Up the hatch December 15, 2009 WE’VE tested some super-hot hatches on these pages, most recently Honda’s Civic Type R Mugen and earlier in the year Ford’s Focus RS, both of which are stunning performers. Here we have another. The preceding version of this car, the Renault Clio 197 Cup, had brilliant agility and grip and was a riot of fun, [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING December 2, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMES CIC IN €800M OFFER TO APAXChina Investment Corp, China’s sovereign wealth fund, is offering to invest as much as €800m (£723m) into Apax Partners’ €11.2bn private equity fund in a groundbreaking deal.The move, which would see CIC acquire a small stake in the management company of one of Europe’s biggest equity funds, shows [...]
Carmaker Geely seeks $1bn loans to buy Volvo December 1, 2009 Geely, the Chinese carmaker picked as the preferred bidder for Ford Motor’s Volvo unit, is seeking at least $1bn (£602m) in loans from Chinese banks to finance its $1.8bn bid, sources said yesterday. Geely, which means “lucky” in Chinese, is hungry for modern and innovative technologies from the Swedish brand to upgrade its car line [...]
A gripping drive December 1, 2009 THE LAST time I drove a Civic Type R, I found the ride quite brutal. So I have to admit to being slightly wary of having this one to test on UK roads, but it had to be done, because just 20 of them are destined for the whole of Europe. First things first, this [...]
Time to put the bags away November 30, 2009 SO, here we are, back to that fortnight in the calendar where the players can finally hang up their golf bags and visit their families after a long, hard season. The golfing year seems to get more and more demanding on the tour professional these days and the players have certainly earned their closed season [...]
Johnson: Wielding the axe would be ridiculous November 26, 2009 MARTIN JOHNSON has angrily hit back at England’s “hysterical” critics, insisting calls to sack his under-fire coaches are “ridiculous”. Former internationals Josh Lewsey and Will Greenwood led the calls for changes at the top of English rugby following the disappointing autumn internationals campaign. Forwards coach John Wells and defence coach Mike Ford were the two [...]
CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS November 25, 2009 ElectraThe private equity group has appointed Roger Perkin as a non-executive director. Perkin is a former senior partner at Ernst & Young, where he spent 40 years of his career. He was previously lead auditor to UBS from 1998 to 2005 and has worked for clients including 3i, Resolution and Henderson. He also recently advised [...]
GE Capital agrees loan with Jaguara November 16, 2009 JAGUAR Land Rover (JLR) yesterday secured a £170m working capital facility from GE Capital. The five-year loan will help the money-losing car company, owned by India’s Tata Motors, as it is struggles in the global financial downturn. The loan will be drawn down as soon as vehicles are made in its three UK production lines. [...]
Jonny vows to put body to the sword November 12, 2009 BRAVEHEART Jonny Wilkinson has vowed to continue putting his injury-ravaged body on the line when England lock horns with the powerful Pumas at Twickenham tomorrow. The 30-year-old fly-half has spent much of the last six years on the treatment table but returned to international action last Saturday to make a remarkable 20 tackles in the [...]