Hyundai forecasts lowest sales growth in 10 years

South Korea's largest automakers, Hyundai Motor and its affiliate Kia, have forecast their slowest sales growth in a decade for 2016, due to slumping demand in China and a strong Korean won. 

PHOTO: REUTERS

JAN 4, 20162:30 PM

[SEOUL] South Korea's largest automakers, Hyundai Motor and its affiliate Kia, have forecast their slowest sales growth in a decade for 2016, due to slumping demand in China and a strong Korean won.

The two companies estimated combined total sales of 8.13 million cars worldwide this year, compared to about 8.0 million in 2015, Chung Mong Koo, who heads the Hyundai Motor Group, said in a message to employees on Monday.

It is the smallest sales growth since 2006 for the group - the world's fifth-largest automaker - which has been hit hard by slowing demand in its key China market that accounts for nearly a quarter of combined global sales.

"Slow growth is expected to persist in the global economy due to weak growth in China, the slumping oil price and uncertainty in emerging markets over the rate hike in the US," Mr Chung said in his message.

The group saw its share in China - the world's biggest auto market - shrink to below 10 per cent last year on intensifying competition from Japanese rivals and homegrown Chinese brands churning out cheaper models.

A rally in the South Korean won against the euro, Japanese yen and Brazilian real also blunted Hyundai's price competitiveness in emerging markets against its Japanese rivals like Honda and Toyota.

Hyundai Motor has reported a drop in profits for the last seven quarters - a trend Mr Chung said it would try to curb with a strong marketing push in Latin America.

He also flagged a campaign to push Hyundai's newly launched luxury brand as it seeks to shed its image as a cheaper alternative to bigger rivals like Toyota.

AFP

    
 

Hong Kong: Stocks post biggest fall in 3 months as China shares tumble

JAN 4, 20164:19 PM

[HONG KONG] Hong Kong stocks posted their biggest fall in three months on Monday, marking a gloomy start for 2016, pulled lower by slumping mainland shares and weak global markets.

The Hang Seng index fell 2.7 per cent, to 21,327.12, registering its biggest one-day per centage fall since Sept. 29. The China Enterprises Index lost 3.6 per cent, to 9,311.18 points.

Sentiment was damped by the savage sell-off in mainland equity markets, which tumbled 7 per cent and triggered the circuit breaker mechanism that cut China's trading session short.

The panic on the mainland, triggered by sluggish factory activity surveys, fears of a share supply glut and a weaker yuan, spread to Hong Kong as well.

Shares fell across the board, with commodity, financial and industrial stocks among the biggest losers.

REUTERS

Asia-Europe container freight rates jump 115%

JAN 4, 20164:19 PM

[COPENHAGEN] Shipping freight rates for transporting containers from ports in Asia to Northern Europe jumped 115 per cent to US$1,232 per 20-foot container (TEU) in the week ended on Friday, data from the Shanghai Containerized Freight Index showed.

Average rates for 2015 were US$620.30 per TEU compared with US$1,171.50 in the previous year.

In the week to Friday, container freight rates soared 146.5 per cent from Asia to ports in the Mediterranean, jumped 98.2 per cent to ports on the US West Coast and were up 76.5 per cent to ports on the US East Coast.

Copenhagen-based Maersk Line, the global market leader with more than 600 container vessels and part of Danish oil and shipping group AP Moller-Maersk, reported in November a 61 per cent drop in net profit in the third quarter.

The Danish shipping company controls around one fifth of all transported containers from Asia to Europe.

REUTERS

    
 

European equity futures fall sharply as weak China data hits markets

JAN 4, 20164:05 PM

[LONDON] European equity futures fell sharply on Monday, as weak Chinese economic data weighed on world stock markets.

Futures on the Euro STOXX 50 and German DAX fell between 2.1-2.5 per cent, while futures on Britain's FTSE and France's CAC fell between 1.2-1.4 per cent.

China's factory activity contracted for the 10th straight month in December and at a sharper pace than in November, a private survey showed, dampening hopes that the world's second-largest economy will enter 2016 on a more stable footing.

The weak data caused Chinese and Asian shares to slump, with China's benchmark CSI300 share index tumbling 7 per cent on Monday, prompting the stock exchange to halt trading for the rest of the day.

REUTERS

Tesla meets fourth-quarter estimate with 17,400 vehicles delivered

Tesla Motors Inc, the pioneering electric car maker, said on Sunday it delivered 17,400 vehicles during the fourth quarter of 2015, in line with its forecasts, and a total of 50,580 for the year. 

PHOTO: REUTERS

JAN 4, 20167:29 AM

[NEW YORK] Tesla Motors Inc, the pioneering electric car maker, said on Sunday it delivered 17,400 vehicles during the fourth quarter of 2015, in line with its forecasts, and a total of 50,580 for the year.

The Palo Alto, California-based company headed by Chief Executive Elon Musk delivered about 75 per cent more of its Model S than during the same period of the previous year, Tesla said.

Tesla's total fourth-quarter deliveries were consistent with its November 2015 projection to ship between 17,000 and 19,000 vehicles during the period.

Deliveries of Tesla's new electric sports utility vehicle, the Model X, are also "in line" with the company's early stages of production, the company said. Tesla delivered its first Model X in September.

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Tesla was producing 238 Model X vehicles per week by the last week of 2015, the company said.

While global adoption of electric vehicles has been slow, Tesla has been the US pioneer in luxury electric cars.

Investors are counting on the Model X, an SUV designed to compete with those from luxury automakers, to make the company profitable after years of losses.

The launch of the long-awaited Model X was a milestone for the loss-making Silicon Valley automaker during a period of high spending and modest growth because it can now boast a second model in production beyond its Model S sedan, launched in 2012.

CEO Musk estimated in September that 25,000 customers had pre-ordered the US$144,000 Model X online or in its stores and that it would take eight months to 12 months for those ordering from now to receive the SUV.

The all-wheel drive Model X, which includes two electric motors, is capable of traveling about 400km on a single charge and seats seven people.

The vehicle also features so-called "falcon-wing" doors that open upward rather than to the side - controlled by sensors that can modulate the height to clear garage ceilings - seats that can be adjusted separately and a panoramic windshield that extends overhead.

REUTERS

    
 

Six dead as strong quake hits northeast India

At least six people were killed and dozens injured on Monday when a strong 6.7 magnitude earthquake struck northeast India, sending panicked residents fleeing into the streets even hundreds of kilometres away in Bangladesh. 

PHOTO: AFP

JAN 4, 20161:31 PM

[GUWAHATI, India] At least six people were killed and dozens injured on Monday when a strong 6.7 magnitude earthquake struck northeast India, sending panicked residents fleeing into the streets even hundreds of kilometres away in Bangladesh.

Five were killed in India, the government said, while one man died in Bangladesh after apparently suffering a heart attack after the early-morning quake.

Anurag Gupta of India's National Disaster Management Authority said buildings had been damaged in Imphal, capital of Manipur state where the quake was centred.

"Five people are confirmed dead and 33 have been injured in Imphal. A six-storey building in the capital was partially damaged and some small structures have also developed cracks," he told AFP.

An official at one of the main hospitals in Imphal however said more than 50 people had been admitted since the quake with head injuries and limb fractures.

Imphal resident Deepak Shijagurumayum whose house was severely damaged described scenes of chaos after the quake.

"Almost everyone was asleep when it struck and were thrown out of their beds," Mr Shijagurumayum told AFP by phone from the city.

"People were crying and praying in the streets and in open spaces. Hundreds remained outdoors for several hours fearing aftershocks."

The US Geological Survey said the quake hit at 4.35am (2305 GMT Sunday) 29km west-northwest of Imphal.

The Press Trust of India (PTI) news agency said buildings had collapsed near the epicentre and the electricity supply had been cut across the area.

Police in Dhaka said 40 people were being treated at a major hospital in the Bangladeshi capital, including one university student who jumped from a fourth-floor balcony and was in a critical condition.

There were similar scenes in the northeast Indian city of Guwahati, the main commercial city of the mineral-rich state of Assam, where an AFP correspondent said residents were "in a state of shock" after being woken by the shaking.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted that he had spoken to local authorities in Assam about the impact of the quake.

The tremors were felt as far away as Kolkata some 600 kilometres distant in the Indian state of West Bengal, where buildings shook.

"Many people were seen coming out of their homes in panic," said local resident Rabin Dev.

India's seven northeastern states, joined to the rest of the country by a narrow sliver of land, are located in an area of frequent seismic activity. The border region is remote and sparsely populated on the Myanmar side.

In 1950, dozens of villages were swallowed in a string of disasters generated by a powerful earthquake whose epicentre was in Tibet but which caused the greatest destruction to India's Assam state.

More than 1,500 people died in the quake, which had a magnitude of 7.6, and its disastrous aftermath of landslides and floods.

There were no immediate reports of casualties on the Myanmar side of the border, a remote and sparsely populated area that suffered widespread damage this summer from landslides caused by torrential monsoon rains.

The USGS has raised its assessment alert for casualties and damage to orange, meaning there is a 33 per cent chance of between 100 and 1,000 fatalities.

AFP

    
 

Samsung Electronics CEO warns of challenging conditions in 2016

South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics Co Ltd said it expects a difficult business environment in 2016 due to weak global economic conditions and heightened competition in key businesses including memory chips and smartphones. 

PHOTO: BLOOMBERG

JAN 4, 201610:24 AM

[SEOUL] South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics Co Ltd said it expects a difficult business environment in 2016 due to weak global economic conditions and heightened competition in key businesses including memory chips and smartphones.

In a statement on Monday, Samsung said Chief Executive Kwon Oh Hyun told employees in a New Year's address that low global growth will persist this year, with greater uncertainty stemming from issues such as financial risks for emerging countries.

Mr Kwon also warned of greater competition in the firm's main businesses, Samsung said, without offering specific financial forecasts. The firm is expected to issue official earnings guidance for the fourth quarter ended December on Friday.

REUTERS