Medical and Hospital News  
CAR TECH
Strike at Honda parts plant in China drags on

China's SAIC Motor says first half profits surged
Shanghai (AFP) July 20, 2010 - China's SAIC Motor Corp said Tuesday its estimated first-half net profit had more than quadrupled from a year earlier, although sales slowed slightly in the second quarter. The nation's largest automaker by number of sales sold more than 1.77 million vehicles in the first half of 2010, up more than 44 percent from a year earlier, according to a statement filed with the Shanghai Stock Exchange. The figure indicated sales growth lost some momentum in the April-June period. The firm sold more than 891,800 vehicles in the first three months of the year, up 63.6 percent from the same period a year earlier. SAIC, which has joint ventures with US auto giant General Motors and Germany's Volkswagen, did not give specific figures for first-half earnings in its preliminary announcement.

The company is scheduled to release its first-half results on August 26. It posted a net profit of 1.4 billion yuan (213.2 million dollars) in the first half of 2009. China's auto sales soared to 13.64 million units in 2009 helped by government incentives, outstripping sales in the United States and making the Asian giant the world's biggest auto market. The incentives included slashing taxes on cars with engines smaller than 1.6 litres and subsidising clean-technology vehicles. Auto sales soared 47.7 percent in the first half of 2010 compared to a year earlier, reaching 9.01 million units, although monthly figures showed a continued trend of softening demand, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.
by Staff Writers
Beijing (AFP) July 20, 2010
A strike by workers at a Honda parts supply factory in southern China has entered its second week, but car production has so far not been affected, the Japanese automaker said Tuesday.

The strike is the latest in a series of walkouts by factory workers -- many of them at foreign-invested companies -- over pay and poor conditions in the so-called "workshop of the world".

The work stoppage at a unit of Atsumitec Co., which supplies gear shift levers for Hondas made in China, began on July 12.

"The strike continues," a Honda spokeswoman in Tokyo told AFP, adding that negotiations between management and workers were still under way.

The labour action has had little effect on Honda's China production, as the company is relying on inventories, she added.

An Atsumitec employee in the city of Foshan confirmed to AFP that about half of the factory's 200 workers were still on strike over their demands for a salary increase.

Honda is the largest shareholder of Atsumitec, controlling 48 percent of the Shizuoka-based company, she said.

China's state Xinhua news agency reported early Tuesday that the strikers, who are seeking a raise of 500 yuan (73.70 dollars) per month, had blocked replacement workers hired by the company from entering the plant.

"We have police stationed near the plant to guard against any emergencies, but as to how to resolve the problem, it is still a tough question," the agency quoted a local official, Zhong Weiwen, as saying.

Honda, Japan's number two automaker, said last week its sales had fallen 2.7 percent year-on-year in June after its China operations were crippled in recent weeks by work stoppages.

Takanobu Ito, president of Honda, apologised Tuesday about the "commotion" created by the strikes.

"What we have discussed within Honda is that employees and the local management did not have enough communication," he told reporters in Tokyo.

"There are lessons to be learnt from the China case -- we need to have good communication... It is an area we need to work on (and) measures have been introduced at the management level."

burs-sst/pst



Share This Article With Planet Earth
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit
YahooMyWebYahooMyWeb GoogleGoogle FacebookFacebook



Related Links
Car Technology at SpaceMart.com



Memory Foam Mattress Review
Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily
XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News


CAR TECH
Model of proposed 1,000 mph car unveiled
Farnborough, England (UPI) Jul 20, 2010
A full-size model of a car designed to go faster than 1,000 mph was unveiled in Britain by its designers, who say testing could begin next year. A replica of the proposed 42-foot Bloodhound Supersonic Car was introduced Monday at the annual Farnborough International Air Show in England, BBC News reported. SSC designers say two British aerospace companies will cooperate to build t ... read more







CAR TECH
Voodoo rite draws Haitian faithful praying for comfort

27 missing after bus plunges off road in southwest China

The Life-Saving Capabilities Of Storm Shelters

World Bank-managed Haiti aid fund only 20 percent full

CAR TECH
Magellan Launches Next Gen Of eXplorist

Geospatial Holdings Awarded Pipeline Mapping Project

Lockheed Martin Unveils GPS Exhibit At UN

Tracking System Leads Rescuers To Birds Caught In Gulf Of Mexico Oil Spill

CAR TECH
The Friend Of My Enemy Is My Enemy

The Protective Brain Hypothesis Is Confirmed

Scientists study brain's 'body map'

The Battle For News Supremacy

CAR TECH
Scientists Identify Nature's Insect Repellents

Remarkable Fossil Cave Shows How Ancient Marsupials Grew

UN food agency offers advice to fend off hippos, baboons

Bear problem in Bulgaria divides locals, authorities

CAR TECH
Haitians with AIDS hit by broken promises of aid

Standing ovation for HIV gel breakthrough at AIDS forum

The First Malaria-Proof Mosquito

Time to squeeze every dollar, two Bills tell AIDS forum

CAR TECH
Thousands of people in five-day China protest: report

Tibet's next leader?

China tells dissident writer book on PM could mean prison

Google says still waiting for China licence decision

CAR TECH
Gunmen seize 12 sailors in ship attack off Nigeria: navy

Singapore ship with Chinese crew hijacked off Somalia

Sudan says Cyprus 'arms ship' contains mining explosives

Islamists, unpaid troops hit Somali regime

CAR TECH
Walker's World: A 9-year recession?

Wen says China growth in line with expectations

China's growth slows in second quarter

China says no change to property measures, rattling stocks


The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2010 - SpaceDaily. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement