AUTOMAKERS
Tax credits to boost sales
The government’s policy of granting tax credits for trading in used vehicles might boost the nation’s new car sales above 450,000 units next year, Yulon Nissan Motor Co (裕隆日產) vice president Leman Lee (李振成) said yesterday on the sidelines of a press conference to introduce this year’s Taipei International Auto Show. The bill granting tax credits for trading in used vehicles passed on Friday last week allows car owners a NT$50,000 (US$1,515) commodity tax deduction if they purchase a new vehicle within six months of discarding their used vehicle. Capital Securities Corp (群益證券) forecast the policy would lead to replacement demand for up to 200,000 vehicles in the next three to five years.
IC TESTING
King Yuan loan approved
King Yuan Electronics Co (京元電子), an integrated circuit testing service provider, yesterday said its board has approved a syndicated loan deal with a consortium of banks to repay debt and replenish its medium-term working capital. The company said in a stock exchange filing that it plans to take out a five-year NT$5 billion loan from five banks led by Land Bank of Taiwan (臺灣土地銀行).
STEELMAKERS
Yieh Phui to buy shares
Yieh Phui Enterprise Co (燁輝), the nation’s largest manufacturer of galvanized steel, yesterday said it plans to subscribe for 157 million new shares of Yieh United Steel Corp (燁聯) for NT$1.14 billion, increasing its stake in its subsidiary to 23.8 percent from 19.93 percent. Yieh Phui said in a stock exchange filing that it plans to purchase the new shares for NT$7 via a private placement in a move to help improve the finances of its loss-making subsidiary.
COMPUTERS
Asustek top for gaming
Asustek Computer Inc (華碩) on Thursday said that it is now the world’s biggest vendor of gaming notebooks equipped with GTX graphics cards. The company said it is also the top notebook computer vendor in the local market, with a 54 percent share. In the first 10 months of the year, Asustek’s share of the global GTX gaming notebook market was 35 percent, which puts it at the top of the world rankings, the firm said. GTX gaming notebooks are tracked closely by market information firms, as they are favored by professional gamers.
ENERGY
GE wins Wudongde contract
General Electric Co (GE) has won a contract to supply turbines that are to account for half the generation capacity of the 10.2-gigawatt Wudongde hydropower plant being built by China Three Gorges Corp (中國長江三峽集團). The renewable unit of the Fairfield, Connecticut-based company is to provide six 850-megawatt Francis turbine-generator sets and related equipment for the 100 billion yuan (US$15.5 billion) project, a statement said.
AUTOMAKERS
Fiat Chrysler recalls SUVs
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles is recalling nearly 450,000 SUVs worldwide in two separate recalls that include the Jeep Grand Cherokee. The automaker said on Thursday that about 353,000 Jeep Grand Cherokee and Dodge Durango SUVs with model years 2011 and 2012 are being recalled because wiring in the vanity mirror might overheat and create a fire hazard. No injuries or accidents have been reported. The second recall is for more than 93,000 Jeep Compass and Patriot SUVs made this year. The company said it would inspect and fix a clamp that could be out of position.
China has claimed a breakthrough in developing homegrown chipmaking equipment, an important step in overcoming US sanctions designed to thwart Beijing’s semiconductor goals. State-linked organizations are advised to use a new laser-based immersion lithography machine with a resolution of 65 nanometers or better, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in an announcement this month. Although the note does not specify the supplier, the spec marks a significant step up from the previous most advanced indigenous equipment — developed by Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Group Co (SMEE, 上海微電子) — which stood at about 90 nanometers. MIIT’s claimed advances last
ISSUES: Gogoro has been struggling with ballooning losses and was recently embroiled in alleged subsidy fraud, using Chinese-made components instead of locally made parts Gogoro Inc (睿能創意), the nation’s biggest electric scooter maker, yesterday said that its chairman and CEO Horace Luke (陸學森) has resigned amid chronic losses and probes into the company’s alleged involvement in subsidy fraud. The board of directors nominated Reuntex Group (潤泰集團) general counsel Tamon Tseng (曾夢達) as the company’s new chairman, Gogoro said in a statement. Ruentex is Gogoro’s biggest stakeholder. Gogoro Taiwan general manager Henry Chiang (姜家煒) is to serve as acting CEO during the interim period, the statement said. Luke’s departure came as a bombshell yesterday. As a company founder, he has played a key role in pushing for the
EUROPE ON HOLD: Among a flurry of announcements, Intel said it would postpone new factories in Germany and Poland, but remains committed to its US expansion Intel Corp chief executive officer Pat Gelsinger has landed Amazon.com Inc’s Amazon Web Services (AWS) as a customer for the company’s manufacturing business, potentially bringing work to new plants under construction in the US and boosting his efforts to turn around the embattled chipmaker. Intel and AWS are to coinvest in a custom semiconductor for artificial intelligence computing — what is known as a fabric chip — in a “multiyear, multibillion-dollar framework,” Intel said in a statement on Monday. The work would rely on Intel’s 18A process, an advanced chipmaking technology. Intel shares rose more than 8 percent in late trading after the
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has appointed Rose Castanares, executive vice president of TSMC Arizona, as president of the subsidiary, which is responsible for carrying out massive investments by the Taiwanese tech giant in the US state, the company said in a statement yesterday. Castanares will succeed Brian Harrison as president of the Arizona subsidiary on Oct. 1 after the incumbent president steps down from the position with a transfer to the Arizona CEO office to serve as an advisor to TSMC Arizona’s chairman, the statement said. According to TSMC, Harrison is scheduled to retire on Dec. 31. Castanares joined TSMC in