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BUSINESS A25
Thursday 10 December 2015
VW: CO2 emissions problem far smaller than suspected
GEIR MOULSON In a case that is sepa- investigations and mea- production vehicles had production of some 36,000
Associated Press rate from its scandal over surement checks found been unlawfully changed cars, or 0.5 percent of the
BERLIN (AP) — Volkswa- cheating on U.S. emissions that “almost all of these was not confirmed.” brand’s total production.
gen said Wednesday that tests for the pollutant ni- model variants do corre- Shares in Volkswagen Those deviations amount
a problem with carbon di- trogen oxide, Volkswagen spond to the CO2 figures jumped 6 percent on the to “a few grams of CO2
oxide emissions is far small- said in November it had originally determined.” news. on average,” it said.
er than initially suspected, also found “unexplained “This means that these Volkswagen said Wednes- “These model variants will
with further checks finding inconsistencies” in the vehicles can be market- day that “slight deviations” be re-measured by a neu-
“slight discrepancies” in carbon dioxide emissions ed and sold without any were found in nine vari- tral technical service un-
only a few models and no from up to 800,000 vehi- limitations,” the company ants of Volkswagen brand der the supervision of the
evidence of illegal chang- cles. said in a statement. “The models — versions of the appropriate authority by
es to fuel consumption On Wednesday, however, suspicion that the fuel con- Polo, Scirocco, Jetta, Golf Christmas,” Volkswagen
and emissions figures. it said that further internal sumption figures of current and Passat with an annual added.q
Yahoo going back to the drawing board with Alibaba spinoff
MICHAEL LIEDTKE tax exemption.
Under mounting share-
Associated Press holder pressure, Yahoo
scrapped that spinoff
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Wednesday and said that
it will instead try to break
Yahoo’s long-running iden- off everything but the Alib-
aba holdings into another
tity crisis is spiraling in a company. That process
could be even more com-
new direction now that the plicated than the origi-
nal spinoff and take more
company is abandoning a than a year before Yahoo
shareholders get stock in
year’s work on a tax-dodg- a newly formed company
that has yet to be named.
ing spinoff to pursue an With Yahoo hanging in
limbo, prospective bidders
alternative path that will could emerge for the com-
pany’s Internet operations,
carve off its Internet busi- which Wall Street has been
valuing at next to nothing
ness instead. amid a decline in revenue.
Analysts believe Yahoo’s
The about-face an- websites, mobile applica-
tions, ad services and well-
nounced Wednesday known brand eventually
could be worth $3 billion to
opens another chapter $5 billion to a list of suitors
that could include AT&T
in the dysfunctional dra- Inc., Verizon Communica-
tions, Comcast Corp., IAC/
ma that has been swirling InterActiveCorp and pri-
vate equity firms that spe-
around Yahoo for most of cialized in buying troubled
companies.q
the past decade and rais-
es more questions about Yahoo president and CEO Marissa Mayer speaks in Las Vegas. Yahoo announced Wednesday,
Dec. 9, 2015, it is scrapping its original plan to spin off its prized stake in China’s Alibaba Group
the fate of websites and and will instead break off the rest of its business into a new company. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)
mobile applications used
by hundreds of millions of quickly. pany Chairman Maynard now worth $32 billion, far
The uncertainty and re- Webb said Wednesday more than the rest of Ya-
people around the world. shuffling threaten to cause that the board of directors hoo’s operations.
more distractions at a time remains in her corner after Yahoo began this year by
Many of Yahoo’s 10,700 when Yahoo already is three-and-half years on drawing up plans to spin
struggling to keep up in the the job. off the Alibaba stake into a
employees may also be race for digital advertis- The latest twists revolve separate holding compa-
ing with bigger rivals such around Yahoo’s efforts to ny called Aabaco in what
fretting about their job se- as Google and Facebook avoid paying taxes on a was supposed to be a tax-
and nimbler startups. It also $1 billion investment that free move. But the Internal
curity, with CEO Marissa may raise more doubts it made a decade ago in Revenue Service jeopar-
about whether Mayer will one of China’s hottest In- dized the plan by refusing
Mayer promising to an- be able to turn around ternet companies, Alibaba to guarantee the Alibaba
Yahoo, even though com- Group. That investment is spinoff would quality for a
nounce plans for a cost-
cutting reorganization late
next month and many an-
alysts speculating that the
company’s Internet busi-
ness will be sold if the latest
overhaul doesn’t bear fruit
Toyota starts sales of 4th generation Prius hybrid auto
YURI KAGEYAMA sion of the gasoline-elec- nothing you feel you are hybrid, but its popularity is continue to set the pace
AP Business Writer tric car, better than the 40 suffering through to get mostly limited to the U.S. for, and dominate, the
TOKYO (AP) — Toyota said kpm initially projected. that mileage,” he said. and Japan. Toyota faced global hybrid car market.”
Wednesday it expects an- Mileage tests and driving Improvements in the bat- skepticism when it first intro- A hybrid switches back
nual sales of its newly-re- conditions differ by nation. tery, engine, wind resis- duced Prius in 1997. Sales and forth between a gaso-
leased fourth generation Toyota Motor Corp. has tance and weight are con- last year totaled about line engine and an electric
Prius hybrid to reach as promised about 52 mpg in tributing to the improved 240,000 vehicles. motor to deliver an efficient
many as 350,000 vehicles the U.S. performance, according “In my mind, there is no ride and reduce emissions.
despite a big drop in oil Executive Vice President to Toyota. The new Prius doubt that this new mod- They deliver more of a perk
prices making traditional Mitsuhisa Kato told report- also got a design make- el will be well received,” in stop-and-go city driving
gasoline cars cheap to run. ers at a Tokyo showroom, over, although reaction said Max Zanan, chief ex- than freeway driving. Ja-
The automaker is promising that the latest Prius made has been divided. ecutive of IDDS Group, a pan sales started Wednes-
mileage of 40.8 kilometers fewer driving experience Toyota has sold 3.6 million New York-based consult- day, and are set for Janu-
a liter (96 miles a gallon) compromises to achieve Prius vehicles globally, mak- ing company that special- ary in North America and
in Japan for its latest ver- better mileage. “There is ing it the world’s top-selling izes in auto retailing. “It will February om Europe.q
