Ford slides, Toyota surges in key quality survey

(Reuters) - Trouble with new technologies including a clunky control system for its radios pounded Ford Motor Co's (F.N) ranking in a closely watched quality ranking, just a year after the U.S. brand led its mass-market rivals.
In a reversal of fortune, Japanese automaker Toyota Motor Corp's (7203.T) namesake brand, which last year tumbled to its lowest ranking ever due to a series of damaging recalls, pulled off a corresponding rebound, according to the influential study of U.S. consumers released on Thursday by J.D. Power and Associates.
Ford, the only U.S. automaker to avoid bankruptcy and a government bailout, saw its namesake brand slide to 23rd -- its lowest spot in a decade, down from 5th place last year, which represented, its highest ranking ever. Toyota rebounded to 7th from 21st last year.
"Ford is on the leading edge, certainly in the mass market, of trying to bring new technology into the vehicles," said David Sargent, J.D. Power's vice president of global vehicle research. "With that comes some risk that there will be unforeseen problems and that's exactly what happened.
"There's a great deal of parity between the different vehicles and different brands, so if you have a significant problem in a particular area, that can really set you back in terms of the rankings," he added.
Toyota's Lexus luxury brand captured the top spot, moving up from 4th last year.
The J.D. Power study, which records difficulties faced by new car owners in the first 90 days of ownership, was conducted between February and May of this year.
The results of the survey, the most comprehensive benchmark of new car quality, are used heavily in auto industry marketing and are seen as influential in shaping consumer perceptions. It is also watched as a barometer for resale values and as a proxy for warranty costs.
REBOOT A CAR?
Ford customers found the automaker's audio and interior control systems too complex or at times inoperable, Sargent said: "It's not as easy to reboot a car as it is a computer."
Mark Fields, Ford's president of the Americas, said on Tuesday ahead of the survey's release that the company's own quality ratings would be "mixed" for the year.
Ford was dinged earlier this year when influential magazine Consumer Reports did not give a "recommended" rating to its SUVs Ford Edge and Lincoln MKX because of the complexity of the MyFord Touch and the MyLincoln Touch systems.
Ford has acknowledged those problems, making software changes and offering customers training at Ford dealers. It also said Tuesday it is working to ease the use of voice-control systems in its vehicles and making improvements on a few of its powertrains.
"As we see issues in our own internal reporting, we jump all over them and quickly address them," Fields said.
Ford, whose F-150 pickup truck ranked No. 6 overall ahead of Toyota's Tundra truck at No. 12, reiterated on Thursday it moved quickly to address consumer complaints and quality was back on track.
On average across the industry, U.S. consumers reported 107 problems per 100 vehicles sold, an improvement from 109 problems last year and an all-time best performance in the study's 25-year history.
However, the industry average for all-new or heavily redesigned vehicles slid 10 percent to 122 problems per 100 vehicles, J.D. Power said. The decline was most stark in the engine and transmission, as well as audio, entertainment and navigation categories.
Software to improve fuel efficiency sometimes leads to engine or transmission "hesitation" when accelerating or changing gears, J.D. Power said.
Meanwhile, problem rates in the audio and entertainment category jumped 18 percent as many consumers complained their hands-free or voice-activation systems were not intuitive or did not always function properly.
U.S. automakers in recent years have spent heavily in a bid to close the gap with the Japanese automakers, led by Toyota and Honda Motor Co (7267.T), which had established a reputation for eliminating flaws from engineering and manufacturing. However, after finishing on average ahead of the import brands for the first time ever last year, they trail again this year.
General Motors Co's (GM.N) Cadillac luxury and GMC truck brands were the only ones among U.S. automakers to exceed the industry average, coming in at the 9th and 10th places. Only the top 10 brands in the survey topped the industry average.
GM's Chevrolet and Buick brands ranked 14th and 20th among the 32 brands measured. Ford's Lincoln brand finished 17th, while Chrysler's (FIA.MI) namesake, Ram, Jeep and Dodge brands ranked 16th, 22nd, 25th and 32nd, respectively.
(Additional reporting by Bernie Woodall in Detroit, editing by Dave Zimmerman)

Asian Shares Mostly Higher On Greek Optimism; Oil Stocks Fall

SINGAPORE (Dow Jones)--Asian stock markets were mostly higher Friday amid further progress toward a resolution to Greece's debt crisis, while regional oil plays were lower after a surprise decision by the International Energy Agency to release strategic crude oil reserves.
Japan's Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.4%, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.1%, South Korea's Kospi Composite gained 0.7% and New Zealand's NZX-50 climbed 0.1%.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were up 38 points in screen trade.
Regional investors were encouraged by news Greece's government had agreed with the International Monetary Fund and the European Union on a five-year austerity program, taking a further step toward resolving the nation's debt crisis. Still, demand was tempered by global growth worries.
"There's a delicate balance between fear and value in the market," said RBS Morgans investment adviser Chris MacDonald in Sydney. "Investors are mostly sidelined as they wait to see if austerity plans are passed by the Greek parliament next week."
Oil stocks in the region were sold off after the IEA announced Thursday that members would release 60 million barrels of oil from emergency supplies to replace lost Libyan oil exports. August Nymex crude oil futures, which dropped sharply Thursday, were modestly higher in Asian trade. The contract was recently up 83 cents at $91.85 per barrel on Globex.
Inpex fell 2.6% and Japan Petroleum lost 1.3% in Tokyo, and in Seoul SK Innovation slumped 5.1% and S-Oil lost 4.9%, while Woodside Petroleum dropped 0.8% in Sydney.
The Tokyo market was supported by growing optimism for earnings of Japanese firms following recent relatively robust forecasts by Nissan Motor and Suzuki Motor.
"The improvement in earnings outlook has triggered a shift in buying in large-cap stocks from small and medium-sized shares," said Okasan Securities strategist Hideyuki Ishiguro.
Bellwether exporter stocks were up, with Sony 1.5% higher and Toyota Motor up 1.2%.
Chubu Electric Power rose 0.4% following a Nikkei report that the company will receive a Y100 billion emergency loan from the government to help fund fuel costs as the utility shut down its Hamaoka nuclear plant.
Nissan Motor fell 0.7% as it took a breather following a rise the previous session, while Suzuki Motor rose 0.9%.
In Seoul, investors responded favorably to positive news around the euro-zone debt woes.
"The Kospi is now attempting to test the 2080 point, but it seems a bit difficult to rise above the 2100 level amid weak foreign buying of late," said MiraeAsset Securities' analyst Jung Seung-jae.
Thursday's fall in oil prices supported airline stocks, with Korea Air Lines up 3.3%, and Asiana Airlines 3.6% higher.
Korea Express extended Thursday's sharp gains, tacking on 10.8% on news that Samsung SDS and Posco are mulling a consortium to bid for a controlling stake in the logistic company.
The Sydney market was choppy. Commonwealth Bank of Australia and National Australia Bank rose 0.9% each, while BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto advanced 0.3%-0.5%.
Telstra fell 1.4% after Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock and Moody's Investors Service on Thursday placed the phone company's debt on review for a possible downgrade following its broadband deal with the government.
In foreign exchange markets, the euro was steady against the U.S. dollar after rising Thursday on news that Greece had reached an agreement with the EU and the IMF on a five-year austerity program. However, market participants remained cautious as the austerity program faces a key vote in Greek parliament next week.
"The Greek government may face further hurdles in passing austerity measures next week," said Mike Burrowes, currency strategist at the Bank of New Zealand.
He noted comments Thursday from Greek opposition leader Antonis Samaras that the only way for Greece to repay its debt was for the government to change its current fiscal policies. "This suggests the vote on the austerity package next week will not be plain sailing," Burrowes said.
The single currency was at $1.4250 against the dollar, from $1.4257 late Thursday in New York, and at Y114.76 against the yen, from Y114.78. The dollar was at Y80.54, from Y80.50.
September Japanese government bond futures were up 0.13 at 141.38 points, while the 10-year cash JGB yield was down 0.5 basis point at 1.100%.
Spot gold was at $1,546.80 per troy ounce, down $1.20 from its New York settlement on Thursday.
-John Phillips, Dow Jones Newswires; +65-6415-4142; john.phillips@dowjones.com
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Lagarde Says IMF Will Hear Emerging Economies

WASHINGTON—French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde closed out the race to lead the International Monetary Fund with a pledge Thursday to make tough decisions on Europe's fiscal crisis and to help developing economies gain more clout at the institution.
During her three-hour interview with the IMF's executive board, Ms. Lagarde pushed back against complaints from developing-market officials that her candidacy posed a conflict of interest as the IMF helps rescue troubled euro-zone nations. The managing director has an "exclusive duty of loyalty" to the fund, she said.
"I will not shrink from the necessary candor and toughness in my discussions with the European leaders," Ms. Lagarde, who has played in a key role in the euro zone rescues, said in her statement released Thursday night by the IMF. "There is no room for benevolence when tough choices must be made, and there is no option that does not start with difficult but necessary adjustments by the Greek authorities to restore the sustainability of public finances and to rebuild the country's competitiveness."
Ms. Lagarde is expected to win final approval for the IMF's top post next week after maintaining an overwhelming lead throughout the race against Mexican central banker Agustín Carstens.
She won the support of most European nations, which hold about a third of the fund's voting shares, even before the selection process formally started a month ago. She also earned endorsements from a number of developing markets—from Indonesia to several African nations—despite complaints from many world leaders who wanted to end the fund's longtime tradition of installing a European in the managing director job.
Mr. Carstens, meanwhile, has won endorsements from more than a dozen Latin American nations. But his only support on the board comes from a voting bloc that includes Mexico, representing less than 5% of the IMF's voting shares. The fund's 187 member nations, which are represented in Washington through 24 board members, carry voting stakes based on the size of their economies and other factors.
The board, which is scheduled to deliberate Tuesday, plans to announce a winner by June 30.
Ms. Lagarde, following her global tour in which she heard repeated complaints from developing-market leaders, pledged on Thursday to make the institution more open to their concerns.
"I believe that the fund should be more responsive, certainly more effective and more legitimate," Ms. Lagarde told reporters as she left the IMF headquarters Thursday afternoon.
The U.S., with the largest voting stake at almost 17%, hasn't explicitly endorsed either candidate. But with much of the board strongly in Ms. Lagarde's favor, the U.S. will likely only have to sign-off on the consensus when the IMF executive directors gather next week.
Ms. Lagarde met with Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner early Thursday morning to discuss her candidacy and the crisis in the euro zone as European officials scrambled to arrange a new rescue package for Greece.
The Treasury Department said Mr. Geithner considers Ms. Lagarde "an exceptionally talented candidate" for the post. The department used similar language last week when it called Mr. Carstens "an exceptionally capable candidate."
In an arrangement since the IMF's founding after World War II, the U.S. and Europe have always backed a European for the fund's top post while installing an American in the IMF's No. 2 position and as the World Bank's president.

Wal-Mart wins in sex-bias case at top U.S. court

(Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court threw out on Monday a massive class-action sex-discrimination lawsuit against Wal-Mart Stores Inc, the biggest ever such case, in a major victory for the world's largest retailer and for big business in general.
The justices unanimously ruled that more than 1 million female employees nationwide could not proceed together in the lawsuit seeking billions of dollars and accusing Wal-Mart of paying women less and giving them fewer promotions.
The Supreme Court agreed with Wal-Mart, the largest private U.S. employer, that the class-action certification violated federal rules for such lawsuits.
It accepted Wal-Mart's argument that the female employees in different jobs at 3,400 different stores nationwide and with different supervisors do not have enough in common to be lumped together in a single class-action lawsuit.
The ruling was cheered by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce business group as the most important class action case in more than a decade but denounced by women's groups.
It represented a major victory for Wal-Mart, which also has faced legal battles including an attempt to unionize and to block the giant retailer from opening stores in New York and other places.
"We are pleased with today's ruling and believe the court made the right decision. Wal-Mart has had strong policies against discrimination for many years," the Bentonville, Arkansas-based company said in a statement.
Wal-Mart shares were up 18 cents to $53.02 in late trading after rising as much as 1.3 percent earlier in the day.
Gisel Ruiz, a company executive vice president, said the ruling effectively ended the class-action lawsuit.
Theodore Boutrous, Wal-Mart's lead attorney in the case, told reporters, "This decision will have a significant impact on other class actions."
The court rejected class-action status but three remaining female plaintiffs still can pursue their individual claims.
CLASS ACTION ENDS BUT LITIGATION DOESN'T
Lawyers for the plaintiffs acknowledged the ruling raised substantial hurdles to bring such challenges forward but warned that Wal-Mart may regret this route because it could lead to lengthier litigation in many more courtrooms.
"I think it is a big win for very large companies because I think part of the message from the majority's decision is ... there are companies that are too big to be held accountable in a single forum for these kinds of practices," said Joseph Sellers, a lawyer for the women who sued the retailer.
He said they were considering options that included pursuing class-action lawsuits with smaller groups of women or proceeding individually, noting that more than 12,000 people have contacted them about discrimination at Wal-Mart.
Two employees of Wal-Mart and its Sam's Club stores who were leading the class-action effort were disappointed with the ruling but said that they would continue their claims.
"We still are determined to go forward and we still are determined to present our case in court and I believe that we will prevail there," said Wal-Mart employee Betty Dukes.
The ruling in the biggest business case of the high court's 2010-11 term could affect pending class-action lawsuits against the tobacco industry and Costco Wholesale Corp.
White House spokesman Jay Carney said ending pay discrimination was a key priority for President Barack Obama but that the U.S. government was not a party to the lawsuit.
"Our lawyers are studying the decision right now to determine what effects it might have," Carney said.
The Obama administration did not take a position in the top court case, although the federal government's Equal Employment Opportunity Commission previously supported the workers.
MOST IMPORTANT CLASS-ACTION RULING SINCE 1960S
Christopher Landau, an attorney at the Chicago-based Kirkland & Ellis law firm, called it the most important class-action decision since the 1960s. "The days of 'drive-by' class certification are over," he said.
Justice Antonin Scalia concluded for the court majority that the Wal-Mart class was not properly certified.
"Because respondents wish to sue about literally millions of employment decisions at once, they need some glue holding the alleged reasons for all those decisions together," he said.
The court's four other conservatives joined all of Scalia's ruling. The court's four liberals joined part of it but dissented in another part.
Large class-action lawsuits make it easier for big groups of plaintiffs to sue corporations and they have led to huge payouts by tobacco, oil and food companies.
Companies such as Wal-Mart have sought to limit such lawsuits to individual or small groups of plaintiffs. The Supreme Court, with a conservative majority that often ruled for businesses, has rejected huge class-action lawsuits.
The Supreme Court case is Wal-Mart Stores Inc v. Betty Dukes, No. 10-277.
(Additional reporting by Jessica Wohl in Chicago, Moira Herbst in New York and Jeremy Pelofsky and Matt Spetalnick; Editing by Doina Chiacu and Bill Trott)

Class-Action Suit Against Wal-Mart Was Too Big to Succeed: View

Everything about Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) is big. Total sales, at $422 billion last year, exceeded the gross domestic product of all but 18 countries. Its 4,300 U.S. stores employ more than 1.4 million people, more than any other U.S. company.
So the verdict handed down yesterday by the U.S. Supreme Court in Wal-Mart v. Dukes was suitably outsized; it decided the largest workplace discrimination case in history. The decision, which was unanimous in one part, and split along the familiar 5- 4 ideological lines in another, was the correct one.
The lawsuit was brought on behalf of every woman who worked for Wal-Mart since late December 1998, more than 1.5 million in all. The Supreme Court, which hadn’t reviewed the standards for class-action suits in 12 years, told the women they didn’t have enough in common to sue the company as a monolithic class.
The female plaintiffs claimed that they had been illegally denied pay and promotions despite a company policy against sex discrimination. The suit relied largely on statistics, which seemed damning enough.
Women filled 70 percent of Wal-Mart’s hourly jobs, yet made up only 33 percent of management employees. Women were paid less than men in every region, even when they had higher performance ratings and seniority.
The plaintiffs bolstered their case with affidavits detailing the experiences of 120 individuals. One female worker said she was told to “doll up” if she wanted a promotion.
Wal-Mart devastatingly turned the numbers against the plaintiffs. One brief filed on behalf of the women cited Census Bureau figures showing that U.S. median earnings of women in 2009 were 77 percent of men’s earnings. The company pointed out that women at Wal-Mart earned between 85 percent and 95 percent of what male colleagues earned. They actually did better at Wal- Mart than in the country at large.
As for the affidavits, the company said they represented just one-thousandth of one percent of women employed at the retailer since December 1998.
As Justice Antonin Scalia wrote for the majority, “Without some glue holding together the alleged reasons” for Wal-Mart’s pay and promotion decisions, it was impossible to say that all of the class members suffered the same injury at different stores run by different managers across the nation. Wal-Mart allows local managers wide latitude in wages and promotions.
The plaintiffs can still bring lawsuits individually, and many certainly will. Some may even band together in smaller classes -- if they worked at the same store, for example, and believe they experienced systemic discrimination from the same managers.
In the end, what the women were really trying to prove is that Wal-Mart has a corporate culture that favors men. Some of the briefs filed with the court claimed that promotions were characterized as a “tap on the shoulder,” with local managers having great discretion in deciding whose shoulder to tap. Vacancies were not regularly posted. Employees were discouraged from discussing their compensation, presumably to prevent comparisons.
As Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote in a partial dissent, such behavior could be a cover for bias against women. It will be up to other courts to make sure Wal-Mart doesn’t use its decentralized management to escape legal responsibility. But those cases should be dealt with on their individual merits -- and unique facts.
This opinion is likely to make litigation harder for other employment class actions that bind together disparate litigants in a single class. But a class of 1.5 million employees faces an appropriately high hurdle. This class didn’t clear it.
To contact the Bloomberg View editorial board: view@bloomberg.net.

Blatter wins fourth term as FIFA president

Sepp Blatter was re-elected unopposed for a fourth term as FIFA president on Wednesday, shrugging off the scandals that have hit world soccer's governing body to secure another four years in charge.
Blatter, the 75-year-old Swiss who has run FIFA since 1998, was voted in by an overwhelming majority, winning 186 votes of the 203 cast, and immediately pushed through changes intended the make the choice of World Cup hosts more democratic and beef up the fight against corruption.
"I'm a happy man after these very, very hard weeks," Blatter, who at the start of the day also defeated a proposal from the English FA to postpone the election, told reporters.
Minutes after his re-election, delegates approved his suggestion that World Cup hosts should in future be chosen by the Congress from a short-list prepared by the 24-man executive committee.
Under the current system, voting is restricted to the executive committee, which critics say leads to excessive lobbying and exchanges of favors.
Congress also accepted a proposal to strengthen the ethics committee by separating the investigation and decision-making powers and another to create a new watchdog called the "solution committee".
Blatter, the eighth president in FIFA's 107-year history, had been due to face Asian Football Confederation (AFC) president Mohamed bin Hammam but the Qatari withdrew on Sunday amid cash-for-votes allegations.
Bin Hammam was barred entry to the Congress hall, having been provisionally suspended by the ethics committee along with fellow executive committee Jack Warner.
"I will never accept how my name and my reputation have been damaged. I will fight for my rights," Bin Hammam said in a statement.
"I thank all the people who have supported me during the last weeks and will support me further."
Blatter himself was cleared of any wrongdoing during the electoral campaign by the ethics committee on Sunday.
"I wanted this Congress to know and understand that we are in a situation which needs not only words but action," said Blatter.
"I have been hit, I have been slapped but we are standing and we have created the necessary means to react."
"I'm not the best swimmer but I can take a ship safely to harbor," he added.
The European Club Association (ECA) joined the calls for Blatter to implement reforms. "The recent happenings have once more proven that FIFA needs a change in its whole structure," chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said.
"I request FIFA to immediately introduce democratic and transparent structures and procedures. European clubs will no longer accept that they do not participate in the decision-making when it comes to club related matters."
"We will closely follow FIFA's development in this respect in the future and take appropriate measures, if there is no improvement."
Final hurdle
Blatter named former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and ex-Dutch international Johan Cruyff as two personalities he would like to be involved with the committees in some capacity.
Looking relieved, Blatter said he would ask the solution committee to change the way in which the powerful executive committee, currently elected by the regional confederations, was chosen.
Blatter said he was surprised at the English proposal but said there would be no recriminations.
"There is no bad feeling against any of the associations that did not vote for me," said Blatter.
"I'm proud with 186 votes, those against me are also the members of FIFA and we take them all together."
The motion to postpone the election was rejected by 172 votes to 17, although the English proposal gained several more votes than originally expected.
Other delegates were less conciliatory and vice-president Julio Grondona of Argentina produced an astonishing attack on the English FA.
"It cannot be that the problems always come from the same side," said Grondona, claiming that England had been sulking since 1974 when Stanley Rous lost the FIFA presidency to Brazil's Joao Havelange.
"Since 1974, things have changed and it seemed that this country didn't like it....Now, we are in 2011 and they still seem to always have something to say."
Spanish FA president Angel Villar rounded on the media. "They attack our freedom because, most unfortunately for the world of football and FIFA, it is cheap and costs them nothing," he said.

UK-owned consulting firm honored

Grant Thornton Vietnam Co has been honored with the Certificate of Merit from the Prime Minister of Vietnam and the Ministry of Finance (MoF) for its contribution to the development and progress of the auditing profession in Vietnam in 2006-2010.
The UK-owned company is among 3 auditing firms and 12 other individuals awarded with the prestigious award, according to Decision No 656 /QD- TTg signed by Nguyen Tan Dung, Prime Minister of Vietnam.
Its senior audit partner, Nguyen Thi Vinh Ha, is one of the 12 individuals to be recognized.
These awards have also been presented at the 20th Anniversary Ceremony of the independent auditing profession in Vietnam jointly organized by Vietnam Association of Certified Public Accountants (VACPA) and the MOF in Hanoi.
Grant Thornton Vietnam is a member firm within Grant Thornton International Ltd which was established in 1993 with offices in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi and has enjoyed growth and success since its establishment.
It have comprising six partners and around 140 professional staff providing quality services in assurance, consulting and development services, corporate finance and tax services, designed to help clients in various industries achieve their business objectives.

Vietnamese-American female student missing in US

A missing nursing student's family is offering $20,000 for information about her whereabouts after she disappeared Friday at a northern California hospital.

Michelle Hoang Thi Le was last spotted about 7 p.m. Friday going to her car in the parking garage at the Kaiser Permanente Hayward Medical Center. She is enrolled at the Hayward campus of Samuel Merritt University.

The 26-year-old beauty told friends she was going to drive to Reno with a friend after class that night, authorities said. Her friend never heard from her, and Le's vehicle was later found a few blocks from the hospital.

Le had a cell phone with her when she left class, but it was not found in the car.

"We haven't found anything at all that leads us [in] one direction or another, that tells us this is a foul play incident or anything," Lt. Roger Keener of the Hayward Police Department told KGO 7 News in San Francisco.

Le is halfway through Merritt's 12-month accelerated program.

Her family said Monday they collected $20,000 as a reward for her return.

"It's really hard not to assume the worst, but we're trying," the woman's brother, Michael, told reporters. "That's the hardest thing, staying positive."

"The entire Samuel Merritt University community is deeply concerned about the disappearance of our nursing student Michelle Le," school spokeswoman Elizabeth Valente told ABC News.

"She's an intelligent, beautiful, polite person who is very excited about her career of becoming a nurse," Valente said, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. "She wants to help people."

Anyone with information about Le's whereabouts is asked to contact the Hayward Police Department at (510) 293-7000.