Makro holds food expo

Makro holds food expo

JAKARTA: PT Makro Indonesia is holding a two-day expo hosting more than 60 traders of food and nonfood products at Balai Sudirman on Jl. Dr Sahardjo, South Jakarta, from June 24 and June 25.

The products displayed are mostly those that support hotel, restaurant and catering activities, such as fresh meats, seasoning products, canned food, bakery and pastry ingredients, beverages, as well as kitchenware and refrigerators.

In a news release made available on Monday, Makro president director Simon Collins said that in recent years Makro had been focusing its market segment on institutional buyers such small businesses, hotels, restaurants, offices and hospitals, rather than end users.

Collins said Makro was a self-service retailer selling high- volume and low-price products. With high efficiency and low cost operations, the retailer could sell products at the lowest price possible, he said.

In Indonesia, Makro has 13 stores located in Greater Jakarta, Surabaya in East Java, Semarang in Central Java, Bandung in West Java, Medan in North Sumatra, Denpasar in Bali and Makassar in South Sulawesi. -JP

;AFP; ANPAf..r.. CorporateBrief-Fiat-layoffs Fiat layoffs could reach 12,000 JP/14/Brief

Fiat layoffs could reach 12,000

ROME: Italian industrial conglomerate Fiat on Thursday is due to announce up to 12,000 layoffs, mainly outside Italy, the Wall Street Journal Europe reported on Monday, citing a source close to the company.

Fiat, the parent of ailing car maker Fiat Auto, is expected to announce job cuts in several of its units -- including farm- equipment maker CNH, truck concern Iveco and car-parts firm Magneti Marelli, the newspaper said. About 4,000 of the cuts are at CNH, the source added.

Earlier reports had put the number of layoffs at 8,000-10,000.

Fiat had put about 8,500 employees, mainly at its Italian auto factories, on extended temporary layoffs last fall.

Despite the cost-cutting measure, Fiat in May posted a first- quarter consolidated loss of 699 million euros. Its car unit Fiat Auto, in which U.S. giant General Motors Corporation owns 20 percent, recorded a loss of 334 million euros. -- AFP

;AFP; ANPAf..r.. CorporateBrief-Global-production-Toyota Global production up at Toyota JP/14/Brief

Global production up at Toyota

TOKYO: Global auto production rose at Toyota Motor Corp. in May compared to the same month a year ago, but was mostly down at other Japanese automakers, the companies said on Monday.

Global auto production at Toyota, Japan's biggest automaker, edged up 3.8 percent in May to 491,166. Production in Japan fell 3.6 percent but surged 14.7 percent overseas.

At Honda Motor Co., Japan's second biggest automaker, global production last month slipped by 0.6 percent from a year ago to 243,068 vehicles. Overseas production climbed 14.9 percent and domestic production plunged 19.7 percent, Honda said.

Nissan Motor Co.'s worldwide production in May totaled 229,955, slipping 0.7 percent from the same month a year ago. Domestic production was up 0.6 percent while overseas production was off 1.9 percent, according to Nissan, which has an alliance with Renault SA of France.

At Mitsubishi Motors Corp., which is partly owned by DaimlerChrysler AG of Germany, global production decreased 1.5 percent in May to 125,663 vehicles. Production in Japan rose 11.6 percent but overseas production slipped 9.7 percent.

At Mazda Motor Corp., domestic production rose 1.4 percent to 61,229 vehicles, while overseas production climbed 6.6 percent to 15,543 vehicles. Ford Motor Co. of the United States owns about a third of Mazda. -- AP