It's a matter of time - hybrids are approaching the critical mass of recognition that they're so good - it even top sales in Japan where congestion, pollution, and small cars already dominate the road.
In other news - China is seeking in a dramatic way to replace their rapidly-devaluing US dollars with something tangible. Anyone with a sane, rational, thinking mind would do the same.TOKYO (Reuters) - Toyota Motor Corp's Prius hybrid was Japan's best-selling car in May, a dealers' group said on Thursday, attesting to robust demand for low-emission cars helped by government incentives amid flagging auto sales.
Competition is also heating up between automakers as the Prius, of which a new model hit the market last month, grabbed the top slot for the first time after Honda Motor Co's new Insight became the first hybrid to head the best-seller list in Japan in April.
"I think a green car tax break and other incentives helped the sales performance (of the Prius) quite a bit," Akihiko Otsuka, chief engineer for the new Prius, told reporters in Toyota City, home to the automaker.
The third-generation model Prius, which went on sale on May 18, was priced about $3,000 less than the previous version and there were more than 80,000 advance orders for it.
Toyota said on its web site that factory shipment would be mid-November or later for orders made after May 31.
"The Popularity of hybrid cars will undoubtedly continue as their prices have come down to affordable levels and will be more so in coming models," said Kazutaka Oshima, CEO of Rakuten Investment Management. "In addition, oil prices have been rising again lately," he said.
A ranking of Japan's top 30 excluding 660cc minivehicles by the Japan Automobile Dealers Association showed the Prius selling 10,915 cars in May, followed by Honda's Fit compact with sales of 8,859 cars. The Insight was in third place with 8,183 cars.
Gas-sipping hybrid cars have become a rare bright spot in an industry hit hard by recession, and Toyota and Honda are locked in a fierce battle in the category.
But some analysts have pointed to a growing challenge for Toyota to strike a balance with sales of gasoline cars, which have higher profit margins.
(Additional reporting by Chang-Ran Kim in Toyota City; Editing by Michael Watson)
How do you think the best way to get out of a position is...by trading it back to the same country through purchase of commodities and mines!!BEIJING -- China should buy more gold because the dollar is poised for a fall and the metal is needed to support the greater international role envisaged for the yuan, a senior researcher with the ruling Communist Party said on Thursday.
Li Lianzhong, who heads the economic department of the Party's policy research office, also said China should use more of its US$1.95-trillion in foreign exchange reserves to buy energy and natural resource assets.
Speaking at a foreign exchange and gold forum, Li also said that buying land in the United States was a better option for China than buying U.S. Treasury securities.
"Should we buy gold or U.S. Treasuries?" Li asked. "The U.S. is printing dollars on a massive scale, and in view of that trend, according to the laws of economics, there is no doubt that the dollar will fall. So gold should be a better choice."
There is no suggestion that Li, even though he is a senior researcher, was enunciating an agreed party line.
However, a debate is swirling in China about how the country can reduce its exposure to the dollar and to U.S. assets in case America's ultra-loose fiscal and monetary policy rekindles inflation and erodes the value of the dollar and U.S. Treasuries.
To that end, China has said it will buy up to US$50-billion worth of bonds denominated in Special Drawing Rights, the International Monetary Fund's unit of account, to be issued by the IMF.
Chinese companies, at Beijing's bidding, are also snapping up energy and commodity supplies around the globe to fuel its fast-growing growing economy.
Sinopec, China's largest oil refiner, agreed on Wednesday to buy Swiss oil explorer Addax Petroleum Corp for US$7.24-billion in China's biggest overseas acquisition.
China disclosed on April 24 that it had increased its holdings of gold to 1,054 tonnes from 600 tonnes since 2003.
However, China's foreign exchange reserves have grown so fast over the same period that gold's share of the stockpile, the largest in the world, has shrunk.
Li cited the high share of gold in the foreign exchange reserves of the United States, Italy, Germany and France, to argue that China's gold holdings, which account for about 1.6% of its reserves, are too small.
China does not disclose the composition of its currency reserves, but bankers assume around 70% of it is held in dollar assets.
China is the largest single holder of U.S. Treasuries, with US$763.5-billion at the end of April, according to U.S. Treasury data.
Analysts say this data set understates the true number as it does not capture paper bought through dealers in London or elsewhere.
Li said a second reason for buying more gold would be in anticipation of the yuan one day becoming a reserve currency.
The yuan is not convertible on the capital account, meaning it cannot be freely traded for other currencies for financial transactions that are not related to trade.
This rules out the yuan's use as an international reserve currency, for central banks would not be able to convert it quickly if necessary.
But, in a very preliminary step towards that goal, China is paving the way for greater use of the yuan beyond its borders.
The People's Bank of China has arranged currency swap deals with six countries since December totalling 650-billion yuan (US$95-billion) so that trade and investment with China can be conducted in yuan, not dollars.
And China will soon allow selected firms in the southern province of Guangdong that trade with Hong Kong to settle their transactions in yuan, or renminbi.
"If the yuan should go international or become a reserve currency, China needs more gold to back that," Li said.
When the yuan does become an international currency, which Li acknowledged was a long way off, he said the composition of the SDR should be reformed to include the Chinese currency.
Ideally, in the long term, the SDR would be made up of the dollar, euro, sterling and yen and yuan, each with a weighting of 20%, Li said.
The SDR is currently made up of the dollar (with a weighting of 44%), the euro (34%), the yen (11%) and sterling (11%)
The four currencies in the SDR, which must be convertible, are those issued by Fund members with the largest share of global trade. The weights assigned by the IMF are based on the value of exports and the amount of reserves denominated in those currencies.
The composition of the basket is reviewed every five years. the next review is due in 2010.
http://www.goozad.com/news/China+eyes+nimble+private+equity+for+overseas+M&%3BA_29445
Resources-focused private equity firms are raising billions of dollars and, in terms of dealmaking, will be far more nimble than China's massive state conglomerates, said two sources familiar with the matter.
The funds will also be able to cut smaller deals under the radar and avoid the type of scrutiny that has slowed Chinalco's $19.5 billion tie-up with Rio Tinto (RIO.L)(RIO.AX).
A group of around 300 mine entrepreneurs recently raised 500 million yuan ($73.25 million) for the China Mining United Fund, its chairman Zheng Zhi told Reuters, and the fund aims to raise up to 10 billion yuan to target Western Europe, Africa and Australia for resources such as gold, copper and iron ore.
It is already investigating about 30 projects, Zheng said.
Despite the fund's small size compared to state-owned giants such as Chinalco, Minmetals, and Hunan Valin Iron & Steel, its cozy relationship with Beijing and alignment with official economic policy, is clear.
"We private entrepreneurs think it's important to secure valuable overseas resources, partly for the sake of our country," Zheng said. "We're getting a lot of support from the government for overseas asset acquisitions."
HUNGER GROWING
China's hunger for overseas resources shows little sign of fatigue, and is not dampened by the political sensitivities of big deals such as the Chinalco-Rio tie-up, or Minmetals' $850 million deal with OZ Minerals (OZL.AX) regional dealmakers say.
Expect to see alot more buyouts like Lynas and government doing anything they can to try and stop the flow of buyouts and getting their own funds back into the country...
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