Page 25 - ATD12DEC2015
P. 25
BUSINESS A25
Saturday 12 December 2015
Volkswagen group sales 2.2 percent lower in November
BERLIN (AP) — Volkswagen by fallout from the diesel troubles, deliveries in west- fell 1.7 percent to nearly us, especially in this situa-
said Friday that its global emissions-cheating scan- ern Europe were up 2.6 per- 9.1 million from the previous tion, and continue to place
sales were 2.2 percent dal that erupted in mid- cent at 270,400 and sales in year’s 9.26 million. their trust in us,” he said in a
lower in November than a September in the U.S. and China rose 5.5 percent to The company didn’t give a statement.
year earlier, with increases then spread worldwide. 329,000. breakdown for sales of ve- The core Volkswagen Pas-
in western European and The company said it de- Unlike in the U.S., there has hicles with diesel and gaso- senger Cars brand saw
Chinese deliveries help- livered 833,700 vehicles been no confirmation Volk- line engines. deliveries drop 2.4 percent
ing cushion the impact of worldwide last month, swagen cheated on Euro- CEO Matthias Mueller ac- to 496,100 vehicles in No-
steep drops in the U.S. and down from 852,900 in No- pean emissions tests. knowledged that “the vember, while January-No-
elsewhere. vember 2014. Volkswagen Group and its vember sales were down
The German automaker, While U.S. sales were off It will nevertheless recall brands are currently experi- 4.5 percent to some 5.34
whose brands include 15.3 percent at 45,300 units, some 8.5 million cars across encing challenging times.” million. The brand delivered
Audi, Porsche and Seat as and there were steeper the region to fix their emis- “At the same time, we are 6.12 million cars in total last
well as the core Volkswa- drops in Brazil and Russia sions systems. pleased that our custom- year.q
gen marque, has been hit amid unrelated economic For the year’s first 11 ers are remaining loyal to
months, group deliveries
DuPont, Dow Chemical seek merger, then 3-way split
ings and Nylon and Kevlar more than 110,000 people.
DuPont chairman and CEO
fibers, will first form DowDu- Edward Breen said the “in-
dustrial logic” behind the
Pont, then separate into deal was compelling.
“When I look at DuPont and
three independent publicly Dow, I see businesses that
fit together like hand and
traded companies focused glove,” Breen said.
DuPont shares fell 5.4 per-
on agriculture, material sci- cent to $70.56 in midday
trading. Dow Chemical
ence and specialty prod- shares were down 3 per-
cent at $53.27.
ucts. Breen took over as DuPont
CEO following the abrupt
The proposed merger, an- resignation in October of
Ellen Kullman, who just a
nounced Friday, would few months earlier fended
off a proxy challenge by
temporarily create the Trian Fund Management, a
hedge fund led by activist
world’s second-largest investor Nelson Peltz. Peltz
has called for DuPont’s
chemical company, be- agriculture, nutrition and
health and industrial bio-
hind BASF. It comes as both sciences units to be com-
bined into a single growth
Dow and DuPont Co. have company, separate from
the more cyclical busi-
seen recent declines in ag- nesses of performance ma-
terials, safety and protec-
ricultural performance and tion, and electronics and
communication.q
been pressured by activ-
ist shareholders to control
spending and shift away
from commodities to faster-
growing parts of their busi-
nesses.
A Dow Chemical plant is seen in La Porte, Texas. Dow Chemical and the DuPont will attempt to “Overall, this transaction
merge in an all-stock deal that would create a colossal chemical producer worth $130 billion,
before splitting into three separate companies. The deal announced Friday, Dec. 11, 2015 is being represents a tectonic shift
billed a merger of equals, to be called DowDuPont.
in an industry that has been
(AP Photo/Pat Sullivan)
evolving over the last many
RANDALL CHASE billion as they try to counter The two companies, whose years,” said Dow chairman
AP Business Writer falling commodities prices research has brought the
DOVER, Del. (AP) — Dow and weakness in some key world products ranging and CEO Andrew Liveris,
Chemical and DuPont are markets that have pres- from Ziploc bags and Saran
merging to form a com- sured their giant agriculture wrap developed by Dow calling the merger a semi-
pany valued at about $130 and chemicals businesses. to DuPont’s Teflon coat-
nal event for employees
and customers of the two
companies, which have
a combined workforce of
Yum CEO Creed says brands need to be more like Uber
CANDICE CHOI During a presentation, livery and mobile ordering. than two minutes longer to at established locations last
AP Food Industry Writer Creed said there was a With Pizza Hut in particu- deliver than its competitors. year, following a 2 percent
NEW YORK (AP) — Yum time when the way to beat lar, Creed said the chain It’s one of the reasons Yum drop in 2013.
CEO Greg Creed thinks he the competition was to hasn’t paid as much atten- thinks Pizza Hut has flagged To get the chain back on
figured out why sales at Piz- have a better product. He tion to making life easier for in the U.S. as rivals have track, Creed said he made
za Hut have gone cold: The now believes that conve- customers as it focused on prospered. In recent years, Pizza Hut’s management
chain needs to be more nience trumps quality. being “better.” Yum notes Domino’s has credited the team get in a room about
like the car-hailing service Creed said the insight that the chain’s sales have convenience of its online a month ago to come up
Uber. “easy” beats “better” will flagged even as Pizza Hut ordering and mobile app with a “clear brand iden-
“If you think about the Uber help Yum energize its three is often cited as a favorite for fueling its steady growth. tity.” They were told not to
experience, it’s easy to use, fast-food chains, which among consumers. It turns Last year, its sales rose 7.5 come out until they did.
it’s easy to pay, it’s very also include KFC and Taco out people who prefer the percent at established U.S. “One of the joys of be-
easy to track,” Creed said Bell. That means everything chain’s pizzas are only will- locations, following growth ing the boss, you can lock
in a phone interview from from shaving time off drive- ing to wait about two min- of 5.4 percent the previous other people away,” said
Dallas late Thursday after through waits to pushing utes more for it, Creed said. year. In the meantime, Piz- Creed, who stepped into
Yum Brands’ investor day. into areas like catering, de- Yet Pizza Hut takes more za Hut’s sales fell 3 percent the CEO role this year. q
