Quickbites — Samsung plagued by leak

South Korea's Samsung Group was secretly seeking to take over the ailing Kia Motors while publicly denying such a plan, a newspaper said, q...

South Korea’s Samsung Group was secretly seeking to take over the ailing Kia Motors while publicly denying such a plan, a newspaper said, quoting an inside report leaked to the press.

A photocopy of the report, published by Dong-A newspaper, also indicated that Samsung was pushing for "firm coordination with the government" to realize the takeover, the influential daily said. But Samsung officials said the report had already been "rejected" by its management and had never been reflected in the group’s plans.

"The report was rejected because it was too unrealistic," a Samsung official told AFP. The report said that Samsung was seeking to take over both Kia Motors and jeep-making Sangyong Motor, both of which it said would have little chance of recovering from their current financial problems.The acquisition is necessary for Samsung’s start-up auto making subsidiary to secure a competitive edge. "For the short-term, (the group plans) to … create an atmosphere and public opinion favorable to the takeover of Kia," the report said.

Australian minister defends car tariffs

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Australia’s policy of imposing a 22.5 percent tariff on imported cars was defended by Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer as "pretty clever". Australia has been under pressure to lower the tariffs but Downer defended it. "It is a very good policy and it is in Australia’s national interests and it’s a policy that is in the broader interests of the region," Downer told a press conference. "The fact is we are committed to reducing car tariffs." By 2005 the tariffs will be down to 10 percent. "That represents a significant reduction in car tariffs." The decision to reduce tariffs guaranteed continued investment in the Australian automotive industry. "Australia has four automotive manufacturers and we want to maintain an automotive industry in Australia. We don’t want to be without a car industry at all," Downer said. "What we’ve achieved, if I may say so, is something that is pretty clever."

Northwest, KLM plot freight to Asia

Northwest Airlines and KLM have launched exploratory talks for closer cooperation to capture a larger share of the fast-growing, Air freight business to and from Asia, according to a Northwest official here. "KLM wants to work with us and we want to work with KLM," Bill Slattery, head of Northwest Cargo, said this week.

Late last month, KLM agreed to sell its 19.5-percent stake in Northwest for nearly $1.2-billion but the two airlines vowed to continue operational and commercial cooperation for at least 10 years. Despite their close ties, KLM and Northwest, which are among the few passenger airlines that are also major players in the freight business, had until now not seriously discussed joint cargo operations. Experts said stiffer competition from other US airlines in the lucrative Asian Cargo market drove Northwest to consider a joint operation with its former partner in this field.

KLM is the fourth largest cargo hauler between Europe and Asia while Minneapolis-based Northwest moves more freight between the United States and Asia than anyone else.