Posts Tagged ‘back’
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Nissan’s Carlos Ghosn needs to dial it back
Posted on July 3rd, 2011 by admin
p>FORTUNE — News item: Nissan Motor Co. recently announced a wide-ranging, six-year business plan that will accelerate the company’s growth across new markets and segments. The plan, called “Nissan Power 88,” is effective immediately.
Dear Mr. Ghosn,
I was surprised to read about your six-year business plan with its very ambitious growth and profitability goals.
I know you have had great success setting impossible financial targets and then meeting them, starting with the original Nissan Revival Plan in 1999.
But six years is twice as long as your previous plans, and who knows if you (or me, for that matter) will be around in 2016. You have often told me that trying to run two car companies on two different continents (France’s Renault is your other day job) is not a long-term job description. Although you seem to be holding up remarkably well, you will be 63 years old by then.
Big ambitious targets are fashionable these days. The folks at Volkswagen can’t stop reminding us about their plans to sell one million cars in the U.S. as part of their plan to become the world’s largest car company by 2018. But I can’t help recalling the words of the eminent economist who said he was willing to forecast a number or a date — but not both — because it made it too e …CNN
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Chrysler details plan to pay back US, Canada
Posted on May 23rd, 2011 by admin
div class=”txt timestamp” content=”2011-05-20T00:16:03″>updated 5/19/2011 8:16:03 PM ET 2011-05-20T00:16:03
NEW YORK — Chrysler Group LLC detailed terms of a bond offering and term loan on Thursday that will be used to repay high-cost government loans and put the U.S. automaker on firmer financial ground.
The company expects to refinance the government loans on May 24, the company confirmed in a press release.
In all, Chrysler raised $ 7.5 billion in new loans: $ 3.2 billion in bonds, $ 3 billion in a term loan and a $ 1.3 billion revolving credit facility, the company said.
The bonds and the term loan, which total $ 6.2 billion, and $ 1.3 billion in cash from Italian automaker Fiat SpA will be used to repay $ 7.5 billion in government loans that stem from Chrysler’s bankruptcy restructuring in 2009.
Chrysler’s $ 1.3 billion revolving credit facility will be used for general corporate purposes and will remain undrawn.
A sharp drop in auto sales pushed the Auburn Hills, Michigan-based company to the brink of collapse in 2009 before its federal bailout. It emerged from bankruptcy nearly two years ago under the management of Fiat.
But the loans f …MSNBC
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Saab back in hot seat after China deal terminated
Posted on May 16th, 2011 by admin
div class=”txt timestamp” content=”2011-05-12T14:33:06″>updated 5/12/2011 10:33:06 AM ET 2011-05-12T14:33:06
STOCKHOLM — Struggling car maker Saab Automobile faced renewed uncertainty Thursday as the financing deal with China’s Hawtai Motor Group fell apart, raising fresh concerns about the company’s future.
Spyker Cars NV, which bought Saab from General Motors Corp. in 2010, said it was “forced to terminate” the $ 223 million (euro150 million) agreement with Hawtai since the Chinese company was not able to obtain all the necessary consents, including approvals from different shareholders.
The money from Hawtai was crucial to Spyker’s plans to rescue cash-strapped Saab, which was forced to stop production at its plant in Trollhattan, Sweden, on April 6.
The exact reasons for the termination of the contract weren’t clear, but analysts suggested it could be due to regulatory issues with Chinese authorities or China’s BAIC, which has previously acquired the rights to some Saab technology.
However, Spyker said BAIC “does not have any problems” with its discussions with other Chinese partners.”
Saab spokeswoman Gunilla Gustavs said the company conti …MSNBC
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Fiat back in U.S. with tiny, fun-to-drive 500
Posted on May 4th, 2011 by admin
div id=”mainart” class=”hmedia art grid-6×2″ about=”http://msnbcmedia3.msn.com/j/MSNBC/Components/Photo/_new/110504-fiat-500-915a.grid-6×2.jpg”> Reuters
The 2012 Fiat 500 base Pop model is $ 16,000 with five-speed manual. The lowest-priced 500 with automatic transmission is $ 17,000. All 500s come with a 101-horsepower, four-cylinder engine.The 2012 Fiat 500 hatchback is the newest and arguably the cutest small car in the United States, with federal government fuel mileage ratings that are at the top of the subcompact class.
The four-passenger, two-door 500, which is the first Fiat to be sold by the automaker in this country since 1983, is rated at 30 miles per gallon in city driving and 38 mpg on the highway with standard manual transmission.
This is a higher rating than Toyota’s littlest car here, the Yaris, as well as any Mini Cooper model, which also are subcompacts. The 500 ties the subcompact 2011 Ford …MSNBC
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Fiat back in U.S. with tiny, fun-to-drive 500
Posted on May 4th, 2011 by admin
div id=”mainart” class=”hmedia art grid-6×2″ about=”http://msnbcmedia3.msn.com/j/MSNBC/Components/Photo/_new/110504-fiat-500-915a.grid-6×2.jpg”> Reuters
The 2012 Fiat 500 base Pop model is $ 16,000 with five-speed manual. The lowest-priced 500 with automatic transmission is $ 17,000. All 500s come with a 101-horsepower, four-cylinder engine.The 2012 Fiat 500 hatchback is the newest and arguably the cutest small car in the United States, with federal government fuel mileage ratings that are at the top of the subcompact class.
The four-passenger, two-door 500, which is the first Fiat to be sold by the automaker in this country since 1983, is rated at 30 miles per gallon in city driving and 38 mpg on the highway with standard manual transmission.
This is a higher rating than Toyota’s littlest car here, the Yaris, as well as any Mini Cooper model, which also are subcompacts. The 500 ties the subcompact 2011 Ford …MSNBC
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The Buick is back! No, really …
Posted on April 6th, 2011 by admin
div id=”mainart” class=”hmedia art grid-6×2″ about=”http://msnbcmedia2.msn.com/j/MSNBC/Components/Photo/_new/110406-buick_cover_2.grid-6×2.jpg”> Paul Sancya / AP
The 2012 Buick Verano is unveiled at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit last January. The once-dead Buick brand outsold Lexus — a vehicle brand that has long been the dominant marque in the U.S. luxury market — for the first two months of the year, data show.msnbc.com contributor msnbc.com contributorWhile Butler University’s long-shot bid collapsed Monday night against the University of Connecticut in the NCAA title game, basketball fans got a glimpse of another Cinderella story t …MSNBC
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Hyundai won’t buy your car back anymore
Posted on March 30th, 2011 by admin
span class=”captionname”>Buy a new Hyundai, like this Sonata coming off the assembly line, and you won’t get to give it back if you lose your job.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — No more Mr. Nice Guy. After Wednesday, if you buy a new Hyundai then lose your job within a year, you’re just going to have to keep the car.
Hyundai is ending its car buy-back program, instituted at the beginning of 2009, under which the South Korea-based automaker offered to buy back the car from any Hyundai owner who suffered involuntary loss of employment within one year of purchasing it.
Under the program, Hyundai paid the difference between the car’s trade-in value at the time the owner filed to return the car and any remaining balance on the auto loan up to a maximum of $ 7,500.
During the life of the program, 350 people took advantage of the buy-back offer, Hyundai spokesman Jim Trainor said.
The program just wasn’t piquing consumers’ interest the way it once did. Few customers cited it as a reason for visiting a Hyundai dealership, Trainor said.
When the program was instituted, the economy was in recession and auto sales were at the lowest levels in decade …CNN
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