AWSJ - Asia News Briefs
January 9, 2001
Asia Briefs
Asia News Briefs
Volvo, Mitsubishi Alliance Will Continue as Planned
AB Volvo will take a 19.9% share in Mitsubishi Motors Corp.'s truck and bus division as planned despite media reports the Swedish company is having second thoughts, a Mitsubishi spokeswoman said Tuesday. "Mitsubishi Motors and AB Volvo will continue the truck and bus alliance as planned. We haven't received any requests from Volvo regarding a review of the alliance as reported by the media," a Mitsubishi spokeswoman said. The Wall Street Journal reported Monday that Volvo was reconsidering its plans, due to trouble sharing ownership of Mitsubishi Motors with rival truck maker DaimlerChrysler AG. Volvo purchased 5% of Mitsubishi Motors in November 1999 and said it planned to take a 19.9% stake in Mitsubishi's bus and truck division this year. Last March, the German-U.S. auto maker took a 34% stake in the Japanese company and has the right to take a majority after three years.
Nissan Will Outsource Some Assembly Operations
Nissan Motor Co. will outsource some of its car assembly operations to parts makers in a bid to cut costs, the auto maker said Tuesday. Beginning in June, Nissan will outsource interim assembly operations for a new sedan model at a Nissan plant in Tochigi Prefecture, northeast of Tokyo, to parts maker Calsonic Kansei Corp., a Nissan spokesman said. Calsonic Kansei, in which Nissan has a 32% stake, will assemble parts, including those manufactured by other companies, leaving six to seven components to be assembled by Nissan to form a complete car. Calsonic Kansei will establish an assembly line within Nissan's Tochigi plant and dispatch staff for the assembly operations, the spokesman said. Nissan hasn't any plans yet for those workers who are currently in interim assembly operations at the Tochigi plant. Nissan is also considering outsourcing interim assembly operations for all new car models, starting June, at its plants both in Japan and abroad, the spokesman said.
AOL Japan Names Minoru Nakamura as President
AOL Japan, a joint venture of America Online Inc., NTT DoCoMo Inc., Mitsui & Co. Ltd. and Nihon Keizai Shimbun Inc., named Minoru Nakamura president. In a press release Tuesday, AOL Japan said Nakamura most recently was senior executive vice president of NTT PC Communications. AOL Japan provides an online service combining AOL features and Japanese language content.
Mitsubishi Electric Will Invest in Chip Plant
Mitsubishi Electric Corp. said it will invest Y200 billion ($1.72 billion) to build a new next-generation semiconductor production plant. "We plan to start construction of the plant within this year. We aim to begin mass production in 2003," Mitsubishi Electric President and Chief Executive Ichiro Taniguchi said. Mitsubishi Electric plans to ask Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. to share part of the capital investment, said Koichi Nagasawa, corporate vice president and head of the semiconductor business. The Japanese electric-equipment maker said it will build the new plant at an existing facility in Kochi, western Japan.
Toyota Expect No New Friction in Japan-U.S. Auto Trade
Fujio Cho, president of Toyota Motor Corp., said Monday he doesn't expect a rekindling of auto trade friction between Japan and the U.S., Kyodo News reported. Speaking to reporters at an international auto show in Detroit, Mr. Cho said car makers recently have formed various alliances with their foreign rivals, and thus there is little point in discussing the auto trade issue from one country's standpoint alone. "Local production in the U.S. has also been progressing ... I don't feel will be rekindled," he said. Regarding the outlook for the U.S. market this year, Mr. Cho said automobile sales will likely total more than 16 million units, down 1 million from last year. "Toyota hopes to achieve slightly higher sales than last year," Mr. Cho added.
Singapore Wants Free Trade Agreement With Europe
Singapore wants to establish a free trade agreement with Europe in addition to the pacts it is forming with the U.S., Japan, Mexico, Australia and Canada, a top trade official said Tuesday. "We would . like to establish free trade with Europe," said Trade and Industry Minister George Yeo. European Free Trade Association -- a free trade pact between Switzerland, Norway, Liechtenstein and Iceland -- has already said it would like to negotiate a free trade agreement with Singapore, Mr. Yeo said. "I hope we will be able to interest the European Union as well," Mr. Yeo said in a speech at a trade forum organized by Singapore's Trade Development Board. Singapore recently signed a free trade agreement with New Zealand.
CyberWorks, Telstra Agree to Rate Raise on Venture Loan
Pacific Century CyberWorks Ltd. and Telstra Corp. agreed to raise the interest rate margin on the $1.5 billion syndicated loan arranged for their joint venture, the lead arrangers said Tuesday. The move follows the adjustment of terms on a larger loan being arranged for PCCW alone, although the increase on the Internet Protocol Backbone Co., or IPBC, loan is 10 basis points less per tranche than that on the $4.7 billion PCCW loan. Still, it is in line with earlier statements from PCCW and Telstra that there would be only a marginal difference on the pricing between the two loans, said Paul Bartlett, managing director and co-head of the debt business at Chase Manhattan Bank, which is joint lead arranger of the IPBC loan. The arranging banks said the interest rate margin on the $300 million three-year tranche will be increased by 25 basis points to 75 basis points above the London Interbank Offered Rate. The two lead arrangers, which also include Barclays Bank PLC, said the increase is also a reflection of the recent deterioration in confidence on telecommunication companies, but said the new rates also reflect the strength of the international backbone company.
Hitachi, Toshiba Plan to Cooperate on Linux System
Hitachi Ltd. and Toshiba Corp. plan to cooperate in providing Linux-based network computer systems to corporate clients, public relations officials at the two Japanese electronics companies said Tuesday. The move extends their existing sales alliance announced in April 2000 to the field of software products, Hitachi and Toshiba said. "We will expand the tie-up into Linux-based software products," a Toshiba spokeswoman said. "We will apply Toshiba's Linux-based network software products in our Internet server system products," a Hitachi spokesman said. Toshiba's network software products use "clustering technology," which connects multiple servers and reduces the risk of problems affecting entire systems. Reflecting the growing need for network computer systems based on the Linux open-source operating system, Japan's major computer manufacturers, including Fujitsu Ltd. and NEC Corp., are increasingly moving to strengthen their Linux-based computer system operations.
-- Compiled from Dow Jones Newswires
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