OIL RISES TOWARDS /BARREL

Agencies

=====================

=====================

Reuters

Ron Bloom, the head of the government task force that facilitated the restructuring of GM and Chrysler

this year, said in an interview with Reuters that there is a bright line separating the two issues.

"We obviously would be very happy if Chrysler and GM were making lots and lots of high mileage cars. It's not a prerequisite. It's not an obligation," Bloom said on Tuesday.

The government, which has deferred to directors and management of both companies, wants viable automakers that can compete globally and repay their loans in a timely way.

The Obama administration has extended $30 billion and bankruptcy financing and working capital to GM, and $8.5 billion to Chrysler. Those taxpayer investments translate into a 60 percent stake in GM and a nearly 10 percent share of Chrysler.

Plans at both companies call for more fuel efficient vehicles regardless of engine technology and a variety of smaller cars.

GM has made a big side bet on the Volt electric hybrid due out next year. But Fiat-led Chrysler this month set aside its plans to develop a similar mass-market vehicle, concluding the effort did not fit with its accelerated business plan.

The decision raised eyebrows in Washington, and in the environmental and energy communities, since Chrysler secured help from the government partly on its blueprint for battery powered vehicles.

"We're completely separating policy from ownership," Bloom said in response to the Chrysler decision. "We trust that the board has carefully thought through the various options of the company and where it was and and made judgments on the electric program based on that."

Bloom was adamant, however, that GM and Chrysler meet sharply higher government fuel efficiency standards set to come on line in the next few years.

President Barack Obama has said he would like to see one million electric vehicles on US roads by the middle of the next decade.

Japanese automakers Toyota Motor Corp and Honda Motor Co lead the industry in gasoline-electric hybrids and are planning their own fully electric models.

Chrysler and GM have applied for billions in Energy Department loans to help them retool factories and make more fuel efficient vehicles.

Bloom said the task force has assumed there would be advanced technology financing for them but said the task force would leave the matter to the boards of both companies and the Energy Department.

"If Chrysler qualifies and the DOE believes it's proper, then they'll get it, Bloom said, adding that GM "would get in line" for the money just like Ford Motor Co and other carmakers that have received loans.

Brendan Bell of the Union of Concerned Scientists said running auto companies should not be the government's job. But he said industry would be repeating the mistakes of the past if it rolls back on advance technologies.

"Every time, the companies have failed to see where the market is moving," Bell said. "It's fair to say the government does not want to get into the job of running these companies, but as an investor, you have to see whether these companies are making smart decisions."

The candidates are both CFOs from outside the auto industry, the people said. Neither is from a financial services company, one of the people said. The executives have extensive experience and will have free rein from Henderson to reorganise GM’s finance department, the person said. Tom Wilkinson, a GM spokesperson, declined to comment.

Crist Kolder, based in Hinsdale, Illinois, near Chicago, conducts about 40 searches annually for CFO, CEO and corporate director candidates and other executives, the company said on its website. Playboy Enterprises Inc CFO Linda Havard, who resigned Nov 16, was among the firm’s placements. She is leaving the publishing company at the end of the year.
An important requirement is that GM’s new CFO accept a combination of cash, stock and restricted stock units, similar to the structure the US government set for Henderson and 24 other top GM executives last month, the people said.
The government cut Henderson’s cash salary 25% to $950,000 and his total compensation rose fourfold to $5.5 million because he was granted stock and restricted stock. Kenneth Feinberg, the government’s special master on pay, unveiled restrictions Oct 22 for GM and six other companies that received a taxpayer rescue. Cash compensation for top GM executives will decrease by 31% from last year and total compensation decreases by 25%, Feinberg said in a letter.
Steven Rattner, who led the auto task force that reorganised GM in a 40-day bankruptcy from June 1 to July 10, said last month in an article on Fortune magazine’s website that GM had perhaps the “weakest finance operation any of us had ever seen in a major company.”

http://www.financialexpress.com/news/gm-narrows-search-for-new-finance-chief-to-two-outsiders/543314/

TOYOTA OCT CAR SALES UP 5 PCT, 1ST RISE IN 15 MONTHS

Reuters

global vehicle sales rose 5 per cent in October to about 640,000 units, marking the first year-on-year increase in 15 months, the world's biggest automaker said on Wednesday.

Last month, Toyota's sales in its biggest market, the United States, fell 3.5 per cent, but grew 15 per cent in Japan and 45 percent in China. Toyota executives had said sales in the United States would likely start picking up around October due to easier comparisons from the year before, when sales began to tank after the collapse of Lehman Brothers.

Toyota's shares were littled changed on the news, down 1.1 per cent at 3,530 yen in late afternoon trade, in line with Tokyo's TOPIX index.

Reuters

"In accordance with fair trade regulations prohibiting cross-unit investment, we have drawn up the sale plan," the news agency quoted an unnamed Hyundai Motor official as saying. "It could be announced at the earliest."

Hyundai Motor officials could not immediately be reached for comment.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international-business/Hyundai-Motor-to-sell-Hyundai-Mobis-stake-report/articleshow/5242360.cms

Hyundai Motor to sell stake in Hyundai Mobis

Daily News & Analysis
http://www.dnaindia.com/money/report_hyundai-motor-to-sell-stake-in-hyundai-mobis_1313288

FORD, SUBARU AND VOLKSWAGEN SAFEST CARS IN 2010

Agencies

The Virginia-based Insurance Institute for Highway Safety awarded its "top safety pick" on Wednesday to 19 passenger cars and eight sport utility vehicles for the 2010 model year. The institute substantially reduced the number of awards compared with 2009, because of tougher requirements for roof strength.

Ford and its Volvo unit received the most awards with six, followed by five awards apiece for Japanese automaker Subaru and German automaker Volkswagen AG and its Audi unit.

Chrysler Group received four awards followed by two each for Honda Motor and General Motors. Toyota Motor, BMW, Mazda and Mitsubishi were shut out in the annual IIHS review.

Ford's recipients include the Ford Taurus and Lincoln MKS passenger cars and the Volvo S80 and C30 passenger cars and the XC60 and XC90 SUVs.

Ford said in a statement it is "committed to providing customers with safe vehicles for a broad range of real-world crash conditions."

Subaru recorded winners with the Subaru Legacy, Outback and Impreza cars and Tribeca and Forester SUVs. Subaru was the only automaker with an IIHS winner in all four vehicle classes in which it competes.

The automaker, which has bucked the brutal U.S. sales market with a 13 percent increase during the first 10 months of 2009, attributed its safety success to a unique engine design that sits low in the vehicle chassis and moves down and under occupants in a frontal collision.

Tom Doll, executive vice president and COO of Subaru of America, said the awards were a "tribute to the engineering that goes into Subaru products."

Volkswagen scored with the 4-door versions of the Jetta, Passat and Golf, the Audi A3 and the Volkswagen Tiguan, a small SUV.

Chrysler won the award for the Chrysler Sebring and Dodge Avenger sedans equipped with optional electronic stability control, the Dodge Journey midsize SUV and the Jeep Patriot with optional side thorax air bags.

Scott Kunselman, Chrysler's senior vice president-engineering, said the awards underscore the Auburn Hills, Mich., automaker's "engineering capability and leadership in occupant protection."

General Motors and Honda Motor both received two awards. GM was recognized for the Buick LaCrosse and the Chevrolet Malibu while Honda won for 4-door versions of the Civic with optional electronic stability control and the Honda Element.

Other winners included the Nissan Cube, the Kia Soul and the Mercedes C Class.

"With the addition of our roof strength evaluation, our crash test results now cover all four of the most common kinds of crashes," said Institute president Adrian Lund. "Consumers can use this list to zero in on the vehicles that are on the top rung for safety."

The Institute awarded its top prize to 94 vehicles in 2009 and attributed the decline in awards this year to the roof strength requirement. The Honda Accord and the Ford Fusion both dropped off the list because 2010 versions didn't earn high enough scores on the roof test.

The Toyota Camry would have made the list, the Institute said, if it had received the highest rating in rear crash protection. The Institute said the Camry's seats and head restraints were rated marginal for protection against whiplash injuries.

Reuters

===========

===========

PTI

Forex dealers said capital inflows by foreign funds amid dollar selling by exporters helped the rupee.

PTI

as a drag on the market, while metal, FMCG, IT, Realty and consumer durable segments saved the market from a major fall.

=====================

10 million = 100 lakh or 1 crore

1 billion = 100 crore

=====================

Regards,
Gajendra Maru