Mitsubishi Motors' three top executives resigned yesterday to take responsibility for failing to revive the troubled automaker, as it announced that the Mitsubishi group will give it an additional ?270 billion (US$2.62 billion) in cash.
Machinery maker Mitsubishi Heavy, which is part of the group, will take managerial control of Mitsubishi Motors Corp, the Tokyo-based automaker said at a news conference unveiling its new revival plan. The company announced that Mitsubishi Motors chairman Yoichiro Okazaki, president Hideyasu Tagaya and vice chairman Koji Furukawa resigned to take responsibility for the failure of last year's recovery plan.
Mitsubishi Heavy's current chairman, Takashi Nishioka, will replace Okazaki, the automaker said.
Mitsubishi Motors, which has been swamped with recall scandals and sagging sales, has not been able to get back on its feet after receiving nearly ?500 billion (US$5 billion) from the Mitsubishi group and other companies last year.
That bailout came after German partner DaimlerChrysler AG decided to end all additional funding for Mitsubishi Motors.
Goldman Sachs yesterday cut its rating on Mitsubishi Heavy to "underperform," citing concerns about the impact of its new role in Mitsubishi Motors.
Mitsubishi Motors has struggled to fix its image and woo back buyers in one of the world's most competitive car markets since it acknowledged four years ago it was systematically hiding auto defects to avoid recalls for more than 20 years. The scandal resurfaced last year, although the company had promised to come clean in 2000.
Sales of Mitsubishi cars in Japan have nose-dived in recent months, falling by nearly 50 percent on-year.
The scandals at Mitsubishi Motors began in the mid-1990s, including a sexual harassment lawsuit in the US and arrests of executives on criminal charges in Japan of paying off racketeers tied with gangsters. Trials are ongoing of former executives charged in two fatal accidents suspected of being caused by hidden defects in truck wheels and clutch systems.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique