Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) is exploring the possibility of developing budget sports utility vehicles (SUVs) and multi-purpose vehicles (MPVs) in China in a bid to keep up with shifts in the market, its China chief executive, Jochem Heizmann, said on Sunday.

Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T), the world's largest automaker by sales volume, plans to launch two hybrid cars in China this year as part of efforts to launch vehicles that will help to reduce pollution in the country.

Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) Chairman Ferdinand Piech's iron grip on the German carmaker has been severely weakened following a dramatic confrontation with senior board members last week that nearly resulted in a push to oust him, sources told Reuters.

Saudi Basic Industries Corp 2010.SE has signed a deal to use shale gas from the United States at its Teesside petrochemical plant in Britain, acting chief executive Yousef Abdullah al-Benyan told Reuters on Sunday.

Prologis Inc (PLD.N), which owns warehouses and retail-distribution centers, said on Sunday it would acquire the real estate assets and operating platform of closely held KTR Capital Partners and its affiliates for $5.9 billion.

Jaki Kweka is that rare breed of gourmet chocolatier. She makes fine chocolate in Africa using local African ingredients.

Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said on Sunday that financial markets "could be surprised" if the central bank hits its 2-percent inflation target in 2016 and interest rates in Japan start to rise as a result.

Greece's Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis said in an interview broadcast on Sunday that if Greece were to leave the euro zone, there would be an inevitable contagion effect.

The United States is pressing Mexico, the top importer of U.S. chickens and turkeys, to relax restrictions imposed on poultry shipments because of an outbreak of a strain of avian flu deadly to birds, an Agriculture Department spokeswoman confirmed on Friday.

The United States on Friday pressed the world's leading exporters, including Germany and Japan, to generate more economic growth within their borders, warning that the world could not rely too much on U.S. consumers.

Big may be beautiful, but Toyota Motor Corp's (7203.T) global design chief is betting that edgy is the way to go for the Japanese automaker's premium Lexus brand, specifically its signature 'spindle grille' design.

Japan's biggest airline, ANA Holdings Inc (9202.T), will buy a stake of less than 20 percent in Skymark Airlines Inc (SKALF.PK) as part of a rescue plan for the bankrupt domestic budget carrier, people familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Japanese and U.S. ministers said that bilateral trade negotiations got off to a good start on Sunday and the two nations would continue to discuss remaining issues, such as farm and auto trade, on Monday.

PSA Peugeot Citroen (PEUP.PA) and China's Dongfeng Motor Group (0489.HK) will spend 200 million euros ($216 million) to develop a technology platform for small cars that will help to give them more products to boost sales in southeast Asia and China.

Foreign automakers continue to plough money into factories in China, the world's largest car market, even as the biggest economic slowdown in a quarter of a century crimps sales growth.

China's central bank on Sunday cut the amount of cash that banks must hold as reserves, the second industry-wide cut in two months, adding more liquidity to the world's second-biggest economy to help spur bank lending and combat slowing growth.

In January 2014, veteran short-seller Bill Fleckenstein said he was readying a new fund to bet on falling stock prices. More than a year later, he's still waiting to launch that fund.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said on Saturday he was happy over a report that Greece was poised to sign a gas deal with Russia, though he added it would not solve the cash-strapped euro zone nation's economic problems.

A bill that would stop Texas cities from enacting their own bans on hydraulic fracturing in the nation's top crude oil and natural gas producing state was approved on Friday in the state House of Representatives.

China’s gross domestic product growth has slowed to 7 percent, it was announced this week. That’s somewhat anaemic when compared to what the world has come to expect from the second-largest economy.

The German government is on the verge of raising its growth forecasts for this year and next, but its new projections will be more conservative than those published by leading economic institutes earlier this week, two government sources told Reuters.

Financial technology company SunGard Data Systems Inc is preparing to appoint financial advisers to explore a sale that could value it at as much as $10 billion, including debt, people familiar with the matter said on Friday.

Start small, win quick, then move on to bigger issues. That appears to be the European Union's strategy to pursue Google (GOOGL.O) in a competition dispute by choosing to push a narrow set of charges around its shopping service, while opening another investigation of Google's Android mobile phone software.

Russia denied on Saturday a German media report suggesting that it could sign a gas pipeline deal with Greece as early as Tuesday which could bring up to five billion euros into Athens' depleted state coffers.

The International Monetary Fund's member nations on Saturday warned of risks to the global economy from exchange rate shifts and geopolitical tensions as they took note of "moderate" global growth and "uneven prospects."

BMW (BMWG.DE) is recalling 91,800 Mini Coopers in the United States to replace a defective sensor that may prevent the front passenger seat air bag from deploying in a crash, the German automaker said on Saturday.

Canada must make a meaningful offer to open its markets under a Pacific trade pact now that the United States is moving ahead with a key piece of trade legislation, New Zealand Trade Minister Tim Groser said on Friday.

Greece will need to tap all the remaining cash reserves across its public sector -- a total of 2 billion euros ($2.16 billion) -- to pay civil service wages and pensions at the end of the month, according to finance ministry officials.

U.S. consumer prices increased for a second straight month in March on rising gasoline and housing costs, a sign of an uptick in inflation that should keep the Federal Reserve on course to start raising interest rates this year.

Investors attempting to determine whether U.S. equities will rebound from Friday's selloff or continue to sink will look to a deluge of earnings next week for a clearer picture of the economy.