Auto Components News

World Business Quick Take – Taipei Times

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UNITED KINGDOM

Inflation more than doubles

Inflation more than doubled last month, data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed yesterday, driven by rising clothing and energy costs to reach the highest level since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Consumer price index growth was 1.5 percent last month, hitting the highest point since March last year when the COVID-19 crisis erupted, the ONS said in a statement. “Inflation rose in April, mainly due to prices rising this year compared with the falls seen at the start of the pandemic this time last year,” chief ONS economist Grant Fitzner said. “This was seen most clearly in household utility bills and clothing prices.”

TELECOMS

DT may raise T-Mobile stake

Deutsche Telekom AG (DT) is considering taking a bigger stake in affiliate T-Mobile, a person familiar with the discussions said, in a sign the German carrier’s management sees more growth potential in the US than at home. Deutsche Telekom currently holds a 43.3 percent stake in T-Mobile US Inc valued at US$73.3 billion. Last year, it was granted the right to buy a further 101.5 million shares — about 8 percent — in the US carrier currently held by Softbank Group Corp. A spokesperson for Deutsche Telekom declined to comment. The news was first reported by Handelsblatt.

RUBBER

Sri Trang sees no surplus

Thailand-based Sri Trang Agro-Industry PCL, the world’s top rubber producer, expects no surplus of the commodity this year as demand recovers, and supply is hit by a shortage of tappers and fungal disease. Rubber demand should expand 5 to 7 percent this year, while supply growth would be flat to 2 percent, executive director Veerasith Sinchareonkul said in an interview. Rising demand for tires as auto sales and travel recover is the key driver for prices as 80 percent of supply is used for tire manufacturing. Demand for rubber gloves should continue to rise after the pandemic as emerging economies widen public access to healthcare and the population ages, he said.

TECHNOLOGY

Huawei picks smart car CEO

Huawei Technologies Co (華為) has appointed Richard Yu (余承東), the outspoken leader of its consumer electronics business, chief executive officer of its smart vehicle solutions unit, signaling the importance it places on future auto tech. Yu, who was already director for auto components, is expanding his responsibilities in Huawei’s auto segment while also departing a position he only recently gained as CEO of its cloud group. Zhang Pingan (張平安), an established cloud division executive, is to take over that role, according to an internal memo that Bloomberg News has reviewed.

HOTELS

Booking loses price dispute

Hotel booking portal Booking.com cannot prevent hotels in Germany from advertising lower room prices on their own Web sites, the Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday. The court upheld an earlier decision by the German cartel authority that banning hotels from advertising lower prices on their own Web sites was “not compatible with cartel law.” The Federal Cartel Authority had in 2015 prohibited Booking.com from continuing to apply so-called “narrow” best-price clauses in the country. Under the clauses, hotels were obliged to always offer Booking.com their lowest room prices, maximum room capacity, and most favorable booking and cancelation conditions available on all online and offline booking channels.

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