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World Business Quick Take

■ Automobiles
Ford calls for change
Ford Motor Co, the US' No. 2 automaker, must change the way it does business in order to make a turnaround, the firm's head said in an e-mail to employees. "The business model that sustained us for decades is no longer sufficient to sustain profitability," chairman and chief executive Bill Ford wrote. Ford said he has organized his approach to solving the company's problems by focusing on three areas: accelerating its North American turnaround effort, leveraging its global assets and leadership."These should not be days of `fear' for the people of the Ford Motor Company as one headline put it recently," he wrote, adding that there was a "sense of uncertainty over specific tactics until some key decisions are made." A copy of the memo Ford sent on Friday was obtained by the Detroit News, which published details of it on Saturday.

■ labor
Toyota contractors warned
Japan's labor authorities have issued a warning to several Toyota Motor subcontractors for paying some 200 Vietnamese workers less than the legal minimum wage, a newspaper said yesterday. Unpaid wages to the Vietnamese by the 23 companies involved were estimated at some ¥50 million (US$428,000) in total, the Tokyo Shimbun said, quoting unnamed officials. The subcontractors, all based in Toyoda City, where Toyota Motor has its headquarters, are supplying auto parts such as passenger seats to the Japanese carmaking giant. One of the subcontractors paid ¥702 an hour to its Vietnamese workers, well below the legal minimum wage of ¥807, the daily said. The company's overtime wage was set at ¥450 per hour for the Vietnamese employees, sharply lower than the legal requirement of ¥1,009, the newspaper said. The Toyoda Labor Standards Inspection Office raided their offices and factories in June and warned them to follow regulations, it said.

■ Telecoms
Ricke's seat assured
Deutsche Telekom's supervisory board is giving additional functions to Kai-Uwe Ricke, the company said on Saturday, apparently putting paid to speculation that his days as chief executive were numbered. Deutsche Telekom, Europe's biggest telecommunications group, said that Ricke would also head central brand management and be in charge of advertising budgets, media planning and media coordination in Germany. Press reports last month had suggested that the knives were out for Ricke following a drop in second quarter profits as the firm lost customers hand over fist to competitors.

■ Europe
July pricing likely higher
Eurozone indicators to be released in the coming week are expected to show an increase in July wholesale prices and a slide in retail sales, as well as stronger industrial output in the bloc's largest economy, Germany, economists said. Producer prices in the 12-nation eurozone are expected to rise 0.5 percent in July from June in response to higher oil prices. The rise in the producer price index (PPI) had slowed to 0.2 percent in June as oil prices dipped temporarily, but the renewed rise in energy costs will keep producer price inflation high in the months ahead, they said. The year-on-year gain in the PPI is expected to be unchanged at 5.8 percent in July. Eurozone retail sales are likely to have recorded a 0.4 percent month-on-month fall in July, wiping out most of the 0.5 percent gain recorded in June.

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