Ford Motors to Invest $1 Billion In Mexico as It Plans to Establish a New Manufacturing Facility in the Region

The auto-maker is planning to make a production shift from Michigan to Mexico because of cheap labor.

In order to increase the productivity in Mexico, Ford Motors Company has decided to set up a new manufacturing facility in the country. This move on the auto-maker’s part will improve the efficiency at the new plant and slash costs as well.

This action plan is likely to be implemented later this year; the new plant which will be built in San Luis Potosi, Mexico will cost the corporation as much as $1 billion, as per the reports by The Wall Street Journal. Furthermore, it already has an assembly plant near Mexico which is plans to expand during the year. By the year 2019, Ford is aiming at increasing the production capacity by as much as 500,000 units annually. During the previous year, the total number of vehicles manufactured in the region was 433,000 which amounted to 14% of all the production in North America.

Presently, this new has not been confirmed by the automobile manufacturer as yet; since the spokesman has declined to comment on it at this time. As per the news by The Wall Street Journal, this plant that will be set up in Mexico will be producing the company’s latest hybrid automobile – and this will be the place where the model will be launched from as well. Ford is launching this hybrid model to tackle Toyota’s hybrid car, Prius. Additionally, the news all suggests that sports cars as well as utility trucks will also be built at this facility.

In Mexico, over the past few years, a number of automobile companies have started production of their vehicles. One of which is General Motors as it plans to invest as much as $5 billion to build a manufacturing facility in the region. Furthermore, along with GM, BMW has also announced back in 2014 of building a plant worth $1 billion in the region as well where it would employee as many as 1,500 workers. According to the information provided by BMW, the production in the specific facility is expected to start in the next two years.

Mexico has become the hub of all the auto-making facilities mainly because of the low wage rates, (cheap labor), along with efficient logistics management. Another reason for this production shift is because the United Auto Workers Union has been successful in convincing authorities to increase the minimum wage all across the United States. According to the WJS, the labor cost in Mexico is almost one fifth of what it is in the United States.

Subsequently, in the European market, the automaker plans to eliminate a few of its model as well as cut jobs. It stated that it has suggested voluntary buyouts to as many as 10,000 employees at the corporation. As for the models that it plans to stop making in the region are the ones that don’t make enough profits in Europe and it is planning to shift its focus on sports cars and higher profit cars.

Amazon Plans To Open 300 to 400 Brick and Mortar Bookstores All Across The U.S.

According to a report by the WJS, the retailer is planning on opening bookstores all across the country; however this news has not yet been confirmed by the company itself, as yet.

Amazon.com launched its first brick and mortar retail physical bookstore last year; and now it plans to dip deeper into that business and plans to open as many as 400 bookstores all across the United States, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal. The first bookstore was opened back in November 2015 in the retail giant’s hometown, Seattle.

This news was disclosed by the chief executive of mall operator General Growth Properties Inc., Sandeep Mathrani on Tuesday on an earnings call. Mr. Mathrani stated that the retail giant’s plan is to open at least 300 to 400 brick and mortar bookstores, according to his understand; however spokesperson for General Growth Properties as well as Amazon declined to comment on this news.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the executive could have had a talk with the retailer’s real-estate executives who might have disclosed the company’s plans as currently it is still unclear where he got this news from. If the online shopping company decides to go ahead with this plan of opening hundreds of bookstore outlet, there are a number of things it will need to take into consideration.

For starters, Amazon will need to pick specific locations (which would take years for it to decide), then it will need to hire staff for these physical locations, consider leasing deals. Despite the fact that it might become a hassle for the company itself; for the customers it will be a chance to leaf through the books before purchasing them.

The store that the organization initially opened back in November is situated in an outdoor mall where it sells Kindle, Fire devices as well as books. The company stated that it stores over 5,000 books in store while has over millions on its website. The price tag on these books and devices is same as on the website of the company. Additionally, it provides its books at a discounted price in comparison to its competitors.

Speaking of competitors, if Amazon decides to enter this market then it will have to go up against Barnes & Noble Inc. along with Books-A-Million Inc. Presently, Barnes and Noble Inc. operates over 640 stores while Books-A-Million is in 255 locations.

In addition to that, it has started one-hour deliveries in over 20 cities. They have representatives present in different universities in the United States where the students can pick and drop off merchandise and also converse with the representatives. It has revenue of over $107 billion annually; and it has built a strong online presence – furthermore it plans to expand as it has recently announced that its main focus will be on innovation and creativity.

Amazon stock is being traded at a share price of $525.89 indicating a decline of 3.01% from its previous share price. The market capitalization of the retail giant is $262.60 billion and it initially reported earnings per share of $1.24 with a price to earnings ratio of $432.12. During the trading session, the highest point at which the share price was seen at was $556.00 while the lowest point was at $533.19.

Qualcomm, Inc. And Japan’s TDK Qualcomm, Inc. And Japan’s TDK Corporation Set Up RF360 HoldingCorporation Set Up RF360 Holding

The chipmaker wants to increase it portfolio by entering the radio frequency market.

The Wall Street Journal reported on January 13, 2016 that Qualcomm Inc. plan to enter into a partnership with TDK Corporation, based in Japan. This deal between the two companies is expected to close somewhere in 2017 and will be worth $3 billion, payable over a time period of three years. This is a step forward by the chipmaker in an effort to exploit the growing market for radio-frequency.

According to the agreement between both the firms, they will together set up a new organization by the name of RF360 Holdings. The new firm will be a combination of the chipmaker’s Power amplifiers, in which the company specializes in, together with the filters of radio frequency provided by Japan’s TDK. Together they will develop a filter which is known as “RF front end modules”. This new holding firm will be owned at a ratio of 51:49 at first with Qualcomm, Inc. owning 51% of the stake. By the third year of the agreement, the technology company plans to own it completely.

For quite some time now, the American semiconductor company has dominated the broadband modem in a number of devices including the iPhone and other such smartphones. In recent years it has also made radio chips for antennas and amplifiers but has lingered on when it comes to providing filters. Filters are a major part of phones that allows it to tune into specific radio spectrums along with making calls and using mobile data. In order to fit in multiple markets, an increased number of filters are being used in smartphones nowadays.

As many as 49 filters are being used in a single smartphone and by the year 2020, they are likely to increase to over 100 filters in one phone, as stated by Christian Amon, the President of Qualcomm. The filter market it predicted to grow to about $12 billion by the year 2020 which is currently at $5 billion.

The once market leader Qualcomm has been a victim of increase competition in the chip-making market but with this collaboration it is expect to come out stronger both in the existing modem market as well as the RF Front end module market. The current market leaders of RF technology are Skyworks and Qorvo who have managed to make and invest billions of dollars in the innovation. These market giants have been providing wireless components to a number of customers as well as contributing to the Internet of Things.

Evidently, it will not be an easy task to get into the market because of tough competition but the way the company is currently handling its matter say a lot about how it will tackle the rivals.