“Iron Lady” Vivian Shun-wen Wu (吳舜文), a legend in Taiwan’s motor industry and one of the nation’s wealthiest women, has died of heart and lung failure at the age of 95, her family said yesterday.
The former Yulon Group (裕隆集團) chairwoman passed away at 3:35pm on Saturday at the Veterans General Hospital in Taipei, her family said, and is survived by son Kenneth Yen (嚴凱泰), daughter-in-law Chen Li-lien (陳莉蓮) and granddaughter Michelle.
Born in China’s Jiangsu Province, Wu and her husband Yen Ching-ling (嚴慶齡) moved to Taiwan in 1948.
The couple founded Tai Yuen Textile Co (台元紡織), which under her management fast developed into the nation’s leading textile company, cashing in on Taiwan’s export booms in the 1960s and 1980s.
In 1953, Yen Ching-ling founded the Yue Loong (裕隆) motor company, which began assembling cars under Nissan’s license in the 1960s. There was speculation after he died in 1981 that the company might fold.
But Wu acquired the nickname “Iron Lady” for her tenacity after the carmaker in 1986 successfully rolled out the nation’s first locally designed sedan in a six-year project at a cost of NT$4.5 billion (US$146 million).
The company, which changed its logo and name to Yulon in 1992, continued to thrive and expand.
A venture with Nissan, Yulon Nissan Motor Co (裕隆日產) promotes Nissan-branded cars in Taiwan and other Asian markets.
Yulon has also invested in an automaker in China and set up a joint venture with the US’ General Motors Corp to sell and assemble GM models in Taiwan.
Kenneth Yen took over as chairman of the company last year from his mother and the business spread to industries including textiles, electronics and construction.
With an approval rating of just two percent, Peruvian President Dina Boluarte might be the world’s most unpopular leader, according to pollsters. Protests greeted her rise to power 29 months ago, and have marked her entire term — joined by assorted scandals, investigations, controversies and a surge in gang violence. The 63-year-old is the target of a dozen probes, including for her alleged failure to declare gifts of luxury jewels and watches, a scandal inevitably dubbed “Rolexgate.” She is also under the microscope for a two-week undeclared absence for nose surgery — which she insists was medical, not cosmetic — and is
CAUTIOUS RECOVERY: While the manufacturing sector returned to growth amid the US-China trade truce, firms remain wary as uncertainty clouds the outlook, the CIER said The local manufacturing sector returned to expansion last month, as the official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) rose 2.1 points to 51.0, driven by a temporary easing in US-China trade tensions, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. The PMI gauges the health of the manufacturing industry, with readings above 50 indicating expansion and those below 50 signaling contraction. “Firms are not as pessimistic as they were in April, but they remain far from optimistic,” CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) said at a news conference. The full impact of US tariff decisions is unlikely to become clear until later this month
GROWING CONCERN: Some senior Trump administration officials opposed the UAE expansion over fears that another TSMC project could jeopardize its US investment Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is evaluating building an advanced production facility in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and has discussed the possibility with officials in US President Donald Trump’s administration, people familiar with the matter said, in a potentially major bet on the Middle East that would only come to fruition with Washington’s approval. The company has had multiple meetings in the past few months with US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff and officials from MGX, an influential investment vehicle overseen by the UAE president’s brother, the people said. The conversations are a continuation of talks that
CHIP DUTIES: TSMC said it voiced its concerns to Washington about tariffs, telling the US commerce department that it wants ‘fair treatment’ to protect its competitiveness Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday reiterated robust business prospects for this year as strong artificial intelligence (AI) chip demand from Nvidia Corp and other customers would absorb the impacts of US tariffs. “The impact of tariffs would be indirect, as the custom tax is the importers’ responsibility, not the exporters,” TSMC chairman and chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) said at the chipmaker’s annual shareholders’ meeting in Hsinchu City. TSMC’s business could be affected if people become reluctant to buy electronics due to inflated prices, Wei said. In addition, the chipmaker has voiced its concern to the US Department of Commerce
RSS