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Kerkorian ups stake in struggling Ford
CHICAGO: Investors rushed to help billionaire
Kirk Kerkorian build a 5.5-percent stake in Ford Motor Co., his
Tracinda Corp said on June 10. Nearly half of Ford’s 2.2 million
outstanding shares were tendered after Kerkorian made an offer of
$8.50 per share in order to sweep up 20 million shares at a cost of
$170 million.
The offer represents about a 35-percent premium
over current share prices and was oversubscribed by more than 50
times.
“The response from investors is understandable
given that the offer represents a significant premium over Ford’s
current share price,” Ford spokesman Mark Truby told Agence
France-Presse.
“We’re going to continue to focus on our
plan and bringing our company back to profitable growth,” Truby
said.
The 90-year-old Kerkorian, who made a fortune
off Las Vegas casinos, has used large stakes in General Motors and
Chrysler to try to force change at those companies. Kerkorian has so
far indicated confidence in the current Ford management and given no
indication he wants to actively influence the company. But Ford
recently said it no longer anticipates returning to profitability in
2009 and announced plans to slash production of trucks and
sport-utility vehicles after demand for the gasoline guzzlers
collapsed in the face of high fuel prices.
-- AFP
Toyota to produce new hybrid battery next
year
TOKYO: Toyota Motor Corp. on June 11 announced
it plans to start producing lithium-ion batteries next year as it
races against rivals to develop new high-mileage hybrid vehicles.
Toyota, seeking to keep its lead in the growing hybrid market amid
rising fuel prices, said its joint venture with Matsushita Electric
Industrial Co. will move into full-scale production of lithium-ion
batteries in 2009.
Toyota is a pioneer of hybrids, which are
equipped with an electric motor and a standard gas engine to make
them more economical. It is poised to overtake General Motors this
year as the world’s top carmaker but faces renewed competition
from other Japanese firms, such as Honda, and overseas rivals in the
green automobile race.
Toyota said it would also step up efforts to
development a next-generation battery that can outperform
lithium-ion batteries. Carmakers have for years been competing to
develop lithium-ion batteries suitable for long-distance hybrids,
but there have been safety concerns after massive recalls of the
same type of battery by laptop computer manufacturers.
-- AFP
German carmakers welcome modified emissions
targets
FRANKFURT: German carmakers could breathe easier
after Berlin and Paris agreed on a proposal that relaxes carbon
dioxide emission targets for cars.
The accord “is a clear improvement on a
proposition by the European Commission,” said Matthias Wissmann,
head of the German automobile association, VDA, on June 10. He spoke
after France and Germany agreed to a joint proposal for carbon
dioxide emission levels that seeks to tone down the one mooted by
the European Union’s (EU) executive branch.
German manufacturers welcomed the compromise
“even though it is not an ideal solution,” Wissmann said.
Volkswagen, BMW and Daimler went to battle over
a plan floated by the EU commission in December to sharply reduce
the level of CO2 emitted by new cars, which set a target of 120
grams per kilometer.
German cars are among the most powerful models
produced in Europe, and auto manufacturers argued they would be
penalized more than competitors in countries like France and Italy
that produce a larger number of small vehicles. France and Germany
have worked for months to reach a compromise that would be
acceptable to all 27 EU members and the result was a relaxed version
of the EU plan.
The carmakers will be expected to make engines
that emitted no more than 130 grams per kilometer. But under the new
proposal, the auto industry would have until 2015 to reach the
targets for models that are already in production, compared with
2012 across the board in the EU Commission’s plan.
An EU system of fines for vehicles that exceeded
established CO2 limits might also be relaxed, though details of
possible modifications were not provided.
Ecologists reacted with anger to the proposed
compromises. Wolfgang Lohbeck, an auto specialist at Greenpeace,
told Agence France-Presse, “It’s absolutely ridiculous. Since
1995, constructors constantly obtain delays and improvements. This
time they got it all.”
-- AFP
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