Stocks in Japan Rebound; Suzuki, Volkswagen Alliance Unravels - 123Jump.com

6:00 PM Tokyo ? Stocks in Japan rebounded after a steep selloff in the last five days. The benchmark index is still down 16% for the year and hovered above the low last seen in March. The euro dropped to a 10-year low against the yen.

Stocks in Japan rebounded after weak trading in the last three days. The Nikkei index rebounded 1% but traded near the lows last seen in March at the time of triple disaster.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average rose 1% or 80.88 to 8,616.55 and the broader Topix index added 1.2% or 8.56 to 749.82.

The yen edged lower to 77.85 from 77.55 against one dollar but the euro dropped to a 10-year low to 105.25 after trading at 103.90 on Monday.

Trading volume on the First Section on the Tokyo Stock Exchange decreased to 1.68 billion shares, lower than 1.69 billion shares on Monday. Declining issues were 1,225 and rising stocks were 333 in Tokyo trading.

Stock Movers

Nintendo Co dropped 5.1% to 12,320 yen after investors sold shares ahead of the gathering on its 3DS handheld devices today. At the conference the company released several new software and games to support the declining sales.

Stocks of competitors declined following the slide in Nintendo stock. Capcom fell 8.3% to 1,974 yen and Square Enix dropped 3.9% to 1,468 yen.

Elpida Memory soared 13% to 557 yen on the rising DRAM prices and Advantest Corp fell 36 yen or 4% to 892 yen. Renesas Electronics rose 23 yen to 477 yen.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group rose 8 yen to 331 yen and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group increased 1.2% to 2,105 yen. Mizuho Financial Group added 1 yen to 112 yen.

Inpex Corp increased 1.6% to 490,500 yen and Japan Petroleum Exploration Co increased 2% to 3,010 yen.

Nippon Steel increased 1.4% to 221 yen and JFE Holdings, Inc rose 25 yen to 1,721 yen. Kobe Steel, Ltd added 4 yen to 137 yen.

Toyota Motor increased 0.9% to 2,649 yen and Honda Motor Co. added 1.3% to 2,289 yen and Nissan Motor gained 1 yen to 657 yen.

Toyota said it will construct a new factory in Indonesia.

Suzuki Motor increased 3.6% to 1,538 yen after it announced its decision to terminate its cooperation with Volkswagen AG. The two companies entered into a cooperation agreement after VW took 20% stake in the company to gain access to fast growing market in India.

However, two companies could not find projects to collaborate and the tensions rose after Suzuki decided to work with Fiat for a small engine.

Sony Corp fell 7 yen to 1,497 yen, Panasonic Corp fell 12 yen to 740 yen and Canon Inc increased 0.7% to 3,435 yen.

Fanuc rebounded 2.3% after falling for three days in a row to 10,610 yen. Kyocera added 3.4% to 6,740 yen.

Construction equipment makers liked to China closed lower. Komatsu added 2.7% to 1,799 yen and Hitachi Construction Machinery Co gained 2.8% to 1,340 yen.

Shipping companies closed higher. Nippon Yusen KK added 1.8% to 225 yen and Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd added 14 yen to 326 yen. Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd added 6 yen to 183 yen.

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Suzuki cuts ties with Volkswagen

TOKYO – Suzuki Motor Corp. said Monday it will abort its alliance with Volkswagen AG, ending a nearly two-year marriage that never worked and eventually escalated into a public feud.

Suzuki's board of directors decided to dissolve its partnership and cross-shareholding relationship with the German automaker because of concerns that it would lose autonomy, it said in a statement. Volkswagen owns a nearly 20 percent stake in Suzuki, while Suzuki holds about 1.5 percent of Volkswagen.

Suzuki said it will ask Volkswagen to unload its Suzuki shares, which it will buy back with its own financing, and that it would do the same with its Volkswagen shares if the two reach agreement.

Osamu Suzuki, Suzuki's chairman, said the deal, signed in December 2009, had been aimed at accelerating Suzuki's development of ecological vehicles, such as hybrids, electric cars and fuel cells.

But no such project was in the works nearly two years later, and the deal was turning out only negative for Suzuki, taking up time and limiting its operations, he said.

"It is like being married and getting a divorce. Instead of criticizing each other, it is better to go through it with a smile," he said at a hastily called news conference at a Tokyo hall.

He shrugged off questions that the talks to end the partnership may not go smoothly, and said he was confident Volkswagen would also be eager to do the same.

The automakers announced a promising partnership in 2009, establishing one of the world's biggest auto alliances. They said they would work together on product development, production and sales, with a focus on hybrid and electric cars.

Suzuki, which specializes in tiny cars called "kei" or minicars in Japan and other parts of Asia, was widely viewed as needing the prowess of a bigger Volkswagen to ride out the intensifying global competition as the industry moves increasingly to green cars.

But speculation had been growing that the tie-up with Volkswagen wasn't going well because Suzuki began complaining in public.

The partnership with Volkswagen came after Suzuki lost its alliance with General Motors Co., which began in 1981. GM sold a 17 percent stake in Suzuki in 2006, and its remaining 3 percent stake in 2009.

And so Suzuki had hoped to gain access to new technology to stay competitive through forging a new partnership with Volkswagen. For Volkswagen, the alliance represented an opportunity to boost its footprint in emerging markets.

Suzuki holds nearly half the market share in India, while Volkswagen is strong in China, as well as South America and Europe.

But the two companies could not agree on projects or how the partnership would function on the ground.

Their relationship took a bad turn in March, when Volkswagen in its annual report described Suzuki as a "company over which Volkswagen AG has significant influence on financial and operating policy decisions."

Suzuki cited the comment in Monday's statement. It expressed fears of a "negative impact on Suzuki's autonomous decision-making in its operating policy."

It also said it could never gained the sort of access it wanted to Volkswagen's technology.

The frustration appears to be mutual.

Last week, Volkswagen accused Suzuki of violating the terms of its partnership by deciding to buy diesel engines from rival Fiat SpA. It gave Suzuki several weeks to address the issue.

Suzuki declined to say if any other partnerships were in the works.

"Even if we put everything into writing, if there is no heart-to-heart connection, then it doesn't work," Suzuki said, adding he had learned a lot by working with Volkswagen.

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Yuri Kageyama in Tokyo contributed to this report.

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Follow Tomoko A. Hosaka on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tomokohosaka and Yuri Kageyama at http://twitter.com/yurikageyama

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Suzuki cuts ties with Volkswagen (AP)

TOKYO – Suzuki Motor Corp. said Monday it will abort its alliance with Volkswagen AG, ending a nearly two-year marriage that never worked and eventually escalated into a public feud.

Suzuki's board of directors decided to dissolve its partnership and cross-shareholding relationship with the German automaker because of concerns that it would lose autonomy, it said in a statement. Volkswagen owns a nearly 20 percent stake in Suzuki, while Suzuki holds about 1.5 percent of Volkswagen.

Suzuki said it will ask Volkswagen to unload its Suzuki shares, which it will buy back with its own financing, and that it would do the same with its Volkswagen shares if the two reach agreement.

Osamu Suzuki, Suzuki's chairman, said the deal, signed in December 2009, had been aimed at accelerating Suzuki's development of ecological vehicles, such as hybrids, electric cars and fuel cells.

But no such project was in the works nearly two years later, and the deal was turning out only negative for Suzuki, taking up time and limiting its operations, he said.

"It is like being married and getting a divorce. Instead of criticizing each other, it is better to go through it with a smile," he said at a hastily called news conference at a Tokyo hall.

He shrugged off questions that the talks to end the partnership may not go smoothly, and said he was confident Volkswagen would also be eager to do the same.

The automakers announced a promising partnership in 2009, establishing one of the world's biggest auto alliances. They said they would work together on product development, production and sales, with a focus on hybrid and electric cars.

Suzuki, which specializes in tiny cars called "kei" or minicars in Japan and other parts of Asia, was widely viewed as needing the prowess of a bigger Volkswagen to ride out the intensifying global competition as the industry moves increasingly to green cars.

But speculation had been growing that the tie-up with Volkswagen wasn't going well because Suzuki began complaining in public.

The partnership with Volkswagen came after Suzuki lost its alliance with General Motors Co., which began in 1981. GM sold a 17 percent stake in Suzuki in 2006, and its remaining 3 percent stake in 2009.

And so Suzuki had hoped to gain access to new technology to stay competitive through forging a new partnership with Volkswagen. For Volkswagen, the alliance represented an opportunity to boost its footprint in emerging markets.

Suzuki holds nearly half the market share in India, while Volkswagen is strong in China, as well as South America and Europe.

But the two companies could not agree on projects or how the partnership would function on the ground.

Their relationship took a bad turn in March, when Volkswagen in its annual report described Suzuki as a "company over which Volkswagen AG has significant influence on financial and operating policy decisions."

Suzuki cited the comment in Monday's statement. It expressed fears of a "negative impact on Suzuki's autonomous decision-making in its operating policy."

It also said it could never gained the sort of access it wanted to Volkswagen's technology.

The frustration appears to be mutual.

Last week, Volkswagen accused Suzuki of violating the terms of its partnership by deciding to buy diesel engines from rival Fiat SpA. It gave Suzuki several weeks to address the issue.

Suzuki declined to say if any other partnerships were in the works.

"Even if we put everything into writing, if there is no heart-to-heart connection, then it doesn't work," Suzuki said, adding he had learned a lot by working with Volkswagen.

____

Yuri Kageyama in Tokyo contributed to this report.

___

Follow Tomoko A. Hosaka on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tomokohosaka and Yuri Kageyama at http://twitter.com/yurikageyama

View the original article here

Japan Power List: Suzuki Roars In - Wall Street Journal (blog)

ReutersSuzuki Motor Corp Chairman and Chief Executive Osamu Suzuki speaks at a news conference in Tokyo on Sept. 12.

Osamu Suzuki topped Japan’s corporate newsmaker rankings for the seven days ending Sep. 12, according to data compiled by Dow Jones Insight and edited by The Wall Street Journal.

But not for the first time in the Japan Power List, not entirely for happy reasons: the chairman of auto maker Suzuki Motor Corp. rode to the top of the chart because of a fairly acrimonious bust-up with Germany’s Volkswagen AG over future strategy and control.

After less than two years, a partnership involving a nearly $3 billion investment by the German auto maker in Suzuki – giving it just under 20% of the Japanese firm – has unraveled to the point where Suzuki unilaterally pulled the plug and asked VW to sell its holdings. But VW appears in no rush to do so, meaning Mr. Suzuki may linger in the corporate newsmaker rankings for some time.

Rounding out the top three were more familiar faces: Nissan Motor Corp.’s Carlos Ghosn and Sony Corp.’s Howard Stringer, rarely far from the top.

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Suzuki fuels Japan's win - Williamsport Sun-Gazette

Yoshiki Suzuki did just about everything right around the plate in Saturday's Little League World Series International title game.

He threw enough of his 91 pitches for strikes to earn a 5-2 victory over Mexicali, Baja Calif.

He also blocked it with perfect position, his left foot on the basepath, with his right foot behind him for support, to tag out Mexico's Jorge Jacobo on a critical infield dribbler in the fifth inning.

He also had one hit in three at-bats, and he scored an insurance run for himself in the fifth inning.

It all added up to put his Hamamatsu City, Japan, team into today's championship game against Huntington Beach, Calif., the seventh time in 11 years a Japanese team reached the final.

"I just want them all to try their best and they did a great job, more than I thought," Japan manager Atihiro Suzuki said through an interpreter. "We had little mistakes, but the game flowed well, so it turned out well."

Yoshiki Suzuki struck out Kenet Delgado on eight pitches to end the game and strand a runner on second, giving himself the complete game as well.

His only trouble came in the fourth inning when Alonso Garcia doubled and scored on an infield error and when Jacobo tripled home Carlos Arellano.

But Suzuki got himself out of the fifth-inning jam by tagging out Jacobo at home on a dribbler hit in front of the plate. It looked like a textbook fundamental tag, with Suzuki's left foot blocking the plate and his right foot in back for support.

Only Suzuki said that wasn't his plan.

"I didn't know the runner was running," Suzuki said through an interpreter. "I just happened to look, he was sliding and I went for the tag."

Suzuki also contributed offensively, singling and scoring when Asuya Otsuka singled to center in the fifth.

However, Mexico manager Francisco Picos said it was the two runs Japan scored in the fourth on top of two in the third that depressed his team, particularly after it stranded two runners in the first inning, blowing its best chance.

"They got a little desperate," Picos said through an interpreter. "Especially after they started scoring and we hadn't. I definitely think it affected them."

Japan scored in the third when Hiroyasu Sigiura doubled home Gaishi Iguchi and then scored on an infield error.

In the fifth, Kaito Suzuki singled home Otsuka and scored on Mitsuhiro Uchida's double.

Iguchi, Japan's normal shortstop, missed the first Mexico game with an injury but his team has won every game he's played here.

It all has Japan on the brink of a second straight LLWS title, as Edogawa Minami, of Tokyo, won last year. This is Hamamatsu City's first appearance. Atihiro Suzuki said neither he nor his kids had scouted the United States field, but that may not matter.

Picos thought Japan had Jacobo, his starting pitcher who took Saturday's loss, figured out ahead of time. But Suzuki said he thought Mexico would start Garcia, who instead relieved.

"After the game started we discussed Jacobo and we were able to adjust as a team together," Atihiro Suzuki said with a chuckle, appearing to take Picos' words as a compliment.

The Japanese manager comes off a little looser than some previous Japanese managers over the years. Sure, he stresses fundamentals over and over, and Suzuki's block of home is proof of the teaching, but it's not every year the Japanese manager says playing hard and having fun are more important than winning.

He's been seen laughing a bit on the field and usually during his postgame interviews, giving off the impression he's enjoying this once-in-a-lifetime ride every bit as most of his United States counterparts usually do.

He watched Edogawa Minami on TV with his players last year, and like them, he said he never believed he'd be here the following year.

This team is one win from something even more unbelievable.

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