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Scandal-hit Nissan cuts earnings forecast

Japanese car giant Nissan on Thursday slashed its forecast for full-year operating profit, after admitting that a damaging inspection scandal last year had "adversely impacted" the firm's performance. Nissan said it now expects operating profit of 565 billion yen ($5.2 billion) for the year to March 2018, a drop of 12.4 percent from its previous estimate in November. It said the period, the group's performance was adversely impacted by "special items related to the final vehicle inspection issue in Japan, along with slowing sales growth, negative pricing trends and inventory adjustments in the US market."

Tesla's financial losses grow on Model 3 delays

The day after Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk blasted his Tesla Roadster into space, his electric car company's mounting losses brought him back to Earth again. Tesla Inc posted a record quarterly net loss of $675 million in the fourth quarter, up from a net loss of $121 million in the same period a year ago. The Palo Alto, California-based automaker is struggling to meet production targets for its first mass-market car, the Model 3 sedan. It's also spending heavily on future vehicles, including a semitrailer truck that's supposed to go into production next year.

Hyundai Motor annual profit plunges 20.5%

South Korea's biggest automaker Hyundai saw profits slump last year, it said Thursday, as it was battered by tougher competition. Hyundai Motor's 2017 net profit plunged 20.5 percent year-on-year to 4.55 trillion won ($4.28 billion), even though sales grew 2.9 percent to 96.3 trillion. "The strong won, tougher competition with rivals in major markets such as China and increased marketing costs hit the bottom line," the company said in a statement. Hyundai Motor sales in China slumped 31 percent year-on-year to 785,006 vehicles, while Kia Motors Corp's sales plunged 44.61 percent to 360,006 units.

General Motors results plummet into the red

General Motors suffered a net income loss of $3.864 billion in 2017, due largely to new tax regulations and discontinued operations, the US automaker said. GM reported that the results were driven primarily by a 7.3 billion non-cash charge related to a readjustment in deferred tax assets due to the US tax reform, and a largely non-cash charge of $6.2 billion resulting from the sale of its long-languishing European division. Last year the group completed the sale of the Germany-based Opel and UK-based Vauxhall brands, trying to exit markets where it didn't make money.

Nissan to invest $9 billion in China

Nissan Motor Co intends to spend 1 trillion yen ($9 billion) over five years in China, as it vies to become the largest global electrified vehicle maker in the country. The Japanese carmaker aims to raise annual deliveries by 1 million units by 2022, with much of the growth coming from electrified models, Jun Seki, head of Nissan's China operations, said in Beijing on Monday. Nissan, facing a flattening US market and waning demand at home, is banking on the world's biggest auto market to drive growth over the next five years.

US groups hit by tax adjustments

Tax cuts signed by United States President Donald Trump are turning out to be a major boon to some of the world's biggest automakers - except those based in the US. General Motors Co took a $7.3 billion charge in the fourth quarter because the write-offs against future earnings it racked up, from having reported years of losses in the past, are no longer as valuable with the lower US corporate tax rate. Ford Motor Co has forecast an adjusted effective tax rate of about 15 percent this year, about the same as it paid in 2017.

Motoring - agencies

(China Daily 02/12/2018 page19)