Toyota’s 1H profit slide on Japan, Thailand woes
TOKYO: Toyota Motor last week said first-half net profit tumbled 71.8 percent from a year earlier because of the impact of the March earthquake and tsunami on production, as well as on a strong yen. Also contributing was Thailand’s worst flooding in decades, which has set back post-quake recovery efforts.
Net income for Toyota’s fiscal first half from April to September fell to $1.04 billion from $3.7 billion a year earlier.
Toyota has been working to restore production levels after the impact of the March earthquake and tsunami hammered output, forcing the shuttering of plants as component supply chains were shattered.
“In Japan and North America, vehicle sales decreased severely compared to the same period last fiscal year due to the large impact of the Great East Japan Earthquake,” Toyota Motor Corp. Executive Vice President Satoshi Ozawa said in a statement.
Global sales of cars, trucks and buses fell 18.5 percent between April 1 and September 30, Toyota said. It added that it has withheld its annual earnings forecast as it continues to assess the impact of flooding in Thailand on its operations.
Toyota said the Thai floods will mean continued production adjustments at plants in the US, Canada, South Africa, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Pakistan and Malaysia. AFP
GM to cut ties with Saab if Chinese firms take over
NEW YORK: General Motors (GM) said last week it would stop supplying the 9-4X SUV model to Saab if the insolvent Swedish carmaker is taken over by two Chinese firms. GM also said it would end technology-sharing licenses to Saab as well if the company is acquired by Chinese companies Pang Da and Youngman, though it would be willing to supply some components.
“Although General Motors is open to the continued supply of powertrains and other components to Saab under appropriate terms and conditions, GM will not agree to the continuation of the existing technology licenses or the continued supply of 9-4X vehicles to Saab following the proposed change in ownership as it would not be in the best interests of GM shareholders,” the US carmaker said in a statement.
The 9-4X is based on GM’s Cadillac SRX, and the two models share looks, an assembly line and key components.
On October 28, the two Chinese firms proposed to buy Saab for $137.6 million, and have pledged to inject $840 million to revitalize the carmaker. But GM warned it could block the sale, saying it “could negatively impact GM’s existing relationships in China or otherwise adversely affect GM’s interests worldwide.”
The sale requires the approval of GM, which sold Saab in 2010 to Dutch firm Swedish Automobile—then known as Spyker—for $400 million. Saab has since then racked up more losses and was headed toward bankruptcy until the two Chinese companies made their offer.
Meanwhile, GM said last week its sales in China rose 10.4 percent in October from a year earlier to 220,412 units—a new record for the month. In the first 10 months of the year, GM and its joint ventures sold 2.11 million vehicles in the world’s biggest auto market, the company said in a statement.
The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers expects growth in auto sales for the whole of 2011 to be just 5 percent, down from an earlier forecast of 10 percent to 15 percent. In the first nine months of the year, carmakers sold 13.6 million vehicles in China, up 3.6 percent from the same period last year. AFP
Mercedes-Benz reports 3% sales jump in October
FRANKFURT: Daimler said last week its Mercedes-Benz unit saw worldwide sales rise in October, powered by strong demand in the US and China. In a statement, Daimler said it sold a total of 111,683 units of its Mercedes-Benz and Smart cars worldwide last month, an increase of 3.1 percent year-on-year.
Mercedes’ US sales rose by 23 percent to 22,637 units and its sales in China also increased by 23 percent to 16,539 cars, while European sales fell by 11 percent to 43,590. Mercedes’ sales in the home market of Germany were down by as much as 16 percent at 22,603, Daimler said. AFP
