Manufacturing

Ford’s messy quarter is a slowdown, not a crash

27 Oct 2016

Weaker sales contributed to the 56 pct drop in the carmaker's third-quarter earnings. But so did recalls and other funnies. Strip those out and the Mustang maker's margins are healthier than they look. The rally in U.S. vehicle sales may be over, but the off-ramp is manageable.

Tesla’s surprise profit paves way for more capital

26 Oct 2016

Elon Musk's electric-car maker moved back into the black. The small Q3 income could help investors see clear to approving the silly SolarCity deal. Tesla and Musk also have sent mixed signals about needing fresh money, but now would be as good a time as any to try and top up.

GM rides cruise control to top of auto cycle

25 Oct 2016

A strong third-quarter showing extended the smooth ride Detroit's top carmaker is having as U.S. sales peak. Ford's engine, meanwhile, is already sputtering. GM may even have a bit more gas in the tank. CEO Mary Barra, though, may find that the going will soon get tougher.

Bayer upstaged by its unloved plastics spinoff

25 Oct 2016

Plastics maker Covestro’s share price has doubled in the past year whereas that of its former parent is heavily weighed down by the pricey acquisition of U.S. seed maker Monsanto. Their divergent destinies are a lesson in how focus can beat a restless hunger for mega-deals.

Rockwell’s smart-jet hopes crash into reality

24 Oct 2016

Investors wiped up to 6 pct off the avionics supplier's stock after it agreed to pay $6.4 bln for seatmaker B/E Aerospace. Rockwell is betting the tie-up will win it a larger share of commercial airlines' digital transformation. The market for new planes, though, is stalling.

Tata’s Cyrus Mistry changed too little, too late

24 Oct 2016

India's $110 bln conglomerate has sacked its chairman of four years. Mistry was slow to tackle problems at Tata Motors and Tata Steel; growth has also ground to a halt at cash cow Tata Consultancy. Fresh blood could put the nation's most prominent group back on a positive track.

Caterpillar CEO exit looks like preemptive strike

17 Oct 2016

Doug Oberhelman will retire as boss of the $51 bln earth-moving equipment maker next year. Cat will also split the CEO and chairman jobs. It looks like a calculated attempt to get in front of would-be activist investors after bad deals and poor performance damaged credibility.

Viewsroom: Samsung’s fiery future

13 Oct 2016

Cancelling production of its self-combusting Note 7 smartphone puts the company's reputation as well as $17 bln or more at risk. Cities, businesses and investors are putting Trump and Clinton to shame on climate change. Plus: Brexit politics get shaken up by the pound's decline.

Apollo finds a line yield-seekers won’t cross

10 Oct 2016

Leon Black's buyout shop yanked a 500 mln euro debt issue for French bottle maker Verallia after investors balked. They disliked that they might be paid in more debt while Apollo returned itself some cash. Brexit, Trump and ECB fears finally are rousing bond buyers to push back.

Danaher returns to dealmaking with $4 bln dud

6 Sep 2016

Fresh from splitting off its industrial arm, the healthcare giant is buying molecular tester Cepheid. Cost cuts cover barely half the 54 pct premium and investors aren't buying promises of extra revenue. CEO Tom Joyce's claims of greater efficiency and growth are falling flat.

VW jolt not enough to end Icahn trucking nightmare

6 Sep 2016

The investor's 20 pct stake in Navistar got a boost from the troubled U.S. manufacturer's partnership with the German giant. Five years agitating for change has yielded nothing for Icahn or fellow activist owners. The stock needs to rise by half again just for him to break even.

Peugeot well positioned for yesterday’s car market

27 Jul 2016

Bumper half-year operating profit shows the French carmaker is cutting costs neatly. Yet a radical shakeup in the car industry means getting up to speed with fuzzier stuff like self-driving cars, electric vehicles and new mobility services. That's a big ask for smallish Peugeot.

Daimler’s European answer to Uber gains momentum

26 Jul 2016

The German carmaker is merging its ride-hailing app Mytaxi with UK-based rival Hailo. The all-share deal creates Europe’s strongest competitor to Uber while avoiding paying the sector’s frothy multiples. For now, Daimler’s digital first-mover advantage is paying off.

Water woes are a drain on Make in India

26 Jul 2016

India has long undervalued one of its most precious resources. Chronic mismanagement of water in the country is already a strain on factories. Now the worry is that it will hold back Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s big plan to create jobs and turn India into a manufacturing hub.

Britain can’t have its chips and eat them too

18 Jul 2016

A takeover of microchip-designer ARM Holdings by Japan's SoftBank shows Britain is open for business. There is little choice. The UK may need dozens of new trade deals on leaving the European Union. However rare ARM's charms, and whoever the buyer, protectionism isn't an option.

China’s factories gain from march of the sew-bots

11 Jul 2016

Millions of jobs across Southeast Asia are at risk from wider use of automation, a new report has warned. The surprising beneficiary might be China. Robots could add to its shrinking workforce, while its network of suppliers and ports are a strength the rest of Asia can’t match.

Japan’s carmakers are passengers in wild FX ride

5 Jul 2016

Shares in Toyota, Nissan, Honda and others have crashed since Britain voted to quit the EU. All will be hit by an economic slowdown, and some would suffer from new tariffs on UK-made vehicles. But the selloff mostly reflects how exposed the firms are to currency-market swings.