NADA End-of-Day Auto News Recap

Ford and Volkswagen are in talks about building VW vehicles in some of Ford's U.S. factories. Ford CEO Jim Hackett confirmed the VW talks Tuesday and Executive Chairman Bill Ford said the negotiations are going well. But both said they weren't ready to announce anything.
Source: The Associated Press

Carmakers were initially buoyed by the claim of an "incredible" trade deal emerging from Trump's dinner Sunday with Chinese President Xi Jinping. The White House has now backpedaled, acknowledging there was no deal in place to roll back automotive tariffs. Source: CNBC

When it comes to establishing the next generation of the auto industry, it's going to cost money -- a lot of it, in fact. And that's exactly the kind of money Audi is ready to spend. Audi intends to spend about $16 billion on the future by 2023. That'll cover investments in electrification, mobility, digitalization and autonomy.
Source: CNET

Alphabet’s Waymo on Wednesday launched a significant development in its costly, decade-long quest for autonomous transportation: self-driving taxis that actually generate fares. With little fanfare, the company has begun charging passengers to use its driverless vehicles in a roughly 100-mile zone in four Phoenix suburbs -- Chandler, Tempe, Mesa and Gilbert -- where it has been testing its technology since 2016.
Source: Reuters