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

View the original article here

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