AUTOMAKERS
VW to face US public
Volkswagen AG (VW) chief executive officer Matthias Mueller was scheduled to face a skeptical US public yesterday for the first time since US regulators accused the German automaker of cheating emissions tests. Mueller was to speak at an invitation-only media reception in a Detroit restaurant yesterday night before heading to Washington for talks with political leaders and regulators amid accusations that the company is obstructing the investigation into the deepest crisis of its history. VW was tight-lipped about Mueller’s schedule, but the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has said he is scheduled to meet with EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy on Wednesday.
UNITED KINGDOM
Asda predicts difficult year
The nation’s supermarkets are to face heavy pressure on sales this year, with stagnant demand from consumers and price competition from discount chains, the Sunday Telegraph quoted Asda Stores Ltd chief executive officer Andy Clarke as saying. The newspaper said Asda planned to spend a further £500 million pounds (US$726.03 million) on cutting prices this year. “Short-term volatility in sales is set to continue this year,” Clarke said. “Sales will be under pressure for all retailers this year; the difference is our profitability is robust and that’s not something the others can be confident about.” Asda reported a 4.5 percent year-on-year fall in sales in the three months to September last year.
SETTLEMENTS
Ecuador to pay OXY US$1bn
Ecuador is to make a US$1 billion payment to US oil giant Occidental Petroleum (OXY) by April, in keeping with a decision from a World Bank arbitration panel, Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa said on Saturday. The International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes initially ordered Ecuador to pay the company US$1.77 billion plus interest in the 2012 ruling. Correa said his government had managed to negotiate the sum down significantly, first to US$1.4 billion, then eventually somewhat lower.
REAL ESTATE
Playboy Mansion up for sale
The Playboy Mansion — reputedly host to some of the US’ most raucous parties and other shenanigans too graphic for print — is up for sale at US$200 million, US media said on Saturday. Home of Playboy magazine founder Hugh Hefner, 89, the notorious building is to be listed within the next month, celebrity Web site TMZ reported. Playboy Enterprises is seeking upwards of US$200 million, but citing real-estate sources in the area of Holmby Hills — close to Beverly Hills — TMZ said the mansion is more likely to go for between US$80 million and US$90 million. Prospective buyers can tour the sprawling property, but one area is off-limits — Hefner’s bedroom, TMZ said.
APPS
Uber to cut N America fares
Uber Technologies Inc is to drop prices in 80 North American cities starting on Saturday. The ride-hailing company hopes the move would increase demand in a seasonally slow month. Uber said it would cut prices in Los Angeles and San Francisco by 10 percent, Houston by 20 percent, and Richmond, Virginia, by 15 percent. Prices in some cities, including New York and Chicago, are to remain unchanged for now. Fare reductions are to eventually be extended to 100 cities, the company said. “We believe in price cuts when demand slows down,” Uber regional manager Andrew Macdonald said.
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
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
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