Business

To make steel pliant enough to be shaped into parts for cars and planes, it must first be heated until it glows cherry red. That, incidentally, may have been the colour of David Burritt’s face when Joe Biden blocked the purchase of us Steel by Nippon Steel, a Japanese firm, on January 3rd. Mr Burritt, the American steelmaker’s boss, issued an incandescent statement calling the president’s decision “shameful and corrupt” and accusing him of helping China (“Chinese Communist Party leaders in Beijing are dancing in the streets”). More

Foxconn, a Taiwanese electronics manufacturer, is best known for making iPhones in China. Yet in October it announced plans to build a megafactory in Mexico that will churn out servers made with artificial-intelligence (AI) chips from Nvidia, a semiconductor giant. To meet the roaring demand for AI, the plant’s capacity will be, as Young Liu, Foxconn’s chairman put it, “very, very enormous”. More

It is unusual for Amazon, the world’s biggest e-emporium, to be playing catch-up in its own industry. Yet that is exactly what it is doing in India, where last month it began piloting a quick-commerce service in the city of Bangalore, delivering a wide variety of goods in minutes. It is years behind local stars such as Swiggy, Zepto and Zomato, which already offer such a service. More

Scout Motors has received more than 50,000 refundable reservation deposits for its first electric pickups and SUVs, Volkswagen CEO Oliver Blume said.
Volkswagen, which revived the old American brand, said Scout is part of its plan to grow its market share in the U.S.
The vehicles are scheduled to arrive in 2027 and are expected to start under $60,000.

Scout Terra pickup truck and Scout Traveler SUV concepts

LAS VEGAS — Scout Motors has received more than 50,000 refundable reservation deposits for its first electric pickups and SUVs, according to Volkswagen CEO Oliver Blume.
Volkswagen revived Scout, which was an American brand from 1961 to 1980, and revealed production-intent vehicles of its Terra pickup truck and Traveler SUV in October. The vehicles will be offered as all-electric models or extended-range electric vehicles, or EREVs.

Scout has received fewer reservations than other automakers pulled in for all-electric vehicles in the early 2020s, when many were first being introduced. The reservations do not guarantee sales but can be a barometer of interest.
“The market response has been very, very positive,” Blume said Tuesday night during a private media event at the CES tech conference in Las Vegas. “The response was ‘This is heritage.’ … It is kind of a love story.”
In Scout’s case, customers have to submit a $100 refundable deposit to be among the first to place an order for a vehicle when it opens. The vehicles are scheduled to arrive in 2027.
The Scout brand is part of VW’s plan to grow its market share in the U.S. across its brands, which include Audi, Porsche and its namesake brand, among others. The German automaker’s U.S. share currently sits at about 4%, Blume said.
“Our ambition is much bigger to improve our market share, and we think we have some potential with all the new cars entering into the market,” Blume said, without disclosing a potential market share target.

Scout Traveler SUV concept 

Scout CEO Scott Keogh said during a separate interview at CES that the reservations have exceeded the company’s expectations. He said about 70% of the reservations have been for the Traveler SUV, in line with company expectations.
Keogh declined to disclose the breakdown between reservations for the all-electric and EREV models.
“We’re super happy with the numbers,” Keogh told CNBC. “There’s been good reaction to the EREV.”
EREVs are basically a type of plug-in hybrid electric vehicle. They include EV motors and battery cells, as well as a traditional internal combustion engine to power the vehicle’s electric components when the battery loses its energy. The engine essentially acts as a generator to power the EV components when needed.
Keogh previously said Scout added EREVs to better protect the brand from any market volatility amid less-than-expected consumer demand for EVs.
He said the company is currently focusing on three main missions: increasing brand recognition, continuing engineering of the vehicle and completing a $2 billion factory in South Carolina.
Both the Traveler and Terra are expected to start under $60,000, according to Scout’s website. The EREV vehicles will feature more than 500 miles of range, according to the company, with up to 350 miles of range for the all-electric models.

Scout Terra pickup truck concept

At CES, Scout highlighted the connectivity and in-vehicle user experiences of its upcoming truck and SUV, which are designed to be outdoorsy recreational models similar to the likes of Jeep and EV startup Rivian. That includes available satellite connectivity for Scout vehicles in remote areas.
Scout is currently in the process of building a plant in South Carolina with an annual production capacity of 200,000 vehicles. Scout expects to use batteries — the most expensive part of an electric vehicle — from a VW joint venture battery cell manufacturer in Canada.
Scout also plans to use software and electrical architecture from a $5.8 billion joint venture deal between Rivian and VW in its vehicles.
VW acquired the Scout trademark and name following the global conglomerate’s $3.7 billion acquisition in 2021 of Navistar, a successor of Scout’s original owner, International Harvester. More

Disney said its streaming platforms have an estimated 157 million global monthly active users on its ad-supported tiers, including 112 million domestically.
This is the first time the company has given insight into how many of its viewers are watching ad-supported content on Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+.
Advertising has become a key driver of profitability for streaming services.

The atmosphere at the Disney Bundle Celebrating National Streaming Day at The Row in Los Angeles on May 19, 2022.
Presley Ann | Getty Images Entertainment | Getty Images

Disney said Wednesday it has an estimated 157 million global monthly active users watching ad-supported content across its streaming platforms — Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+.
That number includes 112 million users domestically and is an average per month over the last six months.

While traditional TV outlets have a standard way of measuring ratings and viewership, there is still no industry standard methodology for measuring global streaming advertising audience size.
The company said that its Disney Advertising unit has “set out to define a globally consistent approach and methodology to estimate ad-supported audience numbers.” It’s providing the update and further insight into its ad-supported streaming business during the annual CES tech conference in Las Vegas, a go-to event for the advertising and media industry.
“Disney sits at the intersection of world class sports and entertainment content, with the most high-value audiences in ad-supported global streaming at scale,” said Rita Ferro, Disney’s president of global advertising, in a news release. “We wanted to be the first to offer our industry greater transparency into the methodology used to estimate our engaged global ad-supported monthly active users.”
In explaining the methodology, the company said the metric is derived from active accounts across Disney’s three streaming services that have viewed ad-supported shows and movies continuously for more than 10 seconds. “Each active account is then multiplied by the number of estimated users per account … to estimate the total number of users,” it said. The estimated active users are added across the apps without de-duplication, meaning users who subscribe to more than one of the platforms could be counted more than once.

Growth in ad-supported tiers

Media companies have become particularly focused on generating profits from their streaming businesses, and advertising has become a key way to do that. While many platforms were initially subscription services without commercials, streaming platforms in recent years have introduced cheaper, ad-supported tiers for consumers.

Disney CEO Bob Iger has said that the company is trying to steer its customers toward its ad-supported tiers. The company has raised prices on commercial-free options since launching Disney+ with ads in late 2022.
Disney’s Hulu was one of the first streaming platforms to offer an ad-supported option. More recently, Disney+ introduced an ad-supported tier.
In November, Disney said it had 122.7 million Disney+ Core subscribers, which excludes Disney+ Hotstar in India and other countries in the region. Hulu had 52 million subscribers, while ESPN+ had 25.6 million paid subscribers.
The company historically hasn’t reported exactly how many subscribers on each platform pay for the ad-supported option, but executives in the earnings call in November said more than half of new U.S. Disney+ subscribers were choosing the cheaper, ad-supported tier, adding this “bodes well for the future.”
Disney noted during the call that average revenue per user for domestic Disney+ customers dropped from $7.74 to $7.70, due to a higher mix of customers on its cheaper, ad-supported tier and wholesale offerings. 
Executives also said in November that they were confident streaming would “be a significant growth area” for the company.
At the time, the company reported that its combined streaming business, which includes Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+, posted operating income of $321 million for the September period compared with a loss of $387 million during the same period the year prior.
Disney will report its fiscal first-quarter earnings on Feb. 5 before the bell. More

Medicare drug plans can now cover Eli Lilly’s blockbuster obesity drug Zepbound for obstructive sleep apnea, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services confirmed to CNBC.
That opens the door for broader coverage of and access to Zepbound, which is not currently covered by Medicare and many other insurance plans for weight loss specifically.
Medicare Part D plans can cover obesity drugs if they are used for an additional medically accepted purpose approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

An injection pen of Zepbound, Eli Lilly’s weight loss drug, is displayed in New York City on Dec. 11, 2023.
Brendan McDermid | Reuters

Medicare drug plans can now cover Eli Lilly’s blockbuster obesity drug Zepbound for obstructive sleep apnea, CNBC confirmed on Wednesday. 
That opens the door for broader access to Zepbound, which is not currently covered by Medicare and many other insurance plans for weight loss. Demand for the injection has soared over the last year despite its roughly $1,000 per month price tag before insurance.

In a statement to CNBC, a spokesperson for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, said “current Medicare Part D and Medicaid coverage rules apply” to Zepbound following its landmark approval in December for the most common sleep-related breathing disorder.
Medicare Part D plans can only cover obesity drugs if they are used for an additional medically accepted purpose approved by the Food and Drug Administration, the CMS spokesperson said, referring to the agency’s guidance. The spokesperson added that Part D plans may consider using prior authorization — a process where a provider must first get approval from an insurer — for those drugs to ensure they are being used for that specific purpose. 
The FDA on Dec. 20 cleared Zepbound for patients with obesity and moderate-to-severe forms of obstructive sleep apnea, or OSA, which refers to breathing interrupted during sleep due to narrowed or blocked airways. That made Zepbound the first drug treatment cleared for the estimated 20 million people with those forms of the disease, according to Eli Lilly.
Medicare Part D plans are similarly allowed to cover Novo Nordisk’s weight loss drug Wegovy for its other approved use: lowering cardiovascular risks. The diabetes counterparts of Wegovy and Zepbound — Ozempic and Mounjaro, respectively — are covered by Medicare and most insurance plans. 
Both Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly are studying their weight loss medicines as treatments for fatty liver disease, chronic kidney disease, sleep apnea and more. To be covered, those drugs would need to return late-stage trial results and then be submitted for FDA approval for those uses.

Meanwhile, state Medicaid coverage for Zepbound and other obesity medications depends on what condition they are prescribed for and whether their manufacturer has signed a certain Medicaid drug rebate agreement, according to the spokesperson. 
Under that agreement with the secretary of Health and Human Services, manufacturers agree to provide rebates to states in exchange for Medicaid coverage of their drugs. States share the rebates with the federal government. 
A state Medicaid program must cover Zepbound if it is prescribed for OSA and Eli Lilly has signed the Medicaid drug rebate agreement, the spokesperson said. 
But if Zepbound is prescribed for weight loss, state Medicaid programs are not required to cover it. 
The Biden administration in November proposed a rule that would allow Medicare and Medicaid to cover weight loss drugs for patients with obesity. The rule would give millions of people access to weekly injectables, but it would cost taxpayers as much as $35 billion over the next decade.
It is unclear if President-elect Donald Trump’s administration will pursue the rule. More

Used vehicle prices are expected to continue to stabilize in 2025, after several years of volatile pricing swings that began to normalize last year.
Auto data and logistics firm Cox Automotive expects wholesale prices on its Manheim Used Vehicle Value Index will end this year 1.4% higher than in December 2024.
This year’s increase would compare with a 0.4% rise in 2024 following drops of 7% and nearly 15% in 2023 and 2022, respectively.

Used Honda Pilots are displayed on the sales lot at Honda Marin on February 06, 2024 in San Rafael, California.
Justin Sullivan | Getty Images

Used vehicle prices are expected to continue to stabilize in 2025 after swinging wildly for several years before starting to calm down in 2024.
Auto data and logistics firm Cox Automotive expects wholesale prices on its Manheim Used Vehicle Value Index, which tracks prices of used vehicles sold at its U.S. wholesale auctions, will end this year 1.4% higher than in December 2024. Pricing will fluctuate month to month due to selling seasonality and other factors, but it’s not expected to be as drastic as in previous years, according to Cox.

This year’s increase would compare with a 0.4% rise in 2024 following drops of 7% and nearly 15% in 2023 and 2022, respectively, from inflated prices during the Covid-19 pandemic. Index used vehicle prices during that time increased at historically high rates of 46.6% in 2021 and 14.2% in 2020.
During that time, availability of new vehicles fell to record lows due to supply chain and parts problems that interrupted vehicle production. The Biden administration noted the rise in used vehicle pricing was a key contribution to inflation during that time.
The overall stability in pricing is a win for potential car buyers. However, used vehicle prices are still higher than they were before the pandemic. Retail prices for consumers traditionally follow changes in wholesale prices, but they have not fallen as quickly as wholesale prices in recent years.
“We are ending some of the moves from the pandemic,” Jeremy Robb, Cox Automotive senior director of economic and industry insights, said during a call Wednesday. “We’re bound to see some volatility in our forecast.”
The average index move at the end of each year is an increase of 2.3%, according to Cox data going back to 1997. That excludes the outlier years of 2021 and 2022.

A regular month-to-month move in the index during the year is only 0.2%, Cox said.
Cox reports the average listing price of a used vehicle was $25,565 to start December, up slightly from $25,493 the prior month but now down 3% from a year earlier.
Used vehicle sales year over year are expected to increase by 1% to 37.8 million in 2025, according to Cox Automotive. That forecast includes 20.1 million in used vehicle retail sales, a 1.2% increase. More

The National Hockey League announced it will hold two outdoor games in Florida next year.
Hockey has seen real growth in the state over the last three decades.
The events are expected to attract about 100,000 fans.

Sean Pavone | Istock | Getty Images

Outdoor hockey in Florida? The National Hockey League says it is up for the challenge.
The NHL announced Wednesday that it will host its first outdoor games in the Sunshine State.

The league will feature two matchups next year, one as part of the Winter Classic, followed by a Stadium Series game.
The first game will feature the Florida Panthers hosting the New York Rangers at LoanDepot Park, home of Major League Baseball’s Miami Marlins, on Jan. 2, 2026.
And one month later, the NHL will do it all over again in Tampa, as the Tampa Bay Lightning host the Boston Bruins at Raymond James Stadium, home of the National Football League’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The NHL will play two outdoor hockey games in Florida in 2026

But why host a winter sport outdoors in a warm-weather state?
“Stanley Cups, strings of sellouts and the exponential growth of youth and high school hockey throughout the state have demonstrated that Florida is a hockey hotbed,” said NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman.”Never let it be said that our League isn’t willing to accept a challenge,” he added.

In order to pull this feat off, the league said that to keep the ice from melting it will use the LoanDepot Park roof in Miami until the game starts. The roof will then open for the game, held outdoors and under stadium lights.
Tampa will be a bigger challenge because Raymond James Stadium does not have a roof. So the NHL said it will build a roof structure over the ice and strip it ahead of the game.
The league expects an amount of prep and lead time similar to other outdoor events it has held. The NHL said it will take about two weeks to set up the stadiums.

Photo of the billboard Tampa Sports erected back in 2018 to lure an outdoor game.

The matchups will cost more than a traditional Winter Classic or Stadium Series game, Steve Mayer, president of NHL content and events, told CNBC.
“It’s a lot more to build a structure that we’ve never had to build before,” he said. “I will say we are getting incredible contributions from the state of Florida sports commission that understands the value of a big event.”
The league said it expects about 100,000 people to attend both events combined.
Pro hockey in Florida has been a bright spot for the league. The Tampa Bay Lightning and Florida Panthers have won four collective Stanley Cups since they joined the NHL more than 30 years ago. The Panthers are the league’s reigning champions.
That success is translating off the ice.
The Lightning are now valued at $1.8 billion and the Panthers at $1.35 billion, according to CNBC’s Official NHL Valuations.
The success of hockey in Florida is also creating a new generation of young fans.
Ice hockey registrations in Florida are up 212% since 1999, with more than 21,000 registered players in the state last season, according to the NHL. Girls’ hockey participation alone in Florida is also on the uptick, up about 16% year over year and 56% over the past eight years, the league said.
Mayer attributes the growth in Florida hockey to several factors: Snow birds in Florida have latched on to the game, and local communities have embraced the Panthers and Lightning.
The NHL acknowledges that trying to hold outdoor games in Florida is risky but says the payoff is worth it.
“We understand there’s some risk involved, but there’s risk in every one of these games that we do, no matter where we go,” said Mayer. “We just feel like Florida has embraced hockey and the growth of the game, it just felt like the perfect time.” More