AUTOMAKERS
Volkswagen invests
Volkswagen AG, Europe’s largest automaker, is seeking to build a 10 billion yuan factory (US$1.6 billion) in China that may boost the company’s production capacity by more than 10 percent, state-affiliated bodies said. The Hunan Research Academy of Environmental Sciences is seeking public feedback on the plant, which will be located in the southeastern Chinese city of Changsha and have a capacity to build 300,000 passenger vehicles a year, the state-backed organization said on its Web site. Investments in the factory may total 10 billion yuan, the Changsha National Economic & Technical Development Zone said on its Web site.
AUTOMAKERS
Toyota cuts output target
Toyota Motor is cutting its target of producing more than 10 million vehicles this year after suffering a sales drop in key market China amid strained Sino-Japanese ties, a report said yesterday. Japan’s biggest automaker had aimed to top the 10 million mark in what would have been a first for the company, saying earlier this year that it expected global output to hit 10.05 million vehicles this year. Toyota’s annual global production was now likely to be between 9.8 and 9.9 million units this year, the leading Nikkei business daily reported, citing unnamed company officials.
FRANCE
Industrial sentiment falls
Industrial sentiment fell to a three-year low this month as order books thinned and manufacturers’ outlook for the future darkened, the national statistics institute INSEE said yesterday. The composite industrial sentiment index dropped five points from last month to 85 points this month, moving further from its long-term average of 100 points. The composite business sentiment indicator, which also includes services, construction and wholesale and retail sales, dropped by one point over the month to also hit 85 points.
RETAIL
Esprit plans share sale
Clothing retailer Esprit plans to raise up to US$677 million in a new share sale to rebuild its brand as part of a multibillion-dollar four-year transformation drive, a report said yesterday. Up to 655.8 million shares will be sold at a price of HK$8 (US$1.03) each, a 36 percent discount from Monday’s close of HK$12.44, Dow Jones Newswires said.
shipping
FedEx to hire workers
FedEx Corp said on Monday it would hire 20,000 temporary workers to help handle surging shipments during the year-end holiday season. FedEx predicted its biggest day of the year would be Dec. 10, when they expect to handle a record 19 million shipments, up 10 percent from a year ago, driven by online orders. For the overall holiday season between Thanksgiving and Christmas, FedEx forecasted it would handle more than 280 million shipments worldwide, 13 percent more than in the same period last year.
credit ratings
Dagong to form group
Chinese ratings agency Dagong (大公) said yesterday it was tying up with US and Russian partners to form a new “independent” group to rival US-based agencies it claims have “proven inadequate.” The firm will set up the joint venture, called Universal Credit Rating Group, with Egan-Jones Ratings Co, based in Pennsylvania, and Russia’s RusRating JSC, it said in an invitation for a press conference today to unveil the new company.
Zhang Yazhou was sitting in the passenger seat of her Tesla Model 3 when she said she heard her father’s panicked voice: The brakes do not work. Approaching a red light, her father swerved around two cars before plowing into a sport utility vehicle and a sedan, and crashing into a large concrete barrier. Stunned, Zhang gazed at the deflating airbag in front of her. She could never have imagined what was to come: Tesla Inc sued her for defamation for complaining publicly about the vehicles brakes — and won. A Chinese court ordered Zhang to pay more than US$23,000 in
‘LEGACY CHIPS’: Chinese companies have dramatically increased mature chip production capacity, but the West’s drive for secure supply chains offers a lifeline for Taiwan When Powerchip Technology Corp (力晶科技) entered a deal with the eastern Chinese city of Hefei in 2015 to set up a new chip foundry, it hoped the move would help provide better access to the promising Chinese market. However, nine years later, that Chinese foundry, Nexchip Semiconductor Corp (合晶集成), has become one of its biggest rivals in the legacy chip space, leveraging steep discounts after Beijing’s localization call forced Powerchip to give up the once-lucrative business making integrated circuits for Chinese flat panels. Nexchip is among Chinese foundries quickly winning market share in the crucial US$56.3 billion industry of so-called legacy
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday held its first board of directors meeting in the US, at which it did not unveil any new US investments despite mounting tariff threats from US President Donald Trump. Trump has threatened to impose 100 percent tariffs on Taiwan-made chips, prompting market speculation that TSMC might consider boosting its chip capacity in the US or ramping up production of advanced chips such as those using a 2-nanometer technology process at its Arizona fabs ahead of schedule. Speculation also swirled that the chipmaker might consider building its own advanced packaging capacity in the US as part
‘NO DISRUPTION’: A US trade association said that it was ready to work with the US administration to streamline the program’s requirements and achieve shared goals The White House is seeking to renegotiate US CHIPS and Science Act awards and has signaled delays to some upcoming semiconductor disbursements, two sources familiar with the matter told reporters. The people, along with a third source, said that the new US administration is reviewing the projects awarded under the 2022 law, meant to boost US domestic semiconductor output with US$39 billion in subsidies. Washington plans to renegotiate some of the deals after assessing and changing current requirements, the sources said. The extent of the possible changes and how they would affect agreements already finalized was not immediately clear. It was not known