U.S. auto sales down in August as Harvey hurts demand

Hurricane Harvey took a toll on U.S. auto sales in August, but the storm could boost sales this fall as people replace flooded vehicles. U.S. sales of new cars and trucks fell 2 percent in August, according to Autodata Corp. Harvey hurt demand in the Houston area — the ninth-largest vehicle market in the nation — cutting U.S. sales of new cars and trucks by an estimated 20,000 vehicles, forecasting firm LMC Automotive said. Not everyone reported bad news Friday. General Motors said its sales rose 7.5 percent compared with last August. Toyota’s were up 7 percent and Volkswagen’s rose 9 percent. All three automakers reported strong sales of SUVs. But Hyundai’s sales plummeted 25 percent. Nissan’s sales dropped 13 percent and Fiat Chrysler’s sales were down 11 percent. Ford and Honda both saw sales drop 2 percent.

South Carolina couple sues Amazon over eclipse glasses

A South Carolina couple is suing online retailer Amazon over what they claim were faulty pairs of eclipse glasses that resulted in eye injuries, headaches and blurry vision. In court papers filed in federal court this week, Thomas Corey Payne and Kayla Harris of Charleston said they began experiencing the symptoms after viewing the total solar eclipse Aug. 21 using glasses purchased on Amazon. A spokeswoman for the Seattle-based retailer declined to comment on the pending litigation.

NLRB tells Tesla to respond to confidentiality complaints

The National Labor Relations Board ordered Tesla to respond to worker complaints about a restrictive confidentiality policy, driving a deeper wedge between the company