TR EMERITUS

Agence France-Presse, 15 April 2010 Embattled carmaker Toyota suspended worldwide sales of its Lexus GX460 sport utility vehicle on Thursday due to a rollover risk at high-speed, and said it will conduct safety tests on all its SUVs. The move followed Toyota’s suspension of GX sales in the United States and Canada Wednesday after US magazine Consumer Reports gave the SUV a rare “Don’t Buy: Safety Risk” rating. “The company has decided to suspend the SUV’s sales worldwide, which means also in Russia and Middle East after North America,” said Toyota spokeswoman Mieko Iwasaki, in reference to the other markets where the vehicle is sold. In the latest blow to the auto giant’s reputation, the report claimed that when pushed to its limits, the rear of the GX “slid out until the vehicle was almost sideways before the electronic stability control system was able to regain control”. Having now suspended GX sales worldwide, Toyota said it will work on identifying potential safety risks in the model which has sold 6,000 units, as well as its other SUVs. “We are in the middle of analysing what the problem is. Once it becomes clear, the company will decide whether to recall and repair the cars,” Iwasaki said. Concerned GX 460 owners will be offered a loan car in the interim. The carmaker will also “start testing all the other SUV models, including the Land Cruiser, Land Cruiser Prado and Rav4,” she said, adding that Toyota will continue to sell those models. By noon, Toyota shares were 0.66 per cent lower in Tokyo trade following the announcement. The latest development is a setback to the carmaker’s efforts to regain consumer confidence after it recalled millions of cars worldwide since late last year, mostly over a series of problems linked to “unintended acceleration.” Toyota, which overtook General Motors in 2008 as the top-selling automaker, has been bedevilled by a series of safety issues that have raised questions about whether it sacrificed its legendary quality to become world number one. The recalls have caused an outcry in the United States, with Toyota executives hauled over the coals in the US Congress and the company’s previously stellar reputation for safety left in tatters. Out of more than eight million vehicles recalled worldwide, more than six million have been in the United States, mainly for sudden acceleration problems but also for brake-system issues on some hybrid vehicles. The carmaker has been hit with at least 97 lawsuits seeking damages for injury or death linked to sudden acceleration and 138 class action lawsuits from customers suing to recoup losses in the resale value of Toyota vehicles. The company faces a record US$16.4-million fine in the United States for its failure to notify authorities quickly about vehicle safety problems. Toyota recently announced it would reshape its global operations as part of efforts to “regain consumer confidence” by boosting transparency and speeding up the decision-making process for recalls. - AFP  Read More →

Reuters, 15 April 2010 Thai “red shirt” protesters brought in supplies today to their base at an upmarket shopping district that they have vowed to make the final battleground in a quest to topple the government. Despite the calm as Bangkok celebrated the final day of Thailand’s new year holiday under a scorching sun, political analysts said Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva’s days were numbered and warned the risk of a military coup was escalating. Financial markets reopen tomorrow when shares are expected to fall after a 3.64 per cent plunge on Monday following street fighting at the weekend in which at least 22 people were killed. “We aren’t making any move in the next couple of days as we will be busily putting facilities in place for our brothers and sisters after they return from the countryside,” red shirt protest leader Nattawut Saikua said. There seems no quick solution in sight to the protest campaign, which has lasted more than a month, and it looks set to hit growth in Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy. Investment bank Morgan Stanley calculates economic growth this year could be cut by 0.2 percentage point due to the impact on tourism, which accounts for 6 per cent of gross domestic product in the “Land of Smiles” and employs 1.8 million people. A bigger hit of up to 0.6 percentage points of GDP could come from the loss of consumer confidence. The government has forecast 4.5 percent growth this year if the protests are not prolonged. A taste of the economic damage came from a tour operator group that said hotel occupancy rates in the capital were under 30 per cent, less than the usual 80-90 per cent. Bars in the famous Nana plaza district were noticeably quiet. “We are bleeding continously as tour cancellations are made non-stop,” Charoen Wangananont, a spokesman for the Federation of Thai Tourism Associations, told local cable news network TNN. On Langsuan Road, close to the protest site, a hotel porter dragged designer luggage down a small alley to bypass roadblocks. “Soon the hotel will be empty. It’s almost a ghost hotel now,” said the porter who spoke on condition of anonymity. He said occupancy rate at his hotel had dropped to five per cent. The road is home to the Grand Hyatt, the Four Seasons, and Marriott Courtyard among other luxury hotels and service apartments. Occupancy at the Marriott was just 8.5 per cent, a receptionist said. The police and army did not intervene to prevent protesters from gathering and were not in evidence today after another peaceful night in the Thai capital. Protesters gathered in their thousands under umbrellas with some covering themselves with plastic sheets under the scorching sun as the temperature reached 38 degrees Celsius (97 Fahrenheit). Others were sitting in the shade on roadsides or taking naps under tents as folk music played on stage. Government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn estimated the crowd size at 30,000 last night and 3,000 on Thursday morning. “Our biggest concern is that there may be armed groups hiding among protesters to stir up trouble and blame the government,” he told reporters. Army sopokesman Sansern Kaewkumnerd urged those returning to Bangkok after the holiday to avoid the protest site. “It is a very dangerous area because there are terrorists hidden among protesters,” he said. The red shirts, mostly supporters of ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, want Abisit to quit immediately have said they will use their base in the Rachaprasong business district as a “final battleground”. As the red shirts consolidated their base, pro-government factions readied to take to the streets on Friday, saying that thousands would march in support of the army. Abhisit has been largely absent from the media, ensconced in a fortified army base on the outskirts of Bangkok. “The situation is not normal so he (Abhisit) probably cannot talk to the press daily but he will communicate with the public from time to time,” Panitan said. But his chances of political survival were seen as bleak. “Badly damaged by the military response, Abhisit now has no other options than to go to the country or resign, both of which will set Thailand on course for an early election,” risk consultancy Control Risks said in a report published today. “If threatened further by political instability, created for example by snap polls, the threat of military leaders launching a coup would rapidly escalate.” Thailand has had 18 coups in the past 77 years, most recently in 2006 when Thaksin was ousted. — Reuters  Read More →

MSN Entertainment, 15 April 2010 Chinese actress Vicki Zhao has given birth to a baby last Sunday at Singapore's Gleneagles Hospital and is now a blissful mother of a baby girl. The actress-singer recently made headlines when she was spotted heavily-pregnant by the paparazzi while grocery shopping trip in Singapore last month. News of her pregnancy was first leaked out by the press in November last year. Zhao's subsequent absence in the movie promotions of 14 Blades set tongues wagging and confirmed her pregnancy rumours. According to a netizen who was at Gleneagles Hospital undergoing a body checkup, Zhao reportedly underwent a caesarean operation on Sunday night at 11pm and gave birth to a healthy baby girl. The 34-year-old was accompanied by her Chinese property tycoon husband, Huang Youlong, all night. Read rest of article here.  Read More →