Ratan Tata, chairman of Tata Group, tells The Wall Street Journal that the $70 billion conglomerate, which includes Tata Motors Ltd., is conducting a global search to find his successor. The 71-year-old patriarch, who has headed the family business since 1991, didn’t say when Tata expects to complete the process or when he planned to retire.

Ratan Tata is the company’s fifth chairman in 141 years. Except for a five-year period in the 1930s, a member of the Tata family has always run the company. Tata Motors was formed in 1945.

After graduating from Cornell University with an engineering degree, Ratan reportedly turned down a job offer with IBM to join Tata Group in 1962. He led several Tata business units before taking the reins as group chairman from J.R.D. Tata, who had led the company for more than 50 years. In addition to being group chairman, Ratan also heads Tata Motors and most of the other large subsidiaries.

Ratan Tata has spearheaded several huge acquisitions, including the Anglo-Dutch Corus Group steel business in 2007 and the Jaguar-Land Rover purchase from Ford Motor Co. last year. Some two-thirds of the group’s revenue now comes from outside India. The group consists of 98 companies, nearly one-third of which have separate stock listings. About 66% of Tata’s equity capital is held by philanthropic trusts endowed by members of the family.

This time family members are not considered successors to Ratan Tata, who has never been married and has two adopted daughters. Although a recruiting firm is evaluating both internal and external candidates from around the world, Tata concedes that it would be easier for an Indian national to step into the job.

China is facing increasing pressure from global leaders to ease controls on its currency. They argue that letting the yuan trade more freely will aid the global economic recovery and be in China’s best long-term interests.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, noted last week that a stronger yuan would boost the purchasing power of Chinese households, supporting the government’s drive to make economic growth less dependent on exports. U.S. President Barack Obama also called for more open trading of the Chinese currency, which currently is tied to the dollar.

But Chinese officials appear more concerned about not derailing the country’s growth rate. A stronger yuan, which would make Chinese exports less attractive, is a tough sell in a year when exports are down about 20% and many domestic manufacturers have closed.

There has been some softening on China’s part. For example, the People’s Bank of China last week said its exchange-rate policy would take into account “changes in international capital flows and the trends of major currencies.”

To comply with anti-trust rules, South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Co. has sold its 1.7% stake in parts maker Hyundai Mobis Co. for $200 million.

Hyundai obtained the Mobis shares in June when the supplier merged with audio/electronics affiliate Hyundai Autonet. Mobis raised its stake in Hyundai Motor in August to nearly 21% from 15%. As a result of the crossholding, anti-trust regulators required one of the companies to divest its stake by year-end.

Hyundai affiliate Kia Motors Corp. still owns 16.9% of Mobis, and Hyundai Steel has a 5.7% share in the supplier. Seoul-based Mobis currently derives about 90% of its nearly $9 billion in annual sales from Hyundai/Kia. It aims to increase the percentage sold to other automakers to 30% in coming years.

After contentious stops elsewhere in the region, U.S. President Barack Obama ended an eight-day trip to Asia on a more upbeat note in South Korea Thursday.

Although no major announcements came out of his meeting with President Lee Myung-bak, both sides said they will continue to cooperate on security issues. They also expressed optimism about finalizing the free trade agreement signed by the Bush Administration two years ago but still not ratified by Congress.

Lee indicated a willingness to listen to U.S. proposals on changing the auto portion of the agreement. But analysts say modifications are not likely because of the likely political repercussions in Korea.

In the U.S., some Democrat leaders contend that the pact, which eliminates tariffs and other trade restrictions between the countries, doesn’t do enough to reduce the trade imbalance between the two countries, particularly in the auto sector. Representative Sander Levin (D-Mich.), chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee’s trade panel, says Korea must remove tax and regulatory obstacles to sales of American-made cars, refrigerators and other manufactured goods.

America’s trade deficit with Korea was $13 billion last year-more than three-quarters in auto sales but totaling far less than its deficits with Japan ($73 billion) and China ($266 billion). Detroit automakers sold fewer than 7,000 vehicles in South Korea last year. By comparison, Hyundai Motor Co. and its Kia Motors Corp. affiliate sold more than 53,000 vehicles in the U.S. last month alone.

China’s Shanghai Automotive Industries Corp. is opening a global design studio in the U.K. that will serve as the lead facility for the automaker’s MG and Roewe brands. Located at MG’s assembly plant in Longbridge, the studio will house 200 design and engineering personnel.

The team already has contributed to the development of the Roewe 550 small car and now is developing an MG version of the vehicle.

With fewer than 300 of the MG TF sports cars built at the U.K. plant this year, production of the 14-year-old model has been suspended until next spring. SAIC makes the TF, MG 7 sedan and MG 35W hatchback in China.

Plans by several international carmakers to launch new small cars in India have created high demand for suppliers to Tata Motors Ltd.’s ultra-low-cost Nano, The Economic Times reports. It lists Honda, Renault-Nissan, Toyota and Volkswagen among those that already have begun contacting Nano vendors.

Meeting the Nano’s 1 lakh (about $2,150) base price was achieved in part by the car’s diminutive size and lack of such features as airbags, an air conditioner or a radio. But it also required innovative procurement and engineering tactics. Tata has long-term contracts with about 100 suppliers.

The new wave of small cars-including entries from General Motors and Hyundai-won’t be as tiny or inexpensive as the Nano. But the OEMs developing them are eager to tap into the processes suppliers developed to cut costs.

An executive at one New Delhi-based company that supplies parts to the Nano tells The Economic Times it has already won contracts with a few unnamed multi-national OEMs to provide similar products for new small cars due in the next two to three years.

Nano suppliers range from the local operations of mega-international companies such as Bosch, Delphi and ZF to local firms such as Lumax Industries, NK Minda, Rane Group, Rico and Sona Koyo Steering Systems. Bosch, which supplies the brakes, electrical starter, fuel injection system and engine control unit, previously has said it expects to transfer its experience with Nano to other low-cost projects.

The closest direct competitor to the Nano likely will be the 2012 small car planned by Renault-Nissan and India’s Bajaj Auto. An unnamed industry source tells The ET the partners plan to source parts for the new car almost exclusively from Bajaj’s existing supply base, which includes many companies that provide parts for the Nano.

Renault SA has postponed plans to design a new Lada hatchback for affiliate OAO AvtoVAZ until it can help the Russian company improve its quality, reports Autocar. Renault had planned to introduce several new Lada models based on Renault-Nissan platforms between 2012 and 2014.

For now, however, Renault says its top priority is to raise the quality of Lada’s Kalina small car to international standards. Renault, which bought a 25% stake in AvtoVAZ two years ago, has rebuffed pressure from the Kremlin to inject more money into AvtoVAZ. The Russian company has warned it could go bankrupt without at least $2.4 billion in aid to help restructure $3.6 billion in short-term debt.

U.S. and China presidents Barack Obama and Hu Jintao signed a series of joint initiatives regarding clean energy last week during Obama’s trip to China.

The agreements address electric vehicles, renewable energy, coal and shale gas. Other aspects include developing an energy efficiency action plan and an energy cooperation program.

The pact includes several initiatives for electric vehicles, beginning with an annual conference that alternates between the countries. The first forum will be in September.

In addition, the countries plan to establish a $150 million clean-energy research center to facilitate joint research by scientists and engineers from both countries. Initial research priorities will be building energy efficiency, clean coal including carbon capture and storage, and clean vehicles.

A joint task force will create a multi-year plan that addresses R&D needs and issues related to the manufacture and use of EVs. The two countries will update the plan periodically to reflect advances in technology, infrastructure and other factors and share results globally.

Japan and the U.S. also agreed to share EV data and work on joint product and testing standards, including common design standards for recharging plugs and protocols for batteries and other devices. EV demonstration programs in both countries will be linked via paired cities that will collect and share data on charging patterns, driving experiences, grid integration and consumer preferences.

The Energy Cooperation Program, which consists of about two dozen founding member companies, will include collaborative projects on renewable energy, smart grid, clean transportation, green building, clean coal, combined heat and power and energy efficiency. The program will leverage private sector resources for project development work in China across a broad array of projects.

The two countries also will develop plans to encourage widespread use of renewable energy sources in both countries. The partnership will provide technical and analytical resources to states and regions and will facilitate state-to-state and region-to-region partnerships to share experiences and best practices. A new Advanced Grid Working Group will bring together policymakers, regulators, industry leaders and others to develop strategies for grid modernization in both countries.

Through the new Clean Energy Research Center, the two countries will bring teams of scientists and engineers together in developing clean coal, carbon capture and storage. _Experience gained in the U.S. will be used to assess China’s shale gas potential, promote investments and conduct joint technical studies to accelerate development of such resources in China.

The two countries further agreed to work together to improve the energy efficiency of buildings, industrial facilities and consumer appliances. This will include energy-efficient building codes and rating systems, benchmarking industrial energy efficiency, training building inspectors and energy efficiency auditors for industrial facilities, harmonizing test procedures and performance metrics for energy efficient consumer products and exchanging best practices in energy efficient labeling systems.

U.S. and China presidents Barack Obama and Hu Jintao signed a series of joint initiatives regarding clean energy last week during Obama’s trip to China.

The agreements address electric vehicles, renewable energy, coal and shale gas. Other aspects include developing an energy efficiency action plan and an energy cooperation program.

The pact includes several initiatives for electric vehicles, beginning with an annual conference that alternates between the countries. The first forum will be in September.

In addition, the countries plan to establish a $150 million clean-energy research center to facilitate joint research by scientists and engineers from both countries. Initial research priorities will be building energy efficiency, clean coal including carbon capture and storage, and clean vehicles.

A joint task force will create a multi-year plan that addresses R&D needs and issues related to the manufacture and use of EVs. The two countries will update the plan periodically to reflect advances in technology, infrastructure and other factors and share results globally.

Japan and the U.S. also agreed to share EV data and work on joint product and testing standards, including common design standards for recharging plugs and protocols for batteries and other devices. EV demonstration programs in both countries will be linked via paired cities that will collect and share data on charging patterns, driving experiences, grid integration and consumer preferences.

The Energy Cooperation Program, which consists of about two dozen founding member companies, will include collaborative projects on renewable energy, smart grid, clean transportation, green building, clean coal, combined heat and power and energy efficiency. The program will leverage private sector resources for project development work in China across a broad array of projects.

The two countries also will develop plans to encourage widespread use of renewable energy sources in both countries. The partnership will provide technical and analytical resources to states and regions and will facilitate state-to-state and region-to-region partnerships to share experiences and best practices. A new Advanced Grid Working Group will bring together policymakers, regulators, industry leaders and others to develop strategies for grid modernization in both countries.

Through the new Clean Energy Research Center, the two countries will bring teams of scientists and engineers together in developing clean coal, carbon capture and storage. _Experience gained in the U.S. will be used to assess China’s shale gas potential, promote investments and conduct joint technical studies to accelerate development of such resources in China.

The two countries further agreed to work together to improve the energy efficiency of buildings, industrial facilities and consumer appliances. This will include energy-efficient building codes and rating systems, benchmarking industrial energy efficiency, training building inspectors and energy efficiency auditors for industrial facilities, harmonizing test procedures and performance metrics for energy efficient consumer products and exchanging best practices in energy efficient labeling systems.