AUTOMAKERS
Toyota issues global recall
Toyota Motor Corp is recalling about 550,000 vehicles worldwide — mostly in the US — for possible problems related to the crankshaft pulley on the engine that could make it harder to steer. The company’s US sales unit said in a statement yesterday that if the problem is not corrected the belt for the power steering pump could become detached from the pulley. The recall affects 283,200 Toyota brand cars and 137,000 Lexus vehicles in the US, including the 2004 and 2005 Camry, Highlander and Sienna models. Toyota spokesperson Dion Corbett said about 38,000 cars are being recalled in Japan, as well as 25,000 in Australia and New Zealand. There have been no reports of accidents or injuries related to the problems, Corbett said.
HOUSING
Fannie Mae posts Q3 loss
US mortgage giant Fannie Mae lost nearly US$5.1 billion in the third quarter, a 76 percent rise from the previous quarter and nearly four times the same period one year earlier, the company reported on Tuesday. The state-owned housing lender said it would ask the US Treasury for another injection of US$7.8 billion to cover both the losses and the amount of dividends it is obliged to pay the government for its rescue in 2008. Fannie blamed the quarterly results equally on US$4.5 billion in losses on pre--housing crisis lending and US$5.5 billion worth of losses on derivatives taken out during the quarter against the risk of higher interest rates. Against that, Fannie said it had earned US$5.5 billion in net revenue.
BEER
AB InBev misses Q3 target
Anheuser-Busch InBev NV (AB InBev), the world’s biggest brewer, reported third-quarter revenue that missed analysts’ estimates as it sold less beer in the US and central and eastern Europe, offsetting gains in Latin America. So-called organic sales rose 3.6 percent, the Belgium-based company said yesterday in a statement. The median estimate of eight analysts surveyed by Bloomberg was 4.1 percent. The volume of its own brands of beer sold fell 0.6 percent. The brewer of Stella Artois has raised prices in the US and shifted toward more expensive products as sales slow. Market share fell 25 basis points in the quarter as the company lost sales in so-called sub-premium brands.
RETAIL
Electronics sales to increase
Sales of electronics are set to light up an otherwise dreary US holiday shopping season, the US Consumer Electronics Association said. The trade group released figures on Tuesday predicting an increase in holiday electronics sales of 5.6 percent this year, with the average household spending US$246 on gadgets, roughly a third of its gift budget of US$769. Tablets and computers ranked second and third on the list of gifts most sought after by adults, with clothes taking the top slot. Peace, happiness, and money followed behind all three, the association said.
FRANCE
Zero growth forecast in Q4
The economy is set for zero growth in the last quarter of the year, the Bank of France warned yesterday, two days after the government announced a new round of austerity measures. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Budget, Public Accounts and Civil Administration said that the central government budget deficit, a component of the overall deficit, had fallen by 30 billion euros (US$41.5 billion) at the end of September on a 12-month basis, to 92.7 billion euros, as the result of big fall in spending and a slight rise in revenues.
MULTIFACETED: A task force has analyzed possible scenarios and created responses to assist domestic industries in dealing with US tariffs, the economics minister said The Executive Yuan is tomorrow to announce countermeasures to US President Donald Trump’s planned reciprocal tariffs, although the details of the plan would not be made public until Monday next week, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. The Cabinet established an economic and trade task force in November last year to deal with US trade and tariff related issues, Kuo told reporters outside the legislature in Taipei. The task force has been analyzing and evaluating all kinds of scenarios to identify suitable responses and determine how best to assist domestic industries in managing the effects of Trump’s tariffs, he
TIGHT-LIPPED: UMC said it had no merger plans at the moment, after Nikkei Asia reported that the firm and GlobalFoundries were considering restarting merger talks United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電), the world’s No. 4 contract chipmaker, yesterday launched a new US$5 billion 12-inch chip factory in Singapore as part of its latest effort to diversify its manufacturing footprint amid growing geopolitical risks. The new factory, adjacent to UMC’s existing Singapore fab in the Pasir Res Wafer Fab Park, is scheduled to enter volume production next year, utilizing mature 22-nanometer and 28-nanometer process technologies, UMC said in a statement. The company plans to invest US$5 billion during the first phase of the new fab, which would have an installed capacity of 30,000 12-inch wafers per month, it said. The
Taiwan’s official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) last month rose 0.2 percentage points to 54.2, in a second consecutive month of expansion, thanks to front-loading demand intended to avoid potential US tariff hikes, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. While short-term demand appeared robust, uncertainties rose due to US President Donald Trump’s unpredictable trade policy, CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s economy this year would be characterized by high-level fluctuations and the volatility would be wilder than most expect, Lien said Demand for electronics, particularly semiconductors, continues to benefit from US technology giants’ effort
‘SWASTICAR’: Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s close association with Donald Trump has prompted opponents to brand him a ‘Nazi’ and resulted in a dramatic drop in sales Demonstrators descended on Tesla Inc dealerships across the US, and in Europe and Canada on Saturday to protest company chief Elon Musk, who has amassed extraordinary power as a top adviser to US President Donald Trump. Waving signs with messages such as “Musk is stealing our money” and “Reclaim our country,” the protests largely took place peacefully following fiery episodes of vandalism on Tesla vehicles, dealerships and other facilities in recent weeks that US officials have denounced as terrorism. Hundreds rallied on Saturday outside the Tesla dealership in Manhattan. Some blasted Musk, the world’s richest man, while others demanded the shuttering of his
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