CHICAGO: Ford and Chrysler posted solid gains in June US auto sales yesterday as analysts forecast a strong close to the first half of the year and more growth in the months to come. Ford’s sales rose 13 percent to 235,643 vehicles in its best June performance since 2006. Sales for the first half of the year were also up 13 percent at 1.3 million vehicles.
“In June, we continued to see strong demand across the entire lineup,” said Ken Czubay, Ford’s sales chief. “We’re particularly encouraged by strong retail share gains, especially in coastal markets, where the combination of great design and fuel economy is resonating with customers—including many buying a Ford for the first time.”
Chrysler’s sales rose eight percent to 156,686 vehicles in the company’s best June in six years. Sales for the first half of the year were up nine percent at 908,332.
“The fundamentals for continued industry gains in new vehicle sales remain intact,” Reid Bigland, Chrysler’s sales chief, said in a statement.
Automotive website Edmunds.com forecast that total industry sales will rise 6.3 percent in June and come in at an adjusted, annualized rate of 15.5 million vehicles once all automakers have reported.
“Within the last month we saw a slowing stock market and a stalled unemployment recovery, but the automotive market continues to shine through it all,” said Edmunds analyst Jessica Caldwell.
Swiss bank Mirabaud joins limited liability club
ZURICH: Swiss private bank Mirabaud plans to reposition itself as a limited partnership early next year, following the lead of two Geneva-based rivals as tax disputes with the United States and several other nations come to a head.
Mirabaud joins Pictet and Lombard Odier in moving away from the traditional “unlimited liability” model that has helped Swiss private banks to bolster their credibility as prudent money managers because the partners would have to pay if their decisions backfired.
“We see, with the tax and other affairs, that the notion of risk is changing and evolving,” Mirabaud Managing Partner Yves Mirabaud said yesterday.
Private banks such as Mirabaud have helped to build Switzerland into a $2 trillion offshore banking centre. However, these banks have come under heavy pressure from authorities in the United States and the European Union, who suspect some of them of helping their citizens to salt away billions in untaxed income.
Yves Mirabaud acknowledged that the bank needed to manage a growing level of political risk but added that protecting partners from potential future liabilities was only part of the reason for the bank’s decision to change its structure.
Capita signs $1.83bn O2 call centre outsourcing deal
LONDON: British outsourcing company Capita signed a £1.2bn ($1.83bn) contract to run O2’s call centres yesterday, weeks after agreement was reached with unions over terms for workers who will transfer to the firm.
Under the 10-year deal, 2,700 advisers based at four sites in Britain transferred to Capita’s management from July 1.
The Communication Workers Union ballotted for strike action June but later called it off after reaching a deal with Telefonica UK, known in Britain as O2, on workers’ conditions, including a two-year job guarantee.
O2 opened a voluntary redundancy programme for around 1,000 of its employees at Leeds, Glasgow, Preston Brook and Bury shortly after Capita was announced as preferred bidder in May. Capita, Britain’s largest outsourcing company by market value, upped its organic revenue growth forecasts to at least 8 percent for 2013 when it first announced the deal.
Agencies
