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New chief takes reins at Mitsubishi Motors (Thailand)
Mitsubishi Motors Corp (MMC) has recently appointed Masahiko Ueki as the new president and CEO of Mitsubishi Motors (Thailand) – MMTh – replacing Nobuyuki Murahashi.
The appointment takes effect tomorrow, with Murahashi’s term in Thailand ending after four years and seven months.
The auto-maker’s release stated that during his period, Murahashi, who speaks fluent Thai, “has brought MMTh to another level in terms of both production and sales”.
“Presently, MMTh is one of the most important production bases and global sales [hubs] of MMC. In mid-December, he will return to MMC to take up his new position and continue his support to MMTh from Japan.
Ueki, 59, graduated from Osaka University in 1977. He started his career with MMC Japan in production and was later appointed to take up assignments in several Mitsubishi overseas subsidiaries, including Australia, Sweden, Netherlands and the Philippines.
Prior to the latest appointment, he was corporate general manager of the auto-maker’s Asia and Asean office.
Securities consultant suspended for month
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has imposed a one-month suspension of approval on Pete Dheva-Aksorn, a securities investment consultant of Phatra Securities, effective from yesterday.
This follows a report from Phatra Securities that he had failed to record many securities trading orders of his clients. Pete admitted that he had taken such trading orders via his mobile phone. Failure to record clients’ securities trading orders is in violation of SEC regulations. Consequently, the commission suspended Pete as an approved securities investment consultant for one month.
‘Hello Kitty Fairy Tales’ on offer at McDonald’s
McDonald’s has launched “Hello Kitty Fairy Tales”, which are best-sellers all over Asia, alongside a new collection of six Hello Kitty figures dressed as characters from the stories.
For more than 58 years, McDonald’s has been catering to customers of diverse ages and lifestyles all over the world, and families are a core customer segment, with many campaigns and activities launched for their benefit. The collection is available for only Bt149 with a McDonald’s extra-value meal, or with every purchase of at least Bt100 at a McDonald’s restaurant or via McDelivery 1711.
Journalists’ association to hold eco-car seminar
The Thai Automotive Journalists Association (TAJA) will stage a seminar on “Eco-Car Phase 2: Realising the Dream of 3-Million-Unit Auto Production” at Impact Muang Thong Thani on Monday.
Among the guest speakers scheduled to attend are Deputy Prime Minister Kittiratt Na-Ranong, Industry Minister Prasert Boonchaisuk, Board of Investment secretary-general Udom Wongviwatchai, a representative of the Excise Department, and Suparat Sirisuwannakura, chairman of the Automotive Industry Club, Federation of Thai Industries.
The purpose of the seminar is an exchange of ideas as well as clarification on Phase 2 of the government’s eco-car project, which is expected to help strengthen the country’s position as a global auto-production base.
The seminar is also expected to educate TAJA members, as well as representatives from the media, government agencies and the private sector, on the purpose of the project, and allow all to exchange ideas and provide suggestions to those involved.
In addition, organisers of the seminar hope to prepare the industry for the upcoming Asean Economic Community.
Esso plans to expand petrol stations
Esso (Thailand) will invest Bt1 billion next year to revamp its operations including petrol stations and lubricant services, said Yodpong Sutatham, director and retail sales manager.
Esso will broaden its network of petrol stations from around 500 currently. The new stations will be operated by distributors, he said.
Esso will launch its first E20 (20-per-cent ethanol) fuel on Wednesday at its 70 petrol stations in Bangkok and nearby provinces before expanding its availability nationwide.
Fuel sales next year are expected to grow by 3 per cent, and Esso aims for 15-16 per cent of the market. It hopes sales of E20 will help it achieve this goal.
Thailand to be ‘laggard’ next year, Nomura says
Japanese securities house Nomura’s research unit expects Asian growth of less than 6 per cent next year.
“Our big theme for next year is growing differentiation in Asia,” it said, adding that the leaders would be South Korea, Malaysia and the Philippines, and the laggards Thailand, China, India and Indonesia.
In the first quarter, it expects the Indian rupee, Korean won and Philippine peso to outperform the Indonesian rupiah and Malaysian ringgit because of the tapering of quantitative easing in the US and policy risks.
In the second quarter, China’s hard-landing risk could pressure Asian foreign-exchange rates, with the peso and rupee least affected. From the second quarter onwards, the focus should shift to policy-rate divergence, where the peso should outperform the baht.
On the equity outlook, it said stocks would advance on earnings growth.
