Toyota says hybrid sales reach two-million mark

TOKYO: Toyota Motor said Friday that global sales of its hybrid vehicles had topped the two-million mark since their launch in 1997, led by the Prius -- Japan's top-selling car for the past four months.
Toyota passed the new milestone just two years and three months after its hybrid sales reached the one-million mark, helped by brisk demand for its remodelled Prius which was launched in mid-May.
The company said that as of August 31 it had sold about 2,016,900 hybrids, which run on a combination of petrol and electricity and are in strong demand because of concerns about high fuel prices and global warming.
Toyota sold 21,669 Prius vehicles in Japan in August, keeping the top rank in the car market that it has held since May, the Japan Automobile Dealers Association said.
With government tax breaks and subsidies spurring growing interest in fuel-efficient vehicles, rival Honda sold 7,900 of its Insight hybrid in August.
Automakers hope that the popularity of fuel-efficient cars will breathe new life into the ailing market, which was battered by the global recession.
Japan's domestic vehicle sales showed the first year-on-year increase in 13 months in August, the same association reported earlier in the week.
Toyota and Honda are going head-to-head in the fast growing market. The Insight was the best-selling hybrid in April in Japan before being overtaken by the Prius.
The Insight sells at 1.89 million yen (20,410 dollars) while the Prius has a price tag starting from 2.05 million yen.
Rival Nissan is staking its future on pure electric vehicles and plans to start selling its first such car in late 2010.

India promises $10 b bond purchase: IMF

WASHINGTON: The International Monetary Fund on Saturday hailed India's pledge to buy 10 billion dollars worth of IMF bonds, as top emerging economies pressed for a greater say in running the global economy.

"I welcome the announcement by India of its intention to support the Fund's lending capacity through the purchase of up to 10 billion dollars worth of IMF notes," Fund director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said in a statement.

Indian Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee announced the purchase on Friday at a G20 finance ministers meeting in London.

The pledge comes after China said it would snap up 50 billion dollars worth of the asset, created in July this year as a means of propping up the Washington-based institution's finances.

The IMF has struggled to keep pace with loan demands from nations battling to cope with the global economic crisis, which has caused credit markets and fiscal revenues to wither.

"This investment will help underpin the international financial system by ensuring the Fund has adequate resources to meet the financing needs of its membership," said Strauss-Kahn.

But it is no free lunch for the IMF, with emerging economies demanding a greater say in global finance in return for easing the Fund's financial pressures.

In a statement, the Indian government said it expected more IMF votes and eased access to financing -- in IMF jargon an "increased quota" -- as a quid-pro-quo for the purchase.

"We fully expect that the next general quota review, which is now agreed to be concluded by January 2011, will result in the long overdue substantial re-balancing of quota and voting power in favor of emerging market economies and developing countries," the statement said.

China's note purchase agreement was the first in the history of the 186-nation body, but it now looks set to be followed by similar moves by Brazil and Russia, as well as India.

A deal for Russia to buy up to 10 billion dollars of IMF notes should be concluded by September, a senior Russian government official said in early July.

Brazil is also said to be in the market for 10 billion dollars worth of bonds.

The IMF has traditionally been dominated by the United States and Europe. An informal agreement means the head of the IMF is normally a European, while the head of the World Bank is from North America.

But China's dramatic economic rise and the emergence of the so called BRIC countries -- Brazil, Russia, India and China -- as a lobbying bloc has changed the balance of power in recent years.

In sign of that pressure, last year the World Bank appointed former Beijing professor Justin Lin Yifu to become its chief economist.

But the relative weakening of the United States, European Union and Japan because of the global economic slowdown has only served to increase the clamor for reform.

Indian officials said the buy would not stretch the nation's finances, and would be paid in part though foreign exchange reserves.

Suzuki Motor to build new auto plant in India

TOKYO: Japan's Suzuki Motor Corp. plans to build a new plant in India in 2011 in a bid to meet growing demand for cars in the country, a newspaper reported on Saturday.
The manufacturer of small cars and motorcycles plans to invest about 30 billion yen (323 million dollars) in construction of a plant with annual production capacity of 300,000 vehicles, the Nikkei business daily said.
The firm will build the plant near its production base in Manesar near New Delhi, where Suzuki has already been producing some 300,000 units a year with its Indian partner, according to the daily's evening edition.
Vehicle manufacturers see huge potential in countries such as India and China, with their billion-plus populations. In July, Indian car sales jumped for a sixth straight month, climbing an annual 31 percent.
India is one of the world's least penetrated car markets with just seven autos per 1,000 people compared with 850 cars per 1,000 people in the United States.
Immediate confirmation of the report was not available.