2015 a banner year for carmakers

Massachusetts-based consulting and advisory firm IHS Global Insight foresees a very good year for car manufacturers this 2015, with an estimated 88.6 million in global sales for light vehicles.  Early data for January showed the “big three” American carmakers kicking in with double-digit jumps in their sales, fueled by record low gas prices that has revived Americans’ appetite for SUVS, trucks and other guzzlers. IHS says sales in North America will see an increase of 2.5 percent or 20 million units this year, while the Chinese market shows further growth at seven percent or a total of 25.2 million vehicles.

Prospects are not as encouraging, however, for the auto industry in Russia due to the current recession, an unstable currency, plus the continuing war with Ukraine which will most likely limit car sales to just 1.8 million – a significant drop of 27 percent from 2014. Projections in South America, in particular Brazil, also show a decline with 3.25 million units forecast to be sold due to higher taxes imposed by the government and stricter financing.

Japanese carmakers also registered positive figures last month, with Toyota off to a good start with 169,194 units or up 15.6 percent. Nissan, meanwhile, registered car sales of 104,107 in January or an increase of 15.1 percent from year ago levels. In the Philippines, Toyota registered very robust sales with a record 106,110 total units sold in 2014, with seven of its eight segments topping the best seller category.

In case you’re wondering, Mitsubishi Motors came in second (albeit a far one) in the local market with over 50,000 units sold in 2014. The Japanese carmaker recently opened its Sta. Rosa, Laguna assembly plant last week with President Aquino as guest of honor. The P2-billion facility (acquired from Ford Philippines) can churn out 50,000 units a year – almost double the 30,000 production capacity of its Cainta manufacturing plant. The company is targeting to sell 62,000 units this 2015.

Going by the upbeat prospects, it looks like the “Year of the Sheep” is not going to be a slow one for the car manufacturing industry.

Apple goes green; takes a big bite of Chinese luxury market

Call it redirecting, but Apple is going green and turning a loss into something positive by converting a bankrupt sapphire glass factory into a solar powered global data center. The $2-billion facility in Mesa, Arizona that will service the data needs of iPhone, iTunes, Siri and other products will house a solar farm that can produce up to 70 megawatts of energy – enough to supply the power needs of about 15,000 households. According to executives, the investment is one of the biggest the company has ever made, making Apple the only one in the industry whose data centers are powered by 100 percent renewable energy.

The Arizona facility was previously owned by GT Advanced Technologies that Apple had partnered with to produce sapphire glass for iPhone cameras and screens. Last year, however, GT filed for bankruptcy after the iPhone manufacturer didn’t tap the company as supplier. The smaller outfit has accused the Cupertino, California firm of employing “bait-and-switch” tactics that saw Apple allegedly changing the terms of the deal after it was already too late for GT to pursue other options. At the time of the deal, Apple was consuming 25 percent of the global supply of sapphire for its iPhone camera lens and fingerprint scanner, and the Arizona facility was supposed to produce 30 times more than other plants in the world. For some reason, Apple left GT out of the picture.

Arizona officials welcomed the move, praising Apple as one of the most innovative companies. The governor said the state has excellent solar resources, and that the investment is a huge win for the business-friendly state. Some 150 fulltime staff will be employed to man the data center which is expected to boost Arizona’s position as an investment location.

Meantime, Apple has also dislodged Louis Vuitton, Hermes, Gucci and Chanel as top luxury brands in China, according to the latest report from Hurun Research, an outfit that conducts annual surveys on the spending habits of Chinese millionaires with a net worth of over $1.6 million.

According to Hurun, Apple emerged as the most desired luxury goods brand and the most preferred choice gift item from both men (20.3 percent) and women (18.9 percent). Rival Samsung, on the other hand, was at the bottom rung, ranked as No. 10 most preferred gift by men at 2.3 percent and No. 9 among women at 3.4 percent.

Boeing bonus dwindles

American aircraft manufacturer Boeing will be releasing over $191 million in bonuses for engineers and other non-management white collar workers this February – but apparently, the amount falls short of the employees’ expectations. Disappointment is quickly spreading among the workers who received over $334 million in bonuses the previous year, especially since the company announced record profits of $5.4-billion net in 2014.

Company executives said the smaller benefits came after measuring employee performance vis-à-vis economic profit targets that were set way in advance by management, and although targets were achieved, there were a number of “problems” that the company faced last year such as broken commitments to customers due to delays in scheduled airplane deliveries.

Boeing was also plagued by safety issues with its 787 Dreamliner program due to substandard materials from suppliers on top of a behind-schedule, bumpy production process that saw the giant aerospace manufacturer unable to roll out new airplanes for a couple of months. Battery problems also hounded the Dreamliner, and in September last year, a Polish LOT Boeing 787 on its way to Warsaw from Chicago had to make an emergency landing at Glasgow after a fire alarm in the luggage hold started to go off. Fortunately, none of the passengers suffered any injuries.

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