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Buicks to go `Gucci'

To inject the "fashion" element into Buick cars to make them attractive to a wider audience, Yulon GM Motors Co (裕隆通用) yesterday announced a tie-up with local design house Dem Inc (橙果).

More exquisite designs in vehicle exterior and interior giving the a "Gucci" feel can now be found in upcoming small sedan Excelle Casa 1.6-liter and 1.8-liter models.

The Excelle Casa model was chosen from a Buick lineup to target its younger customer portfolio, said Yulon GM Motors chief executive officer Pan Fu-jen (潘扶仁) in a signing ceremony yesterday. The carmaker is eager to relaunch its brand image with innovation.

Buick is traditionally perceived as a luxury brand and the top choice for the government sector, but the company has to make potential clientele aware of its small sedan lineup as well, Pan said.

The new cars are now under experimental stage and will be speeding on the roads in the fourth quarter.

Money supply growth weaker

The nation's M2 money supply rose 4.74 percent in May from a year earlier, the weakest pace of growth since August 2003, due to slower investment growth and a drop in bank lending, the central bank said in a statement yesterday.

For the first five months of the year, the average annual growth rate for M2 was 5.36 percent, the central bank said.

The central bank set a growth target for M2, the broadest measure of the nation's money supply, at between 3.5 and 7.5 percent for this year, the same as last year.

For the whole of last year, M2 grew an average of 6.22 percent from a year earlier, the central bank said.

Taipower raises coal estimates

State-run Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電), the nation's biggest electricity producer, forecast its coal demand will rise 2.7 percent to a record high this year as a new unit increases power generation.

Taipower will probably use 28.41 million tonnes of the fuel, up from 27.67 million last year, Tu Yueh-yuan (杜悅元), chief engineer of the Taipei-based company, said by phone yesterday.

Taipower, which accounts for about 45 percent of Taiwan's demand for coal, will have to increase overseas purchases as the nation doesn't produce any of the fuel.

The company bought 28.1 million tonnes of coal last year, Tu said. It has stockpiles to meet 45 days' use.

"Coal consumption will probably climb" as the company uses more of the Taichung plant in western Taiwan, Tu said. "It takes time for new units to ramp up."

Last year the company used 56 percent capacity of its Taichung plant's 10th unit, which started commercial operations last June, she said. The generator has an installed capacity of 550 megawatts.

Aircraft company may close

Taiwan may close a loss-making Taiwan-US aircraft company due to difficulty in finding new investors, the Chinese-language Economic Daily News newspaper said yesterday.

The newspaper said the Taiwan government has twice failed to find new investors for the Sino Swearingen Aircraft Corporation (SSAC), based in San Antonio, Texas, last October and May of this year respectively.

The Ministry of Economic Affairs is making the last effort to find a new investor.

If the effort fails, Taiwan may have to shut SSAC, the paper quoted an unnamed official as saying.

According to the report, SSAC has lost US$20 billion since its founding in 1995, and the legislature has barred the government from financing the company.


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