[Top News] from [REUTERS]
[Green Business]
Carmakers going greener with electric push
Wed Oct 21, 2009 2:22am EDT
By Chang-Ran Kim, Asia autos correspondent
CHIBA, Japan (Reuters) - Nissan Motor Co unveiled a sketch of its first all-electric light commercial vehicle and Toyota Motor Corp introduced an electric car concept, underscoring carmakers' drive into zero-emissions vehicles.
Automakers at the 41st Tokyo Motor Show that opened on Wednesday also said they saw chances to develop new business opportunities related to electric vehicles, such as in rechargeable batteries.
Japan's car lobby expects new vehicle sales to sink to a 32-year low this financial year as the economic slump exacerbates demand already declining due to a shrinking population.
But reduced taxes on hybrids and other less-polluting cars have helped stem some of the slide -- and prompted automakers to ramp up their efforts in cleaner vehicles to boost growth.
"We are hoping to build electric vehicles into a global core model, as well as possibly developing news business models around an electric-vehicle future," Mitsubishi Motors Corp President Osamu Masuko said at the biennial event.
But some executives expressed concern about the strength of the yen, which eats into carmakers' repatriated profits and dampens their sales competitiveness abroad.
"It will be hard to export to North America if the dollar falls further against the yen," Honda Chief Executive Takanobu Ito told Reuters Television in an interview.
"We will need to find export markets other than North America to keep our domestic output levels.
The Tokyo Motor Show, traditionally considered one of the industry's five big international shows, faces a thin turnout this year with only two small carmakers from overseas attending, underscoring the waning fortunes of Japan's once-buoyant auto market -- the third-biggest after China and the United States.
At the show, open to the media on Wednesday and Thursday and to the public from Saturday, automakers will showcase 19 world premiere cars, down from 37 in 2007. Floor space will be less than half of the previous show.
NEW BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES
Nissan, which plans to mass-market electric vehicles in 2012, officially confirmed for the first time that it would add an all-electric version of the NV200 light commercial vehicle (LCV), a sketch of which was unveiled at its booth.
Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn spoke of new opportunities in the electric car field, after Nissan and trading house Sumitomo Corp announced on Tuesday plans to form a joint venture to recycle lithium-ion batteries after they are used in Nissan cars.
"A second life for batteries exists as a power backup, emergency power supply or home storage unit for electric or solar energy," Ghosn told a news conference.
"With Sumitomo, we are developing a brand-new '4-R' business model -- to reuse, resell, refabricate and recycle lithium-ion batteries. This innovative solution demonstrates our commitment to good product stewardship, from start to finish."
But Ghosn also told reporters that Nissan may replace shipments of Japan-made cars to "dollar countries" such as in the Middle East with cars manufactured in the United States, due to the dollar's weakness against the yen.
Nissan is assuming an average dollar rate of 95 yen in the financial year to March while Honda sees a rate of 91 yen, compared with around 90.60 in trading on Wednesday.
Earlier this month, the dollar fell near its January low of 87.10 yen, which was the lowest since 1995.
DON'T PUT ALL YOUR EGGS IN ONE BASKET
Toyota, known for its popular Prius gasoline-electric hybrid and miles ahead of competitors in the fast-growing field, is also ramping up efforts in developing electric cars.
"Hybrid vehicles are becoming mainstream, but Toyota is not putting all of its eggs into this core technology," Toyota President Akio Toyoda told a news conference, introducing a range of cars including the FT-EV II electric car concept, and a new, compact five-door Lexus hybrid concept, the LF-Ch.
The world's biggest automaker also unveiled the Lexus LFA two-seater "supercar" powered by a 4.8-liter V10 gasoline engine, achieving a maximum speed of 325 km/h and acceleration from 0 to 100 km/hour in 3.7 seconds.
Toyota plans to produce only 500 units of the LFA, and sell them between December 2010 and December 2012. Toyota will begin taking orders from Wednesday, with a suggested retail price of $375,000.
(Editing by Chris Gallagher and Lincoln Feast)
[Small Business]
Couple brews beer startup from scratch
Tue Oct 20, 2009 4:00pm EDT
By Jon Cook
TORONTO (Reuters) - As the jobless rate climbed toward 10 percent this summer, Erica Shea and Stephen Valand, quit their advertising jobs, took $10,000 in personal savings and started selling their 1-gallon home brew beer kits from a stand at the Brooklyn Flea Market, testing the theory that beer is recession proof.
"When you go from an actual salary down to $0 an hour, it's quite an adjustment," admitted Shea, who got the bug for beer making after she stumbled across her dad's old home brewing kit. But when Shea and Valand went to brew their first batch they discovered there was no place in New York to buy the ingredients, sparking their business venture. The kits take up only a foot of floor space and come with everything needed to brew your own beer.
Shea said they opened their stand, which they rent for $100 a day, on the July 4th weekend, but sold just five kits. By the end of the month they had moved 40 kits, which go for $40, or $30 without grain. The kits, which make about 12 bottles through a four-week process, include a 1-gallon glass jug, some tubing, a racking cane, a thermometer, sanitizer and the yeast, hops and grain.
"Generally we make a $12-$15 profit off each kit," said Shea, adding that after an August lull, they are currently selling about 90 kits a week, which has created problems in terms of storing all the grain and finding the time to put all the kits together. Valand has already had to move into a bigger apartment to accommodate the larger grain shipments.
THE PITCH
The U.S. craft brewing industry has weathered the recession better than most, with sales up nearly 9 percent in the first half of this year, according to the Brewers Association (BA). The BA, which has more than 1,500 members, also reported that overall U.S. beer sales were down 1.3 percent in the first six months of 2009.
Shea and Valand believe the trend of brewing your own specialty beers will continue to grow and that it will entice a younger, more urban demographic that enjoys the ability to experiment with different flavors.
"I just think that because there are really good craft beers now, there is really a drive for people to explore that and make their own really good beers," said Shea, who has used ingredients as bizarre as lobster and jalapeno. "We're working on an eggnog milk stout, which uses vanilla bean and nutmeg, but also lactose sugar, so it tastes really milky, like a beer-ish milkshake, which sounds really gross but actually isn't."
Valand said in September online sales through their website - www. brooklynbrewshop.com - surpassed in-person sales at the market for the first time and the couple would like to drive more traffic there, but know that entails a major revamp of the site. In addition Shea said they are also looking to get the kits into retail stores in time for the Christmas rush. That will likely entail hiring more people to do the packaging to free up their time to devote to marketing the product better.
"Our challenges as we continue to grow the business are time and space. There's only so many hours in a day that you can be doing things and there are so many ideas that come up that we really want to pursue, but ultimately there are two of us and we get tired."
[Green Business]
Carmakers going greener with electric push
Wed Oct 21, 2009 2:22am EDT
By Chang-Ran Kim, Asia autos correspondent
CHIBA, Japan (Reuters) - Nissan Motor Co unveiled a sketch of its first all-electric light commercial vehicle and Toyota Motor Corp introduced an electric car concept, underscoring carmakers' drive into zero-emissions vehicles.
Automakers at the 41st Tokyo Motor Show that opened on Wednesday also said they saw chances to develop new business opportunities related to electric vehicles, such as in rechargeable batteries.
Japan's car lobby expects new vehicle sales to sink to a 32-year low this financial year as the economic slump exacerbates demand already declining due to a shrinking population.
But reduced taxes on hybrids and other less-polluting cars have helped stem some of the slide -- and prompted automakers to ramp up their efforts in cleaner vehicles to boost growth.
"We are hoping to build electric vehicles into a global core model, as well as possibly developing news business models around an electric-vehicle future," Mitsubishi Motors Corp President Osamu Masuko said at the biennial event.
But some executives expressed concern about the strength of the yen, which eats into carmakers' repatriated profits and dampens their sales competitiveness abroad.
"It will be hard to export to North America if the dollar falls further against the yen," Honda Chief Executive Takanobu Ito told Reuters Television in an interview.
"We will need to find export markets other than North America to keep our domestic output levels.
The Tokyo Motor Show, traditionally considered one of the industry's five big international shows, faces a thin turnout this year with only two small carmakers from overseas attending, underscoring the waning fortunes of Japan's once-buoyant auto market -- the third-biggest after China and the United States.
At the show, open to the media on Wednesday and Thursday and to the public from Saturday, automakers will showcase 19 world premiere cars, down from 37 in 2007. Floor space will be less than half of the previous show.
NEW BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES
Nissan, which plans to mass-market electric vehicles in 2012, officially confirmed for the first time that it would add an all-electric version of the NV200 light commercial vehicle (LCV), a sketch of which was unveiled at its booth.
Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn spoke of new opportunities in the electric car field, after Nissan and trading house Sumitomo Corp announced on Tuesday plans to form a joint venture to recycle lithium-ion batteries after they are used in Nissan cars.
"A second life for batteries exists as a power backup, emergency power supply or home storage unit for electric or solar energy," Ghosn told a news conference.
"With Sumitomo, we are developing a brand-new '4-R' business model -- to reuse, resell, refabricate and recycle lithium-ion batteries. This innovative solution demonstrates our commitment to good product stewardship, from start to finish."
But Ghosn also told reporters that Nissan may replace shipments of Japan-made cars to "dollar countries" such as in the Middle East with cars manufactured in the United States, due to the dollar's weakness against the yen.
Nissan is assuming an average dollar rate of 95 yen in the financial year to March while Honda sees a rate of 91 yen, compared with around 90.60 in trading on Wednesday.
Earlier this month, the dollar fell near its January low of 87.10 yen, which was the lowest since 1995.
DON'T PUT ALL YOUR EGGS IN ONE BASKET
Toyota, known for its popular Prius gasoline-electric hybrid and miles ahead of competitors in the fast-growing field, is also ramping up efforts in developing electric cars.
"Hybrid vehicles are becoming mainstream, but Toyota is not putting all of its eggs into this core technology," Toyota President Akio Toyoda told a news conference, introducing a range of cars including the FT-EV II electric car concept, and a new, compact five-door Lexus hybrid concept, the LF-Ch.
The world's biggest automaker also unveiled the Lexus LFA two-seater "supercar" powered by a 4.8-liter V10 gasoline engine, achieving a maximum speed of 325 km/h and acceleration from 0 to 100 km/hour in 3.7 seconds.
Toyota plans to produce only 500 units of the LFA, and sell them between December 2010 and December 2012. Toyota will begin taking orders from Wednesday, with a suggested retail price of $375,000.
(Editing by Chris Gallagher and Lincoln Feast)
[Small Business]
Couple brews beer startup from scratch
Tue Oct 20, 2009 4:00pm EDT
By Jon Cook
TORONTO (Reuters) - As the jobless rate climbed toward 10 percent this summer, Erica Shea and Stephen Valand, quit their advertising jobs, took $10,000 in personal savings and started selling their 1-gallon home brew beer kits from a stand at the Brooklyn Flea Market, testing the theory that beer is recession proof.
"When you go from an actual salary down to $0 an hour, it's quite an adjustment," admitted Shea, who got the bug for beer making after she stumbled across her dad's old home brewing kit. But when Shea and Valand went to brew their first batch they discovered there was no place in New York to buy the ingredients, sparking their business venture. The kits take up only a foot of floor space and come with everything needed to brew your own beer.
Shea said they opened their stand, which they rent for $100 a day, on the July 4th weekend, but sold just five kits. By the end of the month they had moved 40 kits, which go for $40, or $30 without grain. The kits, which make about 12 bottles through a four-week process, include a 1-gallon glass jug, some tubing, a racking cane, a thermometer, sanitizer and the yeast, hops and grain.
"Generally we make a $12-$15 profit off each kit," said Shea, adding that after an August lull, they are currently selling about 90 kits a week, which has created problems in terms of storing all the grain and finding the time to put all the kits together. Valand has already had to move into a bigger apartment to accommodate the larger grain shipments.
THE PITCH
The U.S. craft brewing industry has weathered the recession better than most, with sales up nearly 9 percent in the first half of this year, according to the Brewers Association (BA). The BA, which has more than 1,500 members, also reported that overall U.S. beer sales were down 1.3 percent in the first six months of 2009.
Shea and Valand believe the trend of brewing your own specialty beers will continue to grow and that it will entice a younger, more urban demographic that enjoys the ability to experiment with different flavors.
"I just think that because there are really good craft beers now, there is really a drive for people to explore that and make their own really good beers," said Shea, who has used ingredients as bizarre as lobster and jalapeno. "We're working on an eggnog milk stout, which uses vanilla bean and nutmeg, but also lactose sugar, so it tastes really milky, like a beer-ish milkshake, which sounds really gross but actually isn't."
Valand said in September online sales through their website - www. brooklynbrewshop.com - surpassed in-person sales at the market for the first time and the couple would like to drive more traffic there, but know that entails a major revamp of the site. In addition Shea said they are also looking to get the kits into retail stores in time for the Christmas rush. That will likely entail hiring more people to do the packaging to free up their time to devote to marketing the product better.
"Our challenges as we continue to grow the business are time and space. There's only so many hours in a day that you can be doing things and there are so many ideas that come up that we really want to pursue, but ultimately there are two of us and we get tired."
