Search for BP chair nears end June 14, 2009 OIL giant BP’s tortuous two-year slog to find a new chairman is finally drawing to a close, and mining and energy heavyweight Paul Anderson is tipped to be the man to end it. While BP refused to comment on who might fill the post – one of the most prestigious in corporate Britain – Anderson [...]
Defender of the realm June 9, 2009 THE FACTS: Land RoverDefender 90 XSStation Wagon6-speed manual PRICE (MODELTESTED): £26,8150-62MPH: Figuresnot availableTOP SPEED: Figuresnot availableMPG COMBINED/CO2: 28.3/266g/km A FEW years ago I was in mid-Wales for a weekend of tyre-testing, speed and lessons in the laws of physics with Welsh rally driver Mark Higgins and his team at the Forest Experience School. Having been [...]
The devil’s in the detail: the trials and tribulations of a property sage June 3, 2009 THERE comes a time in your life when you can draw a line and say: ‘I’ve done a lot of things in my life’, barks Gerald Ronson, thumping a gnarled fist on the table for emphasis. He’s not wrong. Now the undisputed Sage of Property, Ronson, 70, has spent the past half a century constructing [...]
Small car, big noise June 2, 2009 WHEN I covered the Geneva Motor Show back in early March, I said I wasn’t a fan of the shape of the new Polo. Now in its fifth generation, it looks like a new Golf from the front but with the Lupo attached to the rear. I just don’t get it. I want to get [...]
New dawn at Chrysler and GM in the US June 1, 2009 CAR giant General Motors (GM) finally filed for Chapter 11 yesterday, as President Barack Obama said his government’s plan for the carmaker was viable and would see the business rise out of bankruptcy quickly. When GM emerges from the largest-ever bankruptcy filing in US manufacturing history, the debt-heavy company will be majority owned by the [...]
O’Driscoll in chance to heal Lions scars June 1, 2009 IRELAND captain Brian O’Driscoll will have a chance to exorcise demons when he skippers the British and Irish Lions tomorrow against Golden Lions. O’Driscoll will lead the team for the first time since his ill-fated 2005 tour, when he suffered a dislocated shoulder in the first minute of the opening Test against New Zealand. The [...]
Why the public rejects car firm bailouts May 31, 2009 WE are almost there. Barring a last minute hiccup, General Motors (GM) will enter into bankruptcy today. Like Chrysler, it will be using section 363 of the US code, which ought to allow it to reemerge in a few months having shed assets, liabilities and shareholders, and with the government owning the bulk of the [...]
Market forces should be let loose on GM May 28, 2009 IT is a sign of our troubled and confused times that the US government will end up owning a majority stake in General Motors (GM), the ailing car giant that is heading into bankruptcy. It remains unclear what exactly will happen to Vauxhall, the UK division of Germany’s GM-owned Opel, but it seems likely it [...]
Vertu in 30m share placing May 28, 2009 VERTU, the car retailer, announced yesterday it would raise £30m through a share placing, as it sought to raise its number of dealerships from 45 to over 60. It added that its sales at the company were beating market averages, as it posted pre-tax profit of £70,000 for the year to end-February. Last year, 14 [...]
Toyota bumped down in the US May 25, 2009 Toyota lost its top spot in a rank of suppliers in the US yesterday, as Honda beat it to the post. Toyota came second in the annual survey. Among the US carmakers, Ford climbed from the bottom two years ago to make its largest lead over General Motors (GM), while Chrysler ranked last for the [...]