TOP NEWS
* GM Korea's 7.7 trillion South Korean won restructuring could face a "make or break" situation if the U.S. imposes sanctions on auto imports because the success of the revival plan by General Motors Co.'s South Korean unit "hinges on more production for exports," Reuters reported, quoting a person familiar with the situation. Paik Un-gyu, the South Korean minister of trade, industry and energy, said the government is still in talks with GM because "more should be done for GM's further investment," Yonhap News Agency reported. Meanwhile, the U.S. Commerce Department announced public hearings on July 19 and July 20 in Washington to ascertain whether automotive imports endanger national security.
* Sales of new electric cars worldwide surpassed a record 1 million units in 2017, representing a growth of 54% compared with 2016, according to a report released by Paris-based International Energy Agency, which was set up to advise industrial nations on energy policy. The global stock of electric cars grew 56% year over year to reach 3.7 million vehicles in 2017 and is expected to more than triple to 13 million by the end of the decade, according to the report.
CARMAKERS
* Peugeot SA's Opel unit, its works council and trade union IG Metall reached an agreement that includes job guarantees at all of the automaker's German facilities until July 2023 in return for a wage freeze until 2020, Reuters reported. Opel reportedly would carry ahead with the voluntary redundancy program of 3,700 workers, of which 3,500 have already exited the company, and will build the Grandland X hybrid at the country's Eisenach plant around mid-2019 after it previously suspended production of the Grandland SUV due to the labor dispute, the report added.
* Daimler AG's China unit and Chinese battery maker BYD Co. Ltd.-owned BYD Automotive Industry Co. Ltd. will each put in 400 million Chinese yuan into their joint venture Shenzhen DENZA New Energy Automotive Co. Ltd., Gasgoo reported. The 800 million yuan investment reportedly will be used to pay for staff expenses, supplier payments, debt repayments, marketing and advertising costs, among others.
* Aston Martin Holdings (UK) Ltd. CEO Andy Palmer expects the British sports car maker to raise 2018 volumes by 20% to over 6,100 cars in the lead-up to a public offering expected as soon as 2018, Reuters reported. Palmer added that "the time doesn't exist now" to bring in the technology required for a post-Brexit customs plan, ahead of the planned Brexit transition period until December 2020, as it would cost millions of pounds to implement it, Reuters reported.
* Kia Motors Corp.'s Kia Motors America appointed Michael Cole its COO and executive vice president. Cole, who had previously been the COO at Kia Motors Europe since November 2012, will report to the U.S. unit's President and CEO Sean Yoon.
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* China and Japan agreed to cooperate in the field of autonomous driving during a meeting May 28 in Tokyo between Miao Wei, a minister at China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and Hiroshige Seko, the Japanese minister of economy, trade and industry, Gasgoo reported, citing Japan's national broadcaster NHK. The two countries reportedly will collaborate to frame autonomous vehicle-testing rules on public roads beside coming up with international standards on communication infrastructure.
REGULATIONS AND SAFETY
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* Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland will be in Washington on May 29 and May 30 to meet Robert Lighthizer, the U.S. Trade Representative in the ongoing NAFTA talks, possibly to try break the impasse over the treaty renegotiations, Reuters reported, citing Freeland's spokesman Adam Austen. Their counterpart, Mexican Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo, reportedly will not attend. Neither side divulged further details about the meeting to Reuters.
AUTO PARTS AND EQUIPMENT
* German auto parts maker Grammer AG agreed to a buyout offer from affiliated companies related to its Chinese shareholder Ningbo Jifeng Auto Parts Co. Ltd. at €61.25 per share in cash, including a fiscal 2017 dividend of €1.25 per share. The deal values the company at about €752 million. Grammer added that it will retain operational independence and jobs as part of the transaction.
* Hyundai Motor Co. will invest $388 million at its Montgomery, Ala., plant for making engine heads to be used in the South Korean automaker's Sonata and Elantra sedans, Yonhap News Agency reported. The production line reportedly is slated to finish construction in November, and the company also expects to make the Theta III engine for Sonata and Santa Fe SUVs at the facility in early-2019.
* Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, its unit Mini and Japanese automaker Honda Motor Co. Ltd. are voluntarily recalling over 2,806 vehicles in South Korea to correct malfunctions, Yonhap News Agency reported, citing a release from the country's land, infrastructure and transport ministry. The models reportedly include the MINI Cooper S, being recalled to fix a faulty circuit board, the BMW X3 xDrive20d SUV and Honda's Odyssey minivan due to a back-seat problem.
AUTOMOTIVE RETAIL
* European ride-hailing service provider Taxify OÜ received $175 million in a funding round led by Daimler AG that values the Uber Technologies Inc. peer at $1 billion, Bloomberg News reported.
The day ahead
In Asia, Hang Seng lost 1.37% to 30,068.44, while the Nikkei 225 fell 1.52% to 22,018.52.
In Europe, around midday, the FTSE 100 rose 0.26% to 7,652.56, and the Euronext 100 gained 0.07% to 1,053.60.
On the macro front
Reports due out today are MBA mortgage applications, ADP employment, retail inventories, wholesale inventories, international trade in goods, Redbook Index and Beige Book on current economic conditions.
