Crisis-hit Mitsubishi Motors Corp said yesterday it will seek more money for its survival plan, raising the total to ?546 billion (US$5.1 billion) from the original ?450 billion.
Japan's fourth-largest carmaker, reeling from the fallout of a series of vehicle defect cover-ups, has been forced to look for funds from the Mitsubishi conglomerate and other investors after its major shareholder DaimlerChrysler decided against injecting any fresh capital in April.
PHOTO: EPA
Mitsubishi group companies and a Taiwanese business partner have already put up ?295 billion.
Another ?250 billion will come from Tokyo-based Phoenix Capital and JP Morgan, up from their original contribution of ?170 billion, in return for preferred shares at ?100 per share.
A group firm will put up another ?1 billion in return for shares.
"In addition to the capital injection, our business cash flows and savings will bring the total business revival fund to more than ?1 trillion," MMC chief executive Yoichiro Okazaki told an annual general shareholders' meeting.
"Of the total, we plan to spend ?720 billion on capital investment, research and development and restructuring," he said.
Earlier Okazaki, who has recently moved from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, opened the AGM with an apology.
"I would like to offer my deep-est apologies for causing great concern and trouble among shareholders, customers and many other people," Okazaki said.
He sought approval from shareholders for the revised survival plan by saying: "The company is under extremely severe financial strains."
Several disgruntled and distressed shareholders challenged the management.
One elderly shareholder, who only identified himself as Yamada, told the meeting that he had an unrealized loss of several million yen on Mitsubishi shares, which have fallen sharply in light of belated recalls and the arrest of executives over a series of vehicle defect cover-ups.
"Please stake all of your own assets and your life on reviving the company," he said.
"If you cannot do so, you should resign," he told the meeting to applause.
Mitsubishi Motors announced this month that it was recalling more than 500,000 cars globally.
Its truck affiliate, Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corp, owned 65 percent by DaimlerChrysler, is also recalling hundreds of thou-sands of vehicles after admitting to cover-ups of defective parts, some of which have led to fatal accidents.
The transport ministry has decided not to buy new vehicles from MMC or Mitsubishi Fuso for the 18 months to December next year. Many regional authorities have already announced similar moves.
NO-LIMITS PARTNERSHIP: ‘The bottom line’ is that if the US were to have a conflict with China or Russia it would likely open up a second front with the other, a US senator said Beijing and Moscow could cooperate in a conflict over Taiwan, the top US intelligence chief told the US Senate this week. “We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognizing that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn’t,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a US Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Thursday. US Senator Mike Rounds asked Haines about such a potential scenario. He also asked US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse
INSPIRING: Taiwan has been a model in the Asia-Pacific region with its democratic transition, free and fair elections and open society, the vice president-elect said Taiwan can play a leadership role in the Asia-Pacific region, vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) told a forum in Taipei yesterday, highlighting the nation’s resilience in the face of geopolitical challenges. “Not only can Taiwan help, but Taiwan can lead ... not only can Taiwan play a leadership role, but Taiwan’s leadership is important to the world,” Hsiao told the annual forum hosted by the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation think tank. Hsiao thanked Taiwan’s international friends for their long-term support, citing the example of US President Joe Biden last month signing into law a bill to provide aid to Taiwan,
China’s intrusive and territorial claims in the Indo-Pacific region are “illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive,” new US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo said on Friday, adding that he would continue working with allies and partners to keep the area free and open. Paparo made the remarks at a change-of-command ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, where he took over the command from Admiral John Aquilino. “Our world faces a complex problem set in the troubling actions of the People’s Republic of China [PRC] and its rapid buildup of forces. We must be ready to answer the PRC’s increasingly intrusive and
STATE OF THE NATION: The legislature should invite the president to deliver an address every year, the TPP said, adding that Lai should also have to answer legislators’ questions The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday proposed inviting president-elect William Lai (賴清德) to make a historic first state of the nation address at the legislature following his inauguration on May 20. Lai is expected to face many domestic and international challenges, and should clarify his intended policies with the public’s representatives, KMT caucus secretary-general Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) said when making the proposal at a meeting of the legislature’s Procedure Committee. The committee voted to add the item to the agenda for Friday, along with another similar proposal put forward by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP). The invitation is in line with Article 15-2