Elon Musk might have stirred a controversy again, by yet another tweet – this time calling the SEC the  “Shortseller Enrichment Commission”. Per last weekend’s settlement, Tesla agreed to pay $20 million in fine to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) while Musk would step down as chairman but continue as the company’s CEO.Apparently, there were some claims/allegations at the time that short-sellers - who try to profit by borrowing shares and selling them to buy them back at expected lower prices - lost millions due to Musk's August 7 tweet. On Thursday, District Judge Alison Nathan in Manhattan asked Elon Musk and the SEC to justify that the settlement deal they had made was fair and would not hurt the public interest.

Softbank and Toyota are joining hands for developing driverless technology-based transportation businesses. In a joint venture called Monet, the two Japanese companies will offer services including mobile convenience stores, delivery vehicles, transportation for the elderly, hospital shuttles and mobile offices – all via autonomous vehicles.For instance, by the second half of the 2020s, the venture will start an on-demand mobility service using Toyota's self-driving electric vehicle called e-Palette for meal deliveries and hospital shuttles. The companies said that the joint venture will start at 2 billion yen ($17.49 million), and will be raised to 10 billion yen in future.

Honda is investing $2 billion over 12 years in General Motors's self-driving cars.  Honda and GM's autonomous vehicle subsidiary Cruise have been collaborating in the development of self-driving versions of GM's Chevrolet Bolt EV electric car, which are expected to be available for public use next year.But what could potentially put the two companies in the fast lane is their latest partnership where they plan to build an apparently one-of-a-kind vehicle that might not require human controls at all.  Additionally, Honda has bought a $750 million equity stake in Cruise, which also received $2.25 billion funding from Japanese investment bank Softbank. Earlier there were rumors of Honda in talks with Waymo, the self-driving unit of Google parent company Alphabet, to build a self-driving delivery car.

Ford Motor Co.'s U.S. sales chief Mark LaNeve is not nervous about competition with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV." LaNeve seemed to attribute the recent decline in Ford vehicle sales mostly to the -11% drop in sales to rental car agencies. But he is looking forward to revamped models of its SUVs, the Escape and Explorer, to be launched in the middle of 2019 and hopes these to boost sales.

Tesla had record car sales, even as U.S.-China trade war apparently looms large over the carmaker’s China market. The company confirmed numbers leaked to an industry news site on Monday that it produced around 80,000 cars in Q3.What's more, beating Wall Street expectations of 80,000, deliveries peaked at 83,500 - including almost 56,000 of the Model 3 sedan whose market is seen as critical to the company’ profit potential. However, Tesla admitted that it had missed its weekly Model 3 production target. Tesla is also apparently concerned about the 40% tariff China has slapped on imports of its cars - something that could potentially thwart the firm's sales and/or income from  the world' s biggest consumer of electric vehicles.

Tesla stock jumped +15% in early trading hours on Monday, on news of Tesla’s settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regarding the latter’s allegations against Elon Musk. Late last week, the SEC alleged Tesla CEO Elon Musk of making "false and misleading statements" to investors through his August tweet which said he had secured funding for taking Tesla private.The SEC was planning to ask a federal judge to prevent Musk from serving as an officer or a director of a public company.  But the weekend’s event has led to results potentially less dire than expected for Musk and Tesla: as part of his settlement with the SEC, Musk will give up his position as the chairman, while he can still continue to operate as the CEO of Tesla.

The SEC is asking a federal judge to prevent Musk from serving as an officer or a director of a public company, among other penalties. According to the SEC, Musk had not even discussed any important deal term (such as price) with any private funding source – an allegation that denounces Musk’s August 7 tweet of “funding secured” at a per-share price of “$420”.Elon Musk however made a U-turn within only a few weeks of posting the tweet: he said that he would like Tesla to remain a public company after considering shareholders’ opinions.

Tesla might be losing another top executive. A Bloomberg report said that Liam O’Connor, vice president of global supply management of the electric car company, has resigned - according to people who did not want to be named since the matter is not officially announced yet.This month, the chief accounting officer and heads of human resources handed in their resignation. Tesla is losing its senior executives amidst its CEO Elon Musk getting embroiled in controversies, lawsuits  and even investigations from the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Department of Justice regarding his August 7 tweet to take the firm private and then backing from it just a few weeks later.

Lithium is a metal used in batteries of electric cars. Tesla will ask its battery suppliers to purchase lithium from  Ganfeng Lithium Co., as mentioned in the China-based firm’s filing to the Shenzhen exchange on Friday.Ganfeng’s lithium compounds capacity may rise to 75,000 tons of carbonate equivalent at the end of this year, which would make it the industry’s second-largest, according to CRU Group research cited in its IPO prospectus.  

Auto parts supplier ZF Friedrichshafen AG is developing its own technology for self-driving vehicles. With an investment of 12 billion euros ($14 billion) over the next five years on autonomous vehicle technology, the German company’s project will include developing a battery-powered self-driving delivery van.Navigating city centers, identifying traffic lights and maintaining lanes even in absence of markings on street are some of the features of ZF’s  autonomous van, as mentioned by the company.

In less than three weeks of posting that tweet, Musk abandoned the plans and said that Tesla would remain a publicly traded company.But the latest news of the DOJ’s involvement potentially lends a more serious tone to the matter, since the Department’s investigations are often associated with possible criminal charges.

BMW said Tuesday that it plans to shutdown its Mini factory in England for a month of maintenance starting April 1, over Brexit-related concerns. The German multinational automaker is unsure about whether or not the UK would exit the European Union with a trade deal, and therefore wants to hold off production in its Oxford factory immediately after Brexit.   News of BMW’s decision comes just a day after Jaguar Land Rover announced that it will reduce the number of work days from five to three a week until Christmas for its 1,000 workers due to uncertainty over Brexit. 

The carmaker said that reducing the number of work days from five to three would help avoid job cuts and allow operation through Christmas. The move is apparently a result of decreasing demand for diesel vehicles.Consumers’ concerns over Brexit uncertainties and regulatory stringency following Volkswagen’s emission scandal might have dampened their appetite for diesel cars. Jaguar Land Rover expressed in July its fears that if Brexit happened without the UK being able to maintain a smooth trading relationship with the European Union, the company would see its profits get reduced by more than £1.2 billion ($1.6 billion)  a year.

BMW seems to be eyeing the self-driving electric car market. The BMW Vision iNext is a concept at present, but the company hopes to transition it towards the production stage in 2021.According to a CNN report, the Vision iNext was unveiled before journalists at four different airports -- in Munich, New York, San Francisco and Beijing -- over the course of five days earlier this week.

After a not-so-great initial public offering, Chinese electric car company NIO  had a remarkable surge in its stock price on its second trading day. NIO share price jumped +76% in New York on Thursday.However, NIO recorded just $7 million in sales in the first half of this year, while Tesla  has generated $2 billion in annual sales in China. Alongwith NIO, other Chinese tech companies Pinduoduo, iQiyi and NetEase listed on U.S. stock exchanges also saw sharp rises in their stock prices on Thursday.  

Fully insured cars with a full tank of gas will be available for rent at prices ranging from $269 for four hours (the minimum rental allowed) in a Porsche Macan compact SUV or 718 Boxster sports car.Among the customer-owned Porsche cars listed on Turo, the latter will pick the best-rated owners (or "hosts" ) who will receive training on their cars and in customer service at Porsche's Experience Center in Los Angeles. Some other auto majors such as General Motors and Audi also have their own car renting programs.

A self-proclaimed Chinese rival to Tesla had a not-so-great initial public offering (IPO). On Wednesday, Chinese electric vehicle startup NIO Inc. priced its IPO in New York at  $6.26 per share, just a cent above the bottom of the range it had expected to get.The 160 million American depositary shares sold raised $1 billion - thereby valuing the company above $6 billion and far below the $20 billion mark it had hoped to achieve in the early stages. The electric carmaker’s ES8 electric SUV sells for about $65,000, which is about half the price of the most basic version of Tesla's Model X in China.

Two U.S. startups promise revoltuonary technologies in the drone space. Impossible Aerospace, a Silicon Valley-based startup founded by Tesla and SpaceX veterans, reveled Monday that they are ready to sell drones that need two hours to reach fire departments, police departments and search and rescue teams.It is also adding cinematic features for improving recording quality. If successful, these startups could potentially take on Chinese dronemaker DJI, which reported $2.7 billion in revenue last year. Introduced in 2013, DJI's drone is the most popular in the commercial market.

It is not just equity that is in the eye of the storm for Tesla; the company's bond prices have been nose-diving in recent weeks. $1.8 billion of Tesla bonds due to mature in August 2025 traded for 84 cents on the dollar on Friday, down from 98 cents a year ago.Some analysts are apparently concerned over whether Tesla would be able to generate enough cash to make good on its debt obligations in a timely manner. If the electric carmaker is able to ramp up Model 3 production and garner healthy sales from it, the company can potentially be expected to ease some of the financial pressures.

Tesla’s chief accounting officer and chief people officer are leaving the company. Dave Morton joined Tesla as Chief Accounting Officer just a day prior to Elon Musk posting a tweet about taking the company private." Also Gabrielle Toledano, the company’s chief people officer, took a leave of absence in August after 15 months on the job.