Author: DAVID MCHUGH AP business writer

FRANKFURT, Germany — The OPEC+ alliance of oil exporting countries will decide Thursday whether to put off plans to pump more crude amid sluggish demand and competing production from non-allied countries — factors that could keep oil prices stagnant into next year. Key beneficiaries of that would be U.S. motorists, who have seen gasoline prices […]

Russia’s ruble is sagging against other currencies, complicating the Kremlin’s efforts to keep consumer inflation under control with one hand even as it overheats the economy with spending on the war against Ukraine with the other. The official central bank rate for Friday was set at 109 to the U.S. dollar, meaning the ruble is […]

FRANKFURT, Germany — Inflation in the 20 countries that use the euro currency rose in November — but that likely won’t stop the European Central Bank from cutting interest rates as the prospect of new U.S. tariffs from the incoming Trump administration adds to the gloom over weak growth. The European Union’s harmonized index of […]

FRANKFURT, Germany — Germany’s technology and services company Bosch said Friday it planned to reduce its automotive division workforce by as many as 5,500 jobs in the next several years in another sign of the headwinds hitting the German and global auto industries. The company cited stagnating global auto sales, too much factory capacity in […]

FRANKFURT, Germany — Inflation in the 20 countries that use the euro fell to 1.8% in September, below the European Central Bank’s target of 2% for the first time in more than three years as falling energy prices give consumers relief from a burst of inflation that at one point reached into double digits. Tuesday’s […]

FRANKFURT, Germany — FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Volkswagen is considering closing some factories in its home country for the first time in the German automaker’s 87-year history, saying it otherwise won’t meet the cost-cutting goals it needs to remain competitive. CEO Oliver Blume also told employees Wednesday that the company must end a three-decade-old job […]

FRANKFURT, Germany — Sweden-based Volvo Cars has eased off on its pledge to stop selling cars with internal combustion motors by 2030, saying slow rollout of places to charge up and withdrawal of purchase incentives will leave room for a few cars that still need fossil fuels. Volvo Cars, part of China’s Geely Holding, now […]

FRANKFURT, Germany — Former Volkswagen Group CEO Martin Winterkorn faced a trial Tuesday on charges of fraud and market manipulation in connection with the corporate scandal over Volkswagen’s use of rigged software that let millions of cars cheat on emissions tests and emit high levels of harmful pollutants. Prosecutors say Winterkorn knew about the illegal […]