There was a time when Central Bankers were just supposed to look out for rising inflation. The 2008 financial crisis and the ongoing European debt crisis is forcing them to search for a new identity.
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Hyundai Takes Aim At Bypassing VW Passat?
In Germany and Japan, no competitor has been able to match the VW Passat. But Korean carmaker Hyundai is taking aim at the midsized market. A German car reviewer takes a spin.
Global dealerships are beginning to fret that new Japanese automobiles won’t make it to the market.
Last year’s European stress tests were exposed as all but pointless by the Ireland bank crisis. This time, if they are not a real test of credibility, all of Europe will pay the price. Bank of Ireland (Goran) PARIS – This time is for real. The stress tests scheduled to be performed on European banks […]
The success of the Audi A1 and Citroën DS3 has sparked automaker appetites, with Fiat and Peugeot set to join the fray. Citroën’s DS3 (cmonville) GENEVA – Competition may already be fierce in the luxury small car sector, but things are only going to get tougher. After last year’s wave of small cars, such as […]
A visit to the automaker’s first new factory in Japan in 18 years, where the Toyota Method is refined and jobs stay at home. New Ohira plant bucks trend of those like this one in Thailand (AlexStacy) OHIRA – The “Made in Japan” brand might have a future yet. After a decade of shifting operations […]
Beijing’s new rules approach “economic security” akin to national security. Great Wall of China (Robin Zebrowski) BEIJING – China has finally unveiled its “national security” procedure that sets standards for takeovers of Chinese companies by foreigners. Promised by the government since 2008, the new system will be effective in March. As often is the case […]
Europe’s No. 2 automaker is confident that it can expand sales and production in the developing world, though analysts say the French carmaker is still too reliant on European demand. (em2me) PARIS – With the auto industry crisis finally behind them, executives at PSA Peugeot Citroën, Europe’s second largest carmaker, are now focusing their attention […]
With Louis Vuitton sales jumping more than 20 percent last year, the LVMH luxury goods group is sprucing (and scaling) up Louis Vuitton sales outlets across the globe. Looking for new bags at Louis Vuitton store in Paris (Zoetnet) How do you sell more and more luxury merchandise across the globe, without undercutting an image […]
Foreign companies will be bidding for a major share of France’s Yoplait, the world’s second-largest yogurt maker. Is this good for Yoplait? Or for France? sweetfixNYC A 50 percent stake in the French dairy product manufacturer Yoplait, the world’s second largest yogurt maker, is up for grabs following French private equity group PAI’s decision to […]
American giant acquires a vast portfolio of international titles belonging to the French media conglomerate, passing Condé Nast as the world’s top magazine publisher. But was it worth the pricetag? Canada edition (Vancouver) PARIS – There was nothing unexpected in French media conglomerate Lagardère’s announcement this week that it had it sold its international magazines […]
Founded in 1946, the U.S. company now counts half its business in emerging countries (rageZ) PARIS – When you hear Tupperware, you think door-to-door sales, plastic boxes and part-time jobs for 1960’s housewives. Here in Paris, the brand is looked at with sarcastic nostalgia. But on Wall Street, Tupperware is a serious brand. Its share […]
Nicolas Sarkozy’s call for a “new Bretton Woods’ is ripe. The only problem is how to make it happen. yuan coin Ivan Walsh In 2008, at the height of the global financial crisis, French President Nicholas Sarkozy famously banged his fist on the table in a plea for the establishment of a new Bretton Woods […]
Times are tough for budget airlines, with rising fuel costs and new competition from traditional companies joining the price-cutting game. ( Mikel Ortega) By Ernst August Ginten DIE WELT/Worldcrunch BERLIN – A young woman wearing a fluorescent yellow-green safety vest looks slightly aloof as she monitors the security line at Berlin-Schönefeld airport. But when a […]
After Li & Fung buys Cerruti, deep-pocketed Asian investors eye other European luxury brands China World shopping center, Beijing (Achim Hepp) By Dominique Chapuis The Chinese are hungry for the jewels of the European luxury and fashion industry. Just as China has become the primary growth market for top luxury goods stalwarts like Louis Vuitton, […]
Les Echos editor says China lulls the West into thinking it’s always playing catch-up on technology. Reaction to the recent case of alleged Chinese espionage of Renault’s electric car design is a case in point. 2010 Beijing Auto Show PARIS – It is too early for fear, but not too late to begin to be […]
In the competition between world’s top economies, Germany continues to carry Europe and the U.S. starts to roar back to life US factory worker Germany’s current economic upswing is lasting longer than expected. Although economists warned last year that German industrial output would drop sharply because of weaker demand from abroad, it hasn’t happened yet. […]
On the hunt for new customers: German hospitals are increasingly turning to Russian, Middle Eastern and other wealthy patients from abroad high-tech heart monitoring equipment By Karen Merkel BERLIN – Inoperable. It’s probably the hardest word for any parents of a sick two-year-old girl to hear. In Russia, the doctors all agree that the young […]
The markets react well to the Fiat CEO’s decision to separate the core auto business from farm and truck sectors, a vote of confidence for Marchionne’s vision that could have reverberations for all of Italian industry Sergio Marchionne (flickr) By Giuseppe Berta IL SOLE 24 ORE/Worldcrunch The split of Fiat’s core auto business from its […]
On monetary, commercial and financial policy, Brussels starts to stand up to Beijing Port of Shanghai It is a rare enough event to merit due attention: Brussels may actually have found consensus on a major issue. It’s not the financial security of European Union states or harmonizing corporate taxes or even the future of European […]
A French analysis of global commodity prices, as 2010 quietly finishes with record highs Corn has reached record highs PARIS – Wheat, corn, coffee, sugar, rubber, cocoa, cotton, soy, rice. Each one of these commodities has seen their prices skyrocket this year, some to all-time record highs. The increase accelerated in December, with investors buying […]
A new labor report shows the gap between developed and developing worlds narrows not just because of their growth, but our decline PARIS – The International Labor Organization (ILO) has released a new and very detailed survey on wages in 115 countries. As always the study’s results are highly anticipated, as a global snapshot of […]
Low costs, abundant rain make moment ripe for Bonduelle expansion to Latin America, even as the French firm eyes Green Giant takeover via flickr BRASILIA –- From a bird’s eye view, the landscape resembles the geometric paintings of Vassily Kandinsky. Circles upon circles are etched into the deep red laterite-coated earth. In Brasilia’s savannah, where […]
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How To Buy A Boeing
From factory to first flight, follow the path of a B777 order bound to be the 200th Boeing in the Air France fleet. Not quite like buying a car B-777 Mathieu Marque via Flickr SEATTLE – Miraculously, the heavy rain gave way to sunshine, a rare site in Seattle. On the runway of the Boeing […]
Returning to profitability, the world’s largest airline group will reduce first-class seating as travel consumers look to trim costs By Bruno Trevidic SEATTLE – With Air France-KLM expecting a return to profitability in 2011-2012, the company has begun to revamp its long-haul fleet to reflect a new post-crisis, penny-pinching economic reality. Chief Commercial Officer Bruno […]