Ford and Geely close to Volvo deal March 22, 2010 US carmaker Ford will sign a deal to sell its Volvo cars business to China’s carmaker Zhejiang Geely within days, sources close to the deal said last night. The Chinese carmaker will pay $1.8bn (£1.2bn) for Volvo, while a further $750m of working capital is being raised to develop the Swedish brand, famous for its [...]
Government backs electric car revolution March 18, 2010 The government yesterday announced it will back Ford and Nissan in the development of electric cars and environmentally friendly engines, allotting nearly £2bn to the cause in an effort to further green motoring development in the UK. Ford is preparing to invest £1.5bn into its four UK sites over the course of five years after [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS March 18, 2010 Avoca Capital Holdings The European credit investment manager has hired Clayton Perry, formerly principal and managing director at Broadchalk Advisors, as its new chief operating officer. Prior to establishing Broadchalk, Perry was head of global collateralised loan obligation (CLO) business at Credit Suisse, responsible for CLO transactions in the US and Europe. The appointment comes [...]
REVOLUTIONISING the runabout March 16, 2010 OFTEN it’s the least exciting cars that are the most surprising. Testing an eco model from the most traditionally conservative car segment – the Supermini or B segment – promises to be, if not dull, then certainly a pedestrian experience. Yet, in a difficult car market, the Supermini segment is where all of the action [...]
It’s a family affair when you’re looking for a scent March 15, 2010 THE modern male may be rather more comfortable with primping, preening and beautifying – so long as we can call it grooming – but deciding on a scent is still a problematic exercise. Even the most confident bloke can feel ill at ease in the heightened feminine atmosphere of a perfume department, and given the [...]
CHINA CLOSE TO VOLVO DEAL March 10, 2010 GEELY, the Chinese carmaker, has secured funds for its planned purchase of Volvo Cars from US rival Ford from Chinese financial institutes and regional authorities, according to reports yesterday. Ford said late last year it had agreed terms to sell its Swedish unit Volvo to Geely for around $2bn (£1.3bn). Volvo employs 22,000 workers worldwide, [...]
Lookers doubles its profit as car dealers see healthy trade pick-up March 9, 2010 CAR dealership Lookers doubled its annual profit in 2009, reporting pre-tax profits of a record £28.3m. The company, which sells cars from manufacturers like Peugeot, Ford and Volvo, saw its pre-tax profit , goodwill and one-off items jump 102 per cent from 2008. It also benefited from the government scrappage scheme, due to end on [...]
Sharks sunk as Saints go marching on March 7, 2010 NORTHAMPTON moved to within two points of Leicester at the top of the Guinness Premiership after inflicting an eighth straight defeat on Sale, who slumped to the bottom. Tries from wings Paul Diggin and England hopeful Chris Ashton helped the Saints to a first-ever league win at Edgeley Park after fly-half Stephen Myler had missed [...]
WH Ireland in the red March 2, 2010 STOCKBROKER WH Ireland remained in the red over the past financial year despite a nascent pick-up in activity in the small cap broking sector, though the firm insisted yesterday the worst of its woes are behind it. WH Ireland made a pre-tax loss on continuing operations of £2.08m over the year to November, slightly narrower [...]
Investors growing wary over job data March 2, 2010 US stocks ended slightly higher yesterday as mergers and acquisitions supported selected sectors, but investors pulled back from recent gains in some big-cap technology and bank shares. The S&P 500 has risen for eight of the past 11 trading days, but there were signs of fatigue as investors grew cautious in advance of key employment [...]