The French-Japanese auto alliance of Renault and Nissan is investing US$160 million in its South Korean Renault Samsung Motors to boost annual production by 80,000 vehicles, taking advantage of South Korea’s free-trade agreement with the US.
The plant in the southern city of Busan is now making 180,000 vehicles a year, sold in South Korea and 60 other nations. Renault’s sole Korean plant has capacity of 300,000 vehicles a year, but Renault cut production as sales slumped at home and abroad.
The investment, announced yesterday, will be for the next-generation Nissan Rogue crossover sport utility vehicle, starting production in 2014, with annual capacity of 80,000 vehicles, mostly destined for North American markets.
The move to beef up production in South Korea is unique among major Japanese automakers. Toyota Motor Corp and Honda Motor Co do not have plants in South Korea.
The move is also noteworthy for taking advantage of a trade deal that Japan lacks. South Korea is ahead of Japan in such deals and already has a free-trade agreement with the US, and is negotiating deals with Canada and Mexico, where the Rogue is also headed.
Renault Samsung Motors was the first European carmaker to set up operations in South Korea. In 1994, Nissan formed Samsung Motors Inc with Samsung Group. In 2000, Renault SA of France purchased 70.1 percent of the bankrupt Samsung Motors, in the wake of the Asian financial crisis, and renamed it Renault Samsung. Renault now owns 80.1 percent of the manufacturer.
“The Busan announcement represents a unique win-win-win for Renault, Nissan and RSM, demonstrating the flexibility and power of the alliance for all partners,” said Carlos Ghosn, chief executive for both Nissan Motor Co and Renault SA.
Ghosn is scheduled to elaborate on the plan during a news conference in Seoul.
The investment comes at a difficult time for Renault Samsung. Last year, it lost 292 billion won (US$255.8 million) and a plunge in sales had even set off speculation that Renault might sell the South Korean unit. Ghosn said the announcement underlined its commitment to Renault Samsung.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last