Companies in the news ... and how they were assessed
Fiat Chrysler/great Wall: enter the dragon?
Executives at Great Wall Motor “clearly didn’t get last week’s memo” from Beijing, urging Chinese companies to curb their “unprecedented deal spree” overseas, said Ben Marlow in The Daily Telegraph. Far from retreating, the “relatively unknown” Baodingbased carmaker is pondering a bid for Fiat Chrysler, “one of America’s big three carmakers”. In the unlikely event the plan succeeds, it would be a “game-changer for China Inc”. As well as Fiat, Chrysler and Jeep, the Us-italian company also owns the Alfa Romeo, Dodge, Lancia and Maserati brands. The Chinese have yet to approach Fiat directly, said Peter Campbell in the FT, but they might find a receptive audience. “The clock is ticking” for the conglomerate created by Fiat boss Sergio Marchionne in 2009. He has long argued that “carmakers need to consolidate” to survive the colossal cost of new technologies such as electric and self-driving cars, and is reportedly keen to find a buyer before his retirement in 2019. “China is basically Sergio’s last hope,” says one analyst. Even if Great Wall is too small to take on the whole of Fiat Chrysler, rumours abound that it could carve off the lucrative Jeep brand. Still, any deal to sell to the Chinese would “face a gigantic political hurdle”. As one Fiat executive put it: “Can you actually imagine us selling to China while Donald Trump is in the White House?”
Johnson & Johnson: cancer damages
A California jury this week ordered Johnson & Johnson to pay $417m in damages to a 63-year-old woman, Eva Echeverria, who claimed to have developed ovarian cancer after decades of using the company’s trademark baby powder, said Nate Raymond in The Independent. The award – the largest so far – is “a major setback for J&J, which faces 4,800 similar claims nationally in the US”, and has already been hit by awards of $300m in damages in Missouri. The company, which intends to appeal, claims the powder is safe. Although “numerous studies have linked genital talc use to ovarian cancer, the research findings have not been consistent”, said Roni Caryn Rabin in The New York Times. J&J cites a report by the National Cancer Institute which claims that “the weight of evidence does not support an association”. But elsewhere, the institute “uses more ambivalent language”, saying “it is not clear” if talcum powder increases the risk. These arguments are likely to be rehearsed in detail many more times: Echeverria’s lawsuit was just the first of hundreds of California talc cases to go to trial.
Gucci: plagued by plagiarism
As one of the world’s premium fashion houses, “Gucci fiercely guards its designs against copycats”, said Jack Malvern in The Times. But after four accusations of plagiarism this year, it’s in danger of being labelled a serial hypocrite. Last week, Gucci withdrew two designs after complaints they featured “the work of artists without crediting them”. It’s an embarrassment for the fashion house, whose fortunes have been transformed since the arrival of creative director Alessandro Michele in 2015. According to Gucci, the logos – printed on T-shirts and tote bags alongside slogans like “Guccify yourself” – were used as part of a “creative exchange” between high fashion and street style. The company isn’t always quite so free thinking. It’s currently suing the fast fashion chain Forever 21 for allegedly using its signature stripes and designs on a bomber jacket retailing for £30.