Tue, Jul 07, 2015 page15

• World Business Quick Take

  • Agencies
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  SOFTWARE

  Car-pool app launched

  Google-owned online mapping company Waze is launching a carpooling pilot program in Israel where commuters pay fellow drivers a small fee for a ride to and from work. The new application, called RideWith, is set to use Waze’s navigation system to learn the routes drivers most frequently take to work and match them up with people looking for a ride in the same direction. Google bought Israel-based Waze for about US$1 billion two years ago. “We’re conducting a small, private beta test in the greater Tel Aviv area for a carpool concept, but we have nothing further to announce at this time,” Waze told reporters of its foray into the increasingly competitive field of ride-sharing. Drivers are to be limited to just two journeys per day and would not be able to earn a salary from RideWith, a source close to the company said, differentiating it from businesses such as Uber, where drivers can turn a profit.

  MACROECONOMICS

  German factory orders fall

  German factory orders fell in May in a sign that companies might have held back as Greece’s debt crisis cast a cloud over the eurozone’s economic recovery. Orders, adjusted for seasonal swings and inflation, slid 0.2 percent after rising 2.2 percent in April, data from the German Ministry of Finance showed yesterday. The typically volatile number compares with a median estimate of a 0.4 percent drop in a Bloomberg survey. Orders increased 4.7 percent from a year earlier. German economic confidence has been waning as Greece’s failure to agree on bailout terms with its creditors takes it close to a formal debt default that could splinter the eurozone. Even so, an index of economic activity in the currency bloc is at a four-year high and the Bundesbank last month raised its forecast for Germany, citing a strong labor market and consumer spending.

  AUTOMAKERS

  GM’s China sales slow

  General Motors Co (GM) posted a slower pace of growth in China sales in the first half of the year than in the US, as the economy slowed in its biggest market and local competitors flooded the market with cheaper sports utility vehicles. GM and its China joint ventures sold 1.72 million vehicles in the first six months of the year, up 4.4 percent from a year earlier, the company said. That compares with 4.5 percent growth in the automaker’s US retail sales in the same period. Automakers are struggling to boost demand in China as the economy slows and a stock market rout raises concerns that discretionary spending will be hit. In contrast, automakers are enjoying the best six months in US sales in a decade as consumers replace vehicles, driven by relatively low gasoline prices and interest rates.

  AUTOMAKERS

  UK auto sales rise

  British new car registrations last month rose 12.9 percent year-on-year to 257,817 vehicles, which marked the best half-year performance on record, an industry body said yesterday. The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders said the increase meant sales were up by 7 percent in the first six months of the year, although it expected slower growth later this year. The group said low interest rates, attractive finance deals and a wealth of new models had encouraged consumers to buy new cars. “[It] is encouraging to see more consumers choosing British models. This is important for the wider economy with 799,000 people now employed across the UK automotive sector, including retail,” society chief executive officer Mike Hawes said.

  MONGOLIA

  Government to sell stakes

  The government is planning to sell stakes in 10 state-owned enterprises over this year and next as well as its biggest coal mine as the nation seeks to revive growth and boost foreign investment in one of the world’s tiniest stock exchanges. It intends to offload holdings in power plants and other businesses, according to Angar Davaasuren, CEO of the bourse. A stake in the US$4 billion Tavan Tolgoi coal mine is also to be on offer, he said in an interview in London on Friday last week. The nation is seeking to lure overseas money managers to unlock natural resources that the government says are worth about US$1.3 trillion. Economic growth in the country of 3 million eased to 7.8 percent last year — the first year of single digit expansion since 2010 — amid weaker commodity prices and high-profile disputes with foreign investors.
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