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NEW YORK — Tesla lost its crown as the world’s bestselling electric vehicle maker last Friday as a customer revolt over Elon Musk’s right-wing politics, expiring U.S. tax breaks for buyers and stiff overseas competition pushed sales down for a second year in a row. Tesla said that it delivered 1.64 million vehicles in 2025, down 9% from a year earlier. Chinese rival BYD, which sold 2.26 million vehicles last year, is now the biggest EV maker. It’s a stunning reversal for a car company whose rise once seemed unstoppable as it overtook traditional automakers with far more resources and helped make Musk the world’s richest man. The sales drop came despite President Donald Trump’s marketing effort early last year when he called a press conference to praise Musk as a “patriot” in front of Teslas lined up on the White House driveway then announced he would be buying one, bucking presidential precedent to not endorse private company products. For the fourth quarter, Tesla sales totaled 418,227, falling short of even the much-reduced 440,000 target that analysts recently polled by FactSet had expected. Sales were hit hard by the expiration of a $7,500 tax credit for electric vehicle purchases that was phased out by the Trump administration at the end of September. Even with multiple issues buffeting the company, investors are betting that Musk can deliver on his ambitions to make Tesla a leader in robotaxi services and get consumers to embrace humanoid robots that can perform basic tasks in homes and offices. Reflecting that optimism, the stock finished 2025 with a gain of approximately 11%. The latest quarter was the first with sales of stripped-down versions of the Model Y and Model 3 that Musk unveiled in early October as part of an effort to revive sales. The new Model Y costs just under $40,000, while customers can buy the cheaper Model 3 for under $37,000. Those versions are expected to help Tesla compete with Chinese models in Europe and Asia. For fourth-quarter earnings coming out in late January, analysts are expecting the company to post a 3% drop in sales and a nearly 40% drop in earnings per share, according to FactSet. Analysts expect the downward trend in sales and profits to eventually reverse itself as 2026 rolls along. Musk said earlier last year that a “major rebound” in sales was underway, but investors were unruffled when that didn’t pan out, choosing instead to focus on Musk’s pivot to different parts of the business. He has been saying the future of the company lies with its driverless robotaxis service, its energy storage business and building robots for the home and factory — and much less with car sales. Tesla started rolling out its robotaxi service in Austin in June, first with safety monitors in the cars to take over in case of trouble, then testing without them. The company hopes to roll out the service in several cities this year. To do that successfully, it needs to take on rival Waymo, which has been operating autonomous taxis for years and has far more customers. It will also have to contend with regulatory challenges. The company is under several federal safety investigations and other probes. In California, Tesla is at risk of temporarily losing its license to sell cars in the state after a judge there ruled it had misled customers about their safety. “Regulatory is going to be a big issue,” said Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives, a well-known bull on the stock. “We’re dealing with people’s lives.” Still, Ives said he expects Tesla’s autonomous offerings will soon overcome any setbacks. Musk has said he hopes software updates to his cars will enable hundreds of thousands of Tesla vehicles to operate autonomously with zero human intervention by the end of this year. The company is also planning to begin production of its AI-powered Cybercab with no steering wheel or pedals in 2026. To keep Musk focused on the company, Tesla’s directors awarded Musk a potentially enormous new pay package that…

Kendall Jenner était l'invitée du podcast In Your Dreams de l'acteur américain Owen Thiele.

RALEIGH — Near the end of 2025, the co-chairs of the N.C. House Select Committee on Oversight and Reform sent letters to officials from both the City of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County related to crime and public safety. The letters are all similar and were signed by state Reps. Jake Johnson (R-Polk), Brenden Jones (R-Columbus) and Harry Warren (R-Rowan). Officials receiving the letters included Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles, Charlotte City Manager Marcus Jones, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Estella Patterson, Mecklenburg County Sheriff Garry McFadden, Mecklenburg County Manager Mike Bryant, Mecklenburg County District Attorney Spencer Merriweather and Charlotte Area Transit System Interim CEO Brent Cagle. “In recent years, Charlotte-Mecklenburg has experienced a documented increase in violent crime and public safety incidents, including high-profile and deadly attacks occurring on public transit and in public spaces,” wrote the committee co-chairs. “These incidents have raised serious concerns regarding law enforcement staffing levels, transit security, prosecutorial practices, and the City’s overall public safety strategy.” The lawmakers noted the region’s “significant financial and policy commitments to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, the expansion of offices for equity and immigrant integration, and policies that limit or restrict cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).” “The Committee is concerned that these priorities may be occurring concurrently with the defunding, de-prioritization, or restructuring of traditional law enforcement and public safety functions,” wrote Johnson, Jones and Warren. “This inquiry seeks to understand whether Charlotte-Mecklenburg’s policy decisions, budgetary allocations, and operational practices are effectively addressing rising crime, or whether public safety has been subordinated to ideological initiatives at the expense of residents, transit users, and law-abiding communities,” the letter states. The letter also includes a list requesting related communications, data and documents to be turned over to the committee no later than noon on Jan. 8. The committee’s next meeting will be held on Jan. 22 at 9 a.m.The post Lawmakers issue letters to Charlotte officials over safety, crime first appeared on The North State Journal.

Retour sur le destin tumultueux et troublant de celle qui fut l’un des plus grands mannequins des années 1930.