Slowdown saps promise of emerging auto markets Smoke and flashing lights, dancing girls in white go-go boots _ the world's top automakers put on dazzling shows Tuesday as they wooed Chinese buyers with their latest models.
But for all the flash at this year's Guangzhou Auto Show, automakers face a dimmer outlook for global sales, even here in the world's second-largest vehicle market.
Just as General Motors Corp. and other manufacturers are desperately looking to emerging markets to compensate for falling sales in the U.S., Europe and Japan, potential car buyers in China, Russia and other once sizzling markets are pulling back.
Ford to slash Mazda stake to raise cashFord Motor Co. is slashing its stake in Japan's Mazda Motor Corp. by nearly two-thirds, joining other struggling U.S. automakers in selling prized assets to stay afloat.
Auto Bailout Vote Pushed To DecemberDemocratic leaders have decided to put off a bailout vote for the auto industry until December and will insist that the Big Three first come up with a plan showing how the money would help transform their ...
BSkyB to raise $600 million in bond issue Satellite broadcaster British Sky Broadcasting Group PLC said Tuesday it plans to raise $600 million in a bond issue to refinance existing debt and acquire new businesses.
BSkyB, whose biggest shareholder is Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., said it will pay 9.5 percent interest on the 10-year bond notes to be issued to institutional investors.
It expects the offer to close by Nov. 24.
Last month, BSkyB posted a 21 percent rise in third-quarter operating profit resulting from a sharp increase in new customers.
Stocks point lower on economic worries U.S. stocks looked to extend their losses at the open Thursday as investors found little relief from worries about the fate of Detroit's three automakers and broader fears about the struggling economy.
Stock futures contracts fell more than 1 percent following a late-day sell-off Wednesday that sent stocks to their lowest levels since 2003. The major indexes fell more than 5 percent, while the Dow Jones industrial average tumbled below 8,000, a psychological benchmark for the market.
Investors who have been groping for a bottom to the yearlong market rout are now worried that Washington's disagreement over whether to bail out the auto industry could lead to bankruptcy of major automakers like General Motors Corp. and could send ripple effects through the economy _ including a further blow to consumer confidence.
