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Michelin’s net profit shows rebound from previous year
French tire maker Michelin SCA says its net profit rebounded strongly in 2010 from a year earlier, when the global economic downturn caused car markets to slump.
Michelin says it made 1.05 billion ($1.43 billion) last year, up from 104 million in 2009.
The tire maker says in a statement Friday that its tire sales grew 13.4 percent by volume last year thanks to rebounding car markets, helped by scrappage schemes in Europe and other developed markets.
Vietnam devalues currency
Vietnam’s State Bank says it has devalued the local currency by 8.5 percent, a long-awaited move as the Communist country fights double-digit inflation and a widening trade deficit.
The State Bank of Vietnam said Friday in a statement on its website that the U.S. dollar will buy 20,693 Vietnamese dong compared with the previous rate of 18,932 dong per dollar.
The statement also says the bank has narrowed the band in which the dong could move from 3 percent to 1 percent.
Volkswagens have problems
The government is expanding its safety investigation into possible engine problems in 100,000 Volkswagen diesel cars.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says it has received 160 complaints and field reports about engines stalling or losing power. The reports involve 2009 and 2010 model year Jettas and 2010 models of the Golf and the Audi A3 with TDI clean diesel engines.
The safety agency says one minor crash has been reported related to a failure of the car’s high pressure fuel pump. About half of the reports describe engines stalling, with many of them occurring at highway speeds in traffic.
U.S. trade deficit widens
The U.S. trade deficit widened for the first time in four months in December on higher oil imports, the Commerce Department said Friday, but exports continued their upward trend and were nearing record levels.
The nation’s trade deficit expanded 5.9 percent in the final month of 2010, to $40.6 billion from $38.3 billion.