Wall Street Journal, Nov 29, 2011

choi

There is no need to read the text of any of the following reports.

(1) Chester Dawson, For toyota, Patriotism and Profits May Not Mix.

Note:
(a) A bar chart (heading: Seeing Red) shows "Toyota's parent company operating income (uncosolidated)" is red for fiscal year (ending in March) 2009 to 2011, worse by the year.
(b) The graphic has the heading "Assembly Line Advances":
(i) "layout  In Toyota's Miyagi factory, cars are positioned side-by-side on the assymbly line instead of tip-to-tailas in most auto plants. * * *
(ii) suspension * * *
(iii) conveyance  The Miyagi factory's assembly line uses quiet friction rollers to move along pallets carrying cars instead of the noisy chain-pulled conveyor belts deployed in most plants."

One has to see it to comprehend the improvements. If you are a car buff, perhaps you want to check it out. Otherwise, do not bother.
(c) A figure (heading: Japan's Big Three; Nissan and Honda have moved a higher percentage of their production than Toyota overseas"

(2) Sharon Terlep, GM Scrambles to Defend Volt; Auto maker offers loaners to owners amid battery probe

, whose box reads:

"Volt Test[;] Fires, sparks prompt review of batteries in high-profile electric car

* December 2010 Chevrolet Volt sales begin. Sales of the battery-powered vehicles reached more than 1,100 last month.
* May 2011 A side-impact crash test of a Volt that damages the car's lithium-ion battery leads to a fire after vehicle is placed in storage.
* November 2011 Sparks or fire erupt in batteries that have been intentionally damaged in ways similar to the May crash-test.
* November 2011 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration begins safety defect probe. GM offers free loaner vehicles to Volt owners."

(3) Juro Osawa, Sony to Keep Image-Sensor Unit in Japan.

The first two paragraphs:

"Sony Corp plans to keep its lucrative image-sensor operations in Japan despite the yen's persistent strength, which is driving electronics makers overseas for better profit margins, a senior executive said Monday.

"'Even if manufacturing stays in Japan, [our image sensors] are competitive,' Executive Deputy President Hiroshi Yoshioka told reporters at company headquarters in Tokyo.

My comment: Japan's closest friend in Asia, Taiwan has benifited, and will continue benefiting, from Japanese manufacturers' exodus.

(4) Ian Sherr, Kindle Catches Fire; New Amazon tablet may be first true competitor to iPad.

Paragraphs 2-5:

"Amazon.com Inc on Monday trumpeted the success of its recently launched Kindle Fire tablet, part of a family of Kindle products that includes low-priced e-readers. the company said it sold more than four times as many Kindle products on Black Friday last week as the same shopping day in 2010.

"The Seattle-based online retailer declined to provide precise figures, other than to say it had sold 'millions' of its recently released Kindle tabletsand e-readers even before the holiday shopping week [the week including Black Friday], adding that the Fire, released this month and the first Kindle product with a color screen, has been its best-selling item for eight weeks.

"As many as five million of $199 Kindle Fires could be sold by the end of January, analysts at Forrester Research estimate, easily cementing the device as the second-place competitor to the iPad. About 13.5 million iPads are likely to be sold during the holiday quarter, estimated Gene Munster, an analyst with Piper Jaffray.