Global Manufacturing
Automakers Target Chinese Buyers At Shanghai Show
April 22, 2013 1:48 pm | by Joe McDonald, AP Business Writer | News | CommentsChina's vehicle sales rose 13 percent in March, blistering growth by Western standards but down from 45 percent in 2009. With sales weak elsewhere, global companies that see China as a key part of their future are pouring money and technology into fighting for market share.
Survey: Small And Midsized Manufacturers Continue Growth Expectations
April 22, 2013 12:05 pm | by Prime Advantage | News | CommentsOnly five percent of companies feel the U.S. economy will contract this year and more than half of respondents (56 percent) feel the economy will expand. Nearly all CFOs (96 percent) believe U.S. manufacturing will expand or stay the same in 2013.
Japan Defends Monetary Policy, Weak Yen
April 22, 2013 11:34 am | News | CommentsJapan's finance minister is pushing back against criticism that the low value of the yen is giving its manufacturers an unfair advantage. Taro Aso told reporters Friday that over the past year, Japan has suffered trade deficits, so it's unfair to say the yen is unreasonably low.
Smartphone Film Fest Draws Unlikely Filmmakers
April 22, 2013 10:50 am | by Youkyung Lee, AP Technology Writer | News | CommentsNo red carpet. No sleek limousines dropping off celebrities dressed to impress. It is the world's "least authoritative" film festival, according to one of its organizers, featuring works by unlikely filmmakers with little to no capital or experience and only smartphones as their camera equipment.
IAEA: Japan Nuke Cleanup May Take Over 40 Years
April 22, 2013 7:37 am | by Mari Yamaguchi, Associated Press | News | CommentsThe government and plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. have predicted the cleanup would take up to 40 years. They still have to develop technology and equipment that can operate under fatally high radiation levels to locate and remove melted fuel. The reactors must be kept cool and the plant must stay safe and stable.
Equipment Lease Finance Industry Confidence Eases In April
April 19, 2013 9:25 am | News | CommentsOverall, confidence in the equipment finance market is 54.0, an easing from the March index of 58.0, reflecting industry participants’ continuing concerns over the economy and the impact of federal policies on capital expenditures. 6.3 percent of executives responding said they believe business conditions will improve over the next four months, down from 21.9 percent in March.
UK: GSK Paid Off Competitors To Delay Drugs
April 19, 2013 8:43 am | News | CommentsThe Office of Fair Trading alleges GlaxoSmithKline concluded agreements which infringed competition law with Alpharma Limited, Generics (UK) Ltd and Norton Healthcare Ltd. over the supply of paroxetine, a cheaper version of Seroxat. The watchdog says GSK's conduct amounted to an abuse of its dominant position in the same market.
German Industry Pay Offer Short Of Union Demand
April 19, 2013 7:57 am | News | CommentsEmployers in Germany's key manufacturing sector are offering a pay increase that falls well short of the 5.5 percent raise a union is seeking for some 3.7 million workers. The employers' association in the southern region of Bavaria is offering a 2.3 percent increase over a 13-month period, news agency dpa reported Friday.
EU Aims To Get U.S. Trade Deal By Next Year
April 18, 2013 1:53 pm | News | CommentsCommissioner Karel de Gucht told reporters after a meeting of the 27-nation bloc's trade ministers in Dublin that the talks with Washington should be concluded by October 2014, when the term of the European Commission ends and a month before U.S. holds midterm elections.
European Car Sales Plummet
April 18, 2013 1:51 pm | by Colleen Barry, AP Business Writer | News | CommentsNew car sales across Europe slid 10 percent in the first quarter of 2013 to 2.9 million, down from 3.3 million in 2012, the European automakers association ACEA reported from Brussels on Wednesday. Even in Germany, one of Europe's strongest economies, new car sales plunged 13 percent during the first three months of the year.
EU OKs $2.7B Siemens Takeover Of UK Rail Firm
April 18, 2013 1:48 pm | News | CommentsThe European Union's antitrust body has cleared a $2.7 billion takeover of a British rail technology company by German industrial conglomerate Siemens. The European Commission said Siemens AG's takeover of Invensys PLC's rail division does not violate antitrust rules since the merged entity will continue to face strong competitors.
German Lawmakers Reject Boardroom Quota For Women
April 18, 2013 11:08 am | News | CommentsThe German Parliament has rejected an attempt to introduce a quota for women on companies' boards of directors — defusing for now a divisive issue for Chancellor Angela Merkel's government. Merkel's center-right coalition has long been at odds over whether to introduce a fixed quota and there are divisions within Merkel's conservative party, too.
Nestle 'On Track' Despite Fragile Global Economy
April 18, 2013 8:12 am | News | CommentsSwiss food and drinks giant Nestle SA notched a gain of 2.3 percent in first-quarter sales and confirmed Thursday it was on track for another year of steady growth, despite economic problems in a number of its key markets in the developed world.
Nissan To Recall 80,000 Minivans
April 18, 2013 8:03 am | News | CommentsNissan Motor Co. in a report to the government Thursday said it will recall a total of 85,220 minivans produced between November 2010 and February 2012 under its Serena and Suzuki Motor Corp.'s Landy brands. A component of an electricity generator attached to the engine could drop out due to a defective installment.
Chinese Automakers Struggle Against Global Rivals
April 18, 2013 7:59 am | by Joe McDonald, AP Business Writer | News | CommentsTheir home market is the world's biggest and growing. But independent automakers such as Chery and Geely are being squeezed by bigger, richer global rivals including General Motors and Nissan that have moved into turf the Chinese makers considered their own: low-priced models for local tastes.
Is The United States Ready To Take Manufacturing Back?
April 17, 2013 1:08 pm | by Patrick Van den Bossche, Pramod Gupta, Hector Gutierrez, Chui Lee — A.T. Kearney | Articles | CommentsA number of macroeconomic factors seem to have tipped the balance in favor of domestic manufacturing. The return of a few companies’ manufacturing is encouraging. But the big question is: To what extent is the United States capable of taking back manufacturing on a significant scale? The challenges are great.
Opel: German Plant To End Production By End 2014
April 17, 2013 12:11 pm | News | CommentsGeneral Motors' loss-making Opel division has confirmed it plans to end production at a plant in Germany by the end of 2014. Adam Opel AG said Wednesday in a statement that the Bochum plant would wind down production as part of its plan to reduce costs and turn the division around. The plant's 3,200 workers make the Zafira compact.
Dubai Adds Ferrari To Police Bling Patrol
April 17, 2013 11:51 am | News | CommentsSeems Dubai police have a thing for Italian speed: They're making preparations to have a nearly $250,000 Ferrari join an even pricier Lamborghini as the flagship flash of its fleet. Photos carried Wednesday by the Emirates 24/7 online newspaper show the car getting the green-and-white colors of Dubai's police force.
410 Pigs, 122 Dogs Found Dead In China
April 17, 2013 8:40 am | News | CommentsLocal authorities say chemical factories in the area have been ordered to suspend production. The chief of Yanshi city's propaganda office says the deaths are suspected to be related to the factories. Authorities say the deaths have nothing to do with the bird flu virus that recently spread to humans.
5 French Execs In Breast Implant Scandal On Trial
April 17, 2013 8:26 am | by Lori Hinnant, Associated Press | News | CommentsHundreds of women who received faulty breast implants gathered Wednesday in a makeshift courthouse in the south of France for the fraud trial of five executives accused of using cheap industrial silicone to fill tens of thousands of implants that were sold around the world.
White House Threatens Veto On Cybersecurity Bill
April 17, 2013 8:12 am | by Anne Flaherty and Josh Lederman, Associated Press | News | CommentsThe White House on Tuesday threatened a veto against a House bill intended to improve cybersecurity through information-sharing, warning lawmakers that the president won't sign the measure unless changes are made to protect privacy and civil liberties.
Toyota's Hybrid Sales Pass 5 Million
April 17, 2013 7:46 am | by Yuri Kageyama, AP Business Writer | News | CommentsToyota's global sales of gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles have surpassed 5 million in a milestone for a technology that was initially greeted with skepticism. The Japanese automaker, which said Wednesday it had sold 5.125 million hybrid vehicles as of the end of March, started selling the Prius, the world's first mass produced hybrid passenger car, in 1997.
Taiwan Tech Industry Faces Up To Samsung
April 17, 2013 4:54 am | by Annie Huang, Associated Press | News | CommentsTaiwanese companies have long viewed tech giant Samsung as a major threat and the battle has recently appeared to tilt in favor of the South Korean rival as Taiwan's smartphone, memory chip and display panel makers suffered sagging exports.
Brazilian Meat Packers Face Fines
April 16, 2013 9:59 pm | News | CommentsThe federal prosecutors' office says in a statement that prosecutors in the Amazon jungle states of Amazonas, Mato Grosso and Rondoni, want the companies to pay $278.5 million for producing beef products from cattle raised in environmentally sensitive regions, on indigenous reservations and at farms that have been blacklisted for using slave-like labor.
EU: Tests Show No Safety Issues With Horsemeat
April 16, 2013 11:05 am | News | CommentsThe tests also showed the veterinary anti-inflammatory drug phenylbutazone, or bute, was present about .50 percent of the horse meat. Bute is banned for human use because in rare cases it causes severe side effects, but veterinary experts say there is little risk from consuming small amounts of the drug in horse meat.
