October 22, 2002

Baseballs used in World Series are unofficially found to be harder and smaller than those used in regular season, which some speculate is accounting for record-breaking 11 home runs through two games of World Series; photos (M)

General Motors Corp officials express doubts about achieving their goal of capturing 29 percent of US market for new cars this year despite relentless campaign of incentives; blame Korean and Japanese auto companies, saying they have gained unfair advantage through devalued currencies and marketing actions; Autodata says GM held 28.2 percent of car and light truck sales in US through September, up about one-tenth of percentage point from 2001; GM announces tghat group vice president William J Lovejoy will retire on Dec 31 and will be succeeded by vice president John F Smith; Lovejoy says GM's biggest problem is competing with Korean manufacturers, particularly Hyundai Motor Corp; Hyundai chief executive Finbarr O'Neill says he is surprised that GM is concerned about his company; photo (M)

Vinexpo wine trade show, normally held in Bordeaux, is set to open at Jacob K Javits Convention Center; three-day event is expected to enrich New York City's coffers by $30 million; more than 10,000 industry professionals are expected to attend show, which is closed to public; photo (M)

Mazda Motor Corp will shut factory near Hiroshima and outsource production of its trucks to Press Kogyo Co, Japanese auto parts maker; will reopen another plant near its Hiroshima headquarters to increase car output 14 percent by March 2005 (S)

Hong Kong's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell to 7.4 percent in period from July to September, compared with 7.6 percent in three-month period through August and 7.8 percent in three-month period through July; personal bankruptcies more than tripled in September compared with year earlier, to 2,580 (S)