Osamu Suzuki, who grew small-car specialist Suzuki Motor into an international brand with huge successes in India, died Wednesday at age 94 after bouts with cancer, the company said Friday.Under the charismatic businessman’s four-decade leadership through 2021, the firm’s sales grew more than 10-fold.Born on January 30, 1930, in the central Japanese region of Gifu, he married into the firm’s founding family and later became its president in 1978.Calling himself an “old man at a small business,” he focused on building light-weight “kei” vehicles, many of which became big hits for their fuel efficiency and easy-to-handle quality.He also actively sought international partners and opportunities overseas to expand his business.The carmaker once tied up with General Motors and Volkswagen and also forged a capital alliance with Toyota in 2019.He expanded in India, where the company’s subsidiary now occupies the top market position.When he retired as the firm’s chairman in 2021, the company’s sales stood at 3.18 trillion yen ($20 billion). When he took over the company in 1978, the firm’s sales stood at 323 billion yen, according to the Nikkei Shimbun business daily.

Asian markets mostly rose on Friday, with Japanese shares gaining on a weaker yen, although Seoul shares plunged as South Korea’s political crisis deepened with a second impeachment vote.Japan’s Nikkei index closed up 1.8 percent, with the yen’s recent weakness proving a boon for major exporters. The yen hit 158.08 per US dollar on Thursday evening — its lowest in almost six months — before rebounding somewhat on Friday.In Seoul, the market closed down by 1.02 percent after the won plunged to a 16-year low of 1,480.20 per US dollar on Friday morning.South Korea is struggling to emerge from political turbulence in the wake of President Yoon Suk Yeol’s martial law declaration this month, which prompted his impeachment.Acting President Han Duck-soo was also impeached Friday in a vote that prompted ruling party lawmakers to protest with angry chants and raised fists.South Korea’s business outlook for January fell 7.3 points to 82.4 in the Bank of Korea’s composite sentiment index, marking the biggest month-on-month slide since April 2020, according to data released Friday. The survey of almost 3,300 firms was conducted between December 11 and 18.In Japan, the yen was “marginally stronger” on Friday, Bloomberg reported, after data showed inflation in Tokyo rose for a second month in December.Other positive figures from Japan showed industrial production declined less than expected in November, while retail sales came in higher than estimated last month.With the country’s unemployment rate holding at 2.5 percent in November — low by international standards but slightly above Japan’s pre-Covid 19 pandemic average — Moody’s Analytics said on Friday that the data confirmed their view that “employment conditions are wobbly”.Investor attention is now focused “on whether the Nikkei average will expand its rise to recover to the 40,000 points range by the end of the year”, said Kosuke Oka, an analyst at Monex Securities.Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda bewildered observers last week by suggesting a prolonged pause in the institution’s monetary policy tightening, in the face of domestic and international economic uncertainties, which had sent the Japanese currency tumbling.Ueda said on Wednesday rates would be “adjusted” if the situation continued to improve on the economic and price fronts, leaving investors without a clear signal on a possible interest rate hike and contributing to the yen’s slide.”With the calendar year winding down and little in the way of tier-one economic data, the market is content mainly to drift until something shakes it from its slumber — likely a late-year squeeze or perhaps a Trump-driven shift in global economic sentiment,” said Stephen Innes from SPI Asset Management, ahead of US President-elect Donald Trump retaking the White House in January.In Asia, Shanghai, Mumbai, Malaysia, Taipei, Singapore, Sydney and Bangkok were all in the green. Hong Kong was flat, while Manila was down.London was down while Frankfurt and Paris were both up in early European trade.- Key figures around 0800 GMT -Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 1.8 percent at 40,281.16 pointsHang Seng: UP 0.1 percent at 20,116.93Shanghai – Composite: UP 0.1 percent at 3,400.14Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0419 from $1.0409Pound/dollar: UP at $1.2532 from $1.2521Dollar/yen: UP at 157.80 yen from 157.59 yenEuro/pound: FLAT at 83.14 pence from 83.14 penceWest Texas Intermediate: UP at $69.80 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: UP at $73.40 per barrelNew York – Dow: UP 0.1 percent at 43,325.80 (close)

The growing popularity of Chinese sport utility vehicles and pickup trucks has shaken up Mexico’s luxury car market, hitting sales of traditionally dominant brands such as Mercedes-Benz and BMW.According to industry experts, Mexicans are increasingly switching from traditionally dominant sedans to Chinese vehicles due to a combination of comfort, technology and price.It is no small feat in a country home to factories of foreign brands such as Audi and BMW, and where until a few years ago imported Chinese cars were stigmatized, as in other parts of the world.According to the Mexican Association of Automotive Distributors (AMDA), the high-end segment of the market registered a sales drop of 8.1 percent from January to November.Audi’s sales slumped by 21.9 percent, while BMW, which includes the Mini brand, saw no growth in Latin America’s second-largest economy, home to 129 million people.Mercedes-Benz suffered a 9.8 percent decline, according to the state-run statistics institute INEGI.In contrast, Motornation, which sells the BAIC, JMC and Changan brands in Mexico, saw an 8.8 percent increase in sales in the first 11 months of this year, while those of Jetour rose 131 percent, it said.Chinese firms now control 9.3 percent of the Mexican market, according to the AMDA.They have brought stiff competition to the pickup truck segment, with many of the features of high-end models offered by premium brands, the association’s president Guillermo Rosales told AFP.Traditionally, the premium segment included sedan-type vehicles with luxury engines and top-of-the-range features.However, over the past decade consumer preferences have shifted toward utility vehicles such as pickup trucks, minivans and SUVs.Asian brands also benefited from an exemption from import tariffs on electric vehicles that was in effect in Mexico from 2020 until October 1.- ‘Simple arithmetic’ -As in other Latin American countries, Mexicans are becoming more used to seeing Chinese brands on the streets that were unknown to them until about five years ago.Miguel Reyes, a 71-year-old retiree, said that choosing a Chinese car over others was “simple arithmetic.””I needed a car that had the necessary technology, such as steering assist, to make driving safer,” Reyes said.As well as the design and comfort, the “competitive” price was another factor, said Reyes, who paid around 550,000 pesos — roughly $27,000 dollars.A similar model from a traditional brand would have cost him between $40,000 and $50,000, he said.According to Gerardo Gomez, an expert at the data and analytics company J.D. Power, there are around 30 Chinese brands in Mexico, with vehicles ranging from compacts to luxury cars. “They can offer you anything at any point in the range.”BYD offers an electric pickup truck for more than a million pesos ($50,000) but also a compact car for $17,000.Zeekr, a premium electric brand, sells luxury models for around $40,000.- Trump tensions – Chinese cars’ growing presence in Mexico, which is itself a major exporter of vehicles, comes at a time when China is a source of contention between the United States, Mexico and Canada, partners in a regional free trade agreement.During his campaign, US President-elect Donald Trump suggested that China was building car factories in Mexico to sell vehicles in the United States.Canadian officials have accused Mexico of being a springboard for Chinese products in the region — a claim denied by Mexican authorities.Trump has also threatened to impose 25 percent tariffs on both Mexico and Canada unless they stop flows of migrants and drugs.According to Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, only seven percent of the components of cars manufactured in the Latin American country are Chinese.”There’s no evidence from anywhere that proves that Mexico is being used as a springboard” for Chinese products, said Diego Marroquin, a trade policy specialist at the Wilson Center in the United States.”It’s a political narrative that comes from the United States and now from Canada.”Sheinbaum said last month that she would propose to the United States and Canada a Chinese import substitution plan, noting that in the case of Mexico alone, the trade deficit with the Asian giant amounted to $80 billion.