Japan’s Toyota Motor could recall its vehicles in Europe because of an accelerator problem that triggered massive recalls in the US, a newspaper reported yesterday.
The world’s largest automaker is considering recalling Corolla, RAV4 and other models produced and sold in Europe, the Mainichi Shimbun reported, adding that it was not clear how many vehicles were involved.
SIMILAR
The models are equipped with similar accelerator pedal parts to those of 2.3 million vehicles recalled in the US, the latest in a series of recalls by Toyota, the daily said.
The Japanese company’s US division said on Thursday that the recall was to correct accelerator pedals on the vehicles that become worn and then in some cases get lodged in a partially depressed position.
The action was separate to an ongoing recall of about 4.2 million Toyota and Lexus vehicles that began last year due to a risk of loose floor mats slipping forward and jamming the pedals.
An unnamed senior official of the company told the daily: “We cannot tell how much this recall will cost, but it can be handled within our reserve [for unexpected troubles].”
But the Mainichi said a decline in Toyota’s reputation for quality following the malfunction may trim its earnings, adding it could take time for Toyota to recover customers’ confidence in its production.
Toyota, which overtook US rival GM in 2008 as the world’s largest automaker, returned to profit in the three months to September and upgraded its outlook for the rest of the year thanks to demand for fuel-efficient cars.
Shares of contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) came under pressure yesterday after a report that Apple Inc is looking to shift some orders from the Taiwanese company to Intel Corp. TSMC shares fell NT$55, or 2.4 percent, to close at NT$2,235 on the local main board, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed. Despite the losses, TSMC is expected to continue to benefit from sound fundamentals, as it maintains a lead over its peers in high-end process development, analysts said. “The selling was a knee-jerk reaction to an Intel-Apple report over the weekend,” Mega International Investment Services Corp (兆豐國際投顧) analyst Alex Huang
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is expected to remain Apple Inc’s primary chip manufacturing partner despite reports that Apple could shift some orders to Intel Corp, industry experts said yesterday. The comments came after The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that Apple and Intel had reached a preliminary agreement following more than a year of negotiations for Intel to manufacture some chips for Apple devices. Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (台灣經濟研究院) economist Arisa Liu (劉佩真) said TSMC’s advanced packaging technologies, including integrated fan-out and chip-on-wafer-on-substrate, remain critical to the performance of Apple’s A-series and M-series chips. She said Intel and Samsung
TRANSITION: With the closure, the company would reorganize its Taiwanese unit to a sales and service-focused model, Bridgestone said Bridgestone Corp yesterday announced it would cease manufacturing operations at its tire plant in Hsinchu County’s Hukou Township (湖口), affecting more than 500 workers. Bridgestone Taiwan Co (台灣普利司通) said in a statement that the decision was based on the Tokyo-based tire maker’s adjustments to its global operational strategy and long-term market development considerations. The Taiwanese unit would be reorganized as part of the closure, effective yesterday, and all related production activities would be concluded, the statement said. Under the plan, Bridgestone would continue to deepen its presence in the Taiwanese market, while transitioning to a sales and service-focused business model, it added. The Hsinchu
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has approved a capital budget of US$31.28 billion for production expansion to meet long-term development needs during the artificial intelligence (AI) boom. The company’s board meeting yesterday approved the capital appropriation plan for purposes such as the installation of advanced technology capacity and fab construction, the world’s largest contract chipmaker said in a statement. At an earnings conference last month, TSMC forecast that its capital expenditure for this year would be at the higher end of the US$52 billion to US$56 billion range it forecast in January in response to robust demand for 5G, AI and
RSS