July 2, 2021

Toyota tops GM sales in the U.S., expected to be America's best-selling automaker

https://news.google.com/articles/CAIiECgODVKmRsjvCToIdQVmyasqGQgEKhAIACoHCAow2Nb3CjDivdcCMP3ungY?hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US%3Aen

Toyota Motor outsold General Motors in the U.S. for the first time ever during a quarter and is expected to be America's best-selling automaker.

The Japanese automaker on Thursday reported sales of 688,813 vehicles in the U.S. from April through June. That compares to GM at 688,236 vehicles during the second quarter. Toyota beat analyst expectations, while GM slightly missed forecasts.

The shake-up was caused by a global chip shortage that has significantly hampered vehicle production. Japanese automakers, specifically Toyota, have been able to manage the crisis better than their American competitors.

"They've kind of defied gravity the last couple of months," Cox Automotive senior economist Charlie Chesbrough said. "We're tracking them having very weak inventories out there and yet their sales have actually held up quite well. … We're really kind of surprised by Toyota's strength, and having a decent quarter relative to some of the competition."

July 1, 2021

A TV news crew was reporting on a crime spike. Then robbers demanded they hand over their camera.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/06/30/oakland-tv-crew-robbery/

Filming outside of City Hall in downtown Oakland, Calif., on Monday, a TV news crew was interviewing a city official for a story about a recent spate of violent crime when the journalists became victims themselves.

“I think Oakland deserves better,” Guillermo Cespedes, the city’s chief of violence prevention, told the NBC Bay Area reporters just before two armed men interrupted the interview, knocking a camera to the ground.

The Oakland Police Department said a scuffle broke out as the robbers demanded the cameraman hand over his equipment, the East Bay Times reported. The news crew’s security guard pulled out his own gun and ordered the would-be robbers to leave. They left without stealing any equipment, police said.

“Our colleagues were conducting an interview at Oakland City Hall when they were approached by two armed individuals,” Liza Catalan, a spokeswoman for NBC Bay Area, told The Washington Post in an email. “Thankfully, our colleagues are safe and unharmed.”