AUTOMAKERS
Toyota to invest in Canada
Toyota Motor Corp on Friday announced that it would invest C$1.4 billion (US$1.09 billion) in two factories in central Canada, where the Japanese manufacturer plans to build its largest hybrid hub in North America. Ottawa would support the investment with C$110 million in Toyota’s Cambridge and Woodstock plants in Ontario, a statement from the office of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said. “Once complete, Canada will be the North American hub for the RAV4 and home to Toyota’s largest hybrid vehicle production in North America,” said a joint statement from the Canadian government and the automaker.
TECHNOLOGY
Waymo hit by human driver
Police in a Phoenix suburb are investigating a collision involving a self-driving vehicle owned by Waymo, Google’s self-driving car spinoff. Chandler Police said the incident happened on Friday afternoon when a Honda Motor Co sedan swerved to avoid hitting another car. The Honda went into opposing traffic lanes and hit the Waymo car. Police said the vehicle was in autonomous mode, but there was an occupant in the driver’s seat who suffered minor injuries. Waymo said in a statement that its mission is to make roads safer. It released a video of the moments before the collision.
APPAREL
Calvetron cedes control
British clothing retailer Calvetron has collapsed into administration, the group said Friday, placing more than 1,400 jobs in peril amid tough times on the UK high street. The group, whose history dates back to 1972, when it was founded by two east London tailors, has 997 staff in Britain plus 256 in Canada and 155 in Ireland. Calvetron — which owns clothing brands Jacques Vert, Precis, Eastex and Dash and has 300 stores — said in statement that it has appointed administrators Duff & Phelps Corp.
FRANCE
Moody’s upgrades outlook
The country’s credit outlook was changed to “positive” from “stable” by Moody’s Investors Service Inc, which cited the government’s economic reform plans and its focus on fiscal consolidation. Moody’s also affirmed the nation’s “Aa2” long-term issuer rating, its third-highest score, the firm said in a statement on Friday. “The government has presented a broad and ambitious agenda of structural reforms which in Moody’s view should go a long way towards correcting the key underlying causes of France’s competitiveness challenges,” Moody’s said. A shift in policy toward spending cuts would improve the country’s fiscal strength in the medium term, also boosting the outlook, it said.
INVESTMENT
UTC urged to break up
Billionaire investor Daniel Loeb’s Third Point LLC on Friday urged United Technologies Corp (UTC) to move more forcefully in pursuing a breakup into three businesses, saying such a step could unlock US$20 billion in value. The New York-based hedge fund owns a US$1 billion stake in the Connecticut conglomerate, and signaled to its clients that it would step up pressure on the board and management to follow through on their promises to review the company’s future.
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
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
RECORD-BREAKING: TSMC’s net profit last quarter beat market expectations by expanding 8.9% and it was the best first-quarter profit in the chipmaker’s history Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which counts Nvidia Corp as a key customer, yesterday said that artificial intelligence (AI) server chip revenue is set to more than double this year from last year amid rising demand. The chipmaker expects the growth momentum to continue in the next five years with an annual compound growth rate of 50 percent, TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) told investors yesterday. By 2028, AI chips’ contribution to revenue would climb to about 20 percent from a percentage in the low teens, Wei said. “Almost all the AI innovators are working with TSMC to address the
FUTURE PLANS: Although the electric vehicle market is getting more competitive, Hon Hai would stick to its goal of seizing a 5 percent share globally, Young Liu said Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), a major iPhone assembler and supplier of artificial intelligence (AI) servers powered by Nvidia Corp’s chips, yesterday said it has introduced a rotating chief executive structure as part of the company’s efforts to cultivate future leaders and to enhance corporate governance. The 50-year-old contract electronics maker reported sizable revenue of NT$6.16 trillion (US$189.67 billion) last year. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), has been under the control of one man almost since its inception. A rotating CEO system is a rarity among Taiwanese businesses. Hon Hai has given leaders of the company’s six