Cruise technology and services outside the United States - Dubai and Japan are among the future markets - as well as expansion into goods delivery and personal autonomous vehicles, Barra said. Rivals, including Ford Motor Co (F.N) and Volkswagen AG (VOWG_p.DE), have pulled the plug on autonomous vehicle efforts as losses mounted. Barra said those states have a more welcoming regulatory environment for self-driving vehicles. GM has petitioned U.S. vehicle safety regulators to deploy up to 2,500 of its Origin vehicles, which have subway-like doors and no steering wheel.

Persons: Mary Barra, Barra, Sanford Bernstein, Cruise, Joe White, Tiwary, David Shepardson, David Holmes Organizations: DETROIT, General Motors Co, Cruise, GM, Rivals, Ford Motor, Volkswagen AG, Traffic Safety Administration, NHTSA, Chevrolet, Cadillac, Tesla Inc, EV, Thomson Locations: GM's, United States, Dubai, Japan, San Francisco, Arizona and Texas, Washington, U.S, China

☆ Dow cuts second-quarter revenue forecast on demand, pricing woes
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

May 31 (Reuters) - Chemical maker Dow Inc (DOW.N) forecast second-quarter revenue below market expectations on Wednesday, citing slower macroeconomic activity and lower pricing levels. The company now expects revenue for the quarter ending June 30 to be between $11 billion and $11.5 billion, compared with analysts' average expectations of $12.12 billion, according Refinitiv data. Dow had previously projected revenue for the ongoing quarter in the range of $11.75 billion to $12.25 billion. At a Bernstein conference, Dow flagged that demand in China continues to be "uneven", and said it witnessed lower-than-expected demand for home appliances and building materials in April. Weaker demand in other sectors affect Dow, which sells its products such as coatings and adhesives to industries ranging from automobiles and food packaging to electronics.

Persons: Dow, Howard Ungerleider, Ankit Kumar, Shilpi Majumdar Organizations: Dow Inc, Dow, Thomson Locations: China

☆ U.S. banks sink on concerns about office real estate loans
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( Sinéad Carew | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Investors worried about potential losses among banks from office real estate loans after comments from executives, including Wells Fargo & Co's (WFC.N) Chief Executive Officer Charlie Scharf and Blackstone President Jonathan Gray at a Sanford C Bernstein investor conference. Meanwhile, Blackstone's Gray talked about "unprecedented weakness" in older office buildings while noting that this segment currently makes up less than 2% of company's equity portfolio in real estate. Rick Meckler, partner, Cherry Lane Investments, a family investment office in New Vernon, New Jersey said "continued concern over loans made to the office market," was hurting bank stocks broadly on Wednesday, citing the Wells Fargo comments. "The implication is that there are those that will suffer even if Wells Fargo is diversified enough," Meckler said. KeyCorp, down 5.5%, was the biggest decliner in the S&P bank index, and Zions was next, down 4.9%.

Persons: Andrew Kelly, Wells, Charlie Scharf, Blackstone, Jonathan Gray, Sanford C, Wells Fargo's Scharf, Blackstone's Gray, Gray, Bernstein, Rick Meckler, Meckler, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Zions, Sinéad Carew, Mehnaz Yasmin, Nick Zieminski Organizations: Citibank, New York Stock Exchange, REUTERS, Banks, Investors, Buyers, Cherry Lane Investments, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase &, Bank of America, Citizens Financial, Western Alliance Bancorp, PacWest Bancorp, Comerica, PNC Financial Services, Fifth Third Bancorp, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Thomson Locations: Manhattan , New York City, U.S, New Vernon , New Jersey, New York, Bengaluru

May 31 (Reuters) - American Airlines Group (AAL.O) will appeal a U.S. court decision requiring it to end an alliance with JetBlue Airways Corp (JBLU.O), American CEO Robert Isom said on Wednesday. "We've got a legal system that allows for appeal, and we're going to do that," Isom told the Bernstein Conference. American is the largest U.S. airline by fleet size and low-cost carrier JetBlue is the sixth largest. Even as the Texas-based carrier prepares to appeal the ruling, Isom said it will have to work with the Justice Department and JetBlue to figure out what it does in the interim. American, which reiterated its full-year profit forecast Wednesday, doesn't expect the court ruling to have a material impact on its earnings.

Persons: Robert Isom, Leo Sorokin, We've, Isom, Sorokin, Joe Biden's, doesn't, Rajesh Kumar Singh, David Shepardson, Diane Bartz, Deepa Babington, Lisa Shumaker Organizations: American Airlines Group, JetBlue Airways Corp, . U.S, District, Bernstein Conference, JetBlue, U.S . Justice Department, U.S, Justice Department, Thomson Locations: U.S, American, ., Boston, New York, Texas, Chicago, Washington

☆ Kraft Heinz turns to gimmicks and nostalgia to revive its ‘dusty’ brands
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Danielle Wiener-Bronner | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

Because they’re incredible.”More than half of Kraft Heinz’s business comes from just eight brands — the aforementioned three, plus Kraft Mac and Cheese, Philadelphia Cream Cheese, Heinz, Lunchables and Ore-Ida. For Kraft Heinz, which is relying on Patricio to execute a comeback, there’s a lot on the line. So we have more loyalty.”For that reason, Kraft Heinz has leaned in to promoting its legacy brands — and with sometimes outrageous marketing. Kraft HeinzOther Kraft Heinz brands have also used attention-grabbing marketing campaigns. Kraft Heinz’s brands now have a presence on gaming platforms like Roblox, in addition to social media channels and other platforms.

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