Car sales plunge despite scrappage scheme January 21, 2010 CAR production plunged last year despite a late surge fuelled by the Government’s scrappage scheme. Many companies cut back on manufacturing early in the year as recession-hit Brits cut back. Honda was one of the companies badly hit – reducing production at its plant in Swindon, Wiltshire, for four months from February. The introduction of [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING January 17, 2010 FINANCIAL SERVICES CITY’S ROLE AS FINANCIAL CENTRE SET FOR NEW BOOST, SAYS TOP HEDGE FUND London will thrive as a financial centre over the next decade by becoming the natural western hub for emerging market growth, according to one of the City’s best-known hedge funds. In stark contrast to bankers’ doom-laden predictions about the City’s [...]
Bidders consider making joint offer for GM’s Saab January 17, 2010 LUXEMBOURG investment firm Genii Capital and Dutch sports-car maker Spyker were considering a joint bid for Saab, after weeks of bidding separately for the loss-making car manufacturer. Parent company General Motors began to liquidate the Swedish company last week, saying previous bids were not strong enough to finance Saab in the long term. This is [...]
GM says death of Saab is a foregone conclusion January 7, 2010 General Motors joint chief executive Ed Whitacre said yesterday he is not hopeful a deal can be reached to sell Saab and said the American carmaker will start to wind-down the Swedish brand. GM is dropping its Pontiac, Saturn and Saab brands and selling Hummer as it restructures to return to profitability after emerging from [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS January 4, 2010 Coutts & Co The private bank has appointed Maggie Bradley as a client partner for its Oxford office, focusing on the local entrepreneur, professional and executive markets. Bradley joins from Coutts’ head office in London, where she has worked for the past five years, latterly as a business partner for international clients. Prior to that, [...]
GM goes for outsider as finance chief December 21, 2009 GENERAL Motors yesterday hired Chris Liddell, the chief financial officer of Microsoft , as its new finance chief, filling a key position with the carmaker’s highest-profile hire since its July bankruptcy. The hire brings another well known car industry outsider to GM’s shifting senior executive team at a time when it has been struggling to [...]
Wood eyeing Esure deal December 6, 2009 Insurance pioneer Peter Wood is understood to be preparing to buy out his Esure motor insurance business from Lloyds Banking Group. Esure, known for its “Calm down dear” TV ads starring celebrity Michael Winner, is thought to be worth £200m to £250m. Wood has lined up financing from buyout firm Penta Capital and hedge fund [...]
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 [...]
Car Giant drives into the red but sees more models leave the showrooms November 16, 2009 CAR GIANT, the west London-based vehicle warehouse, plunged into loss-making territory last year, it emerged yesterday. The company was down £57,000 compared to profit in 2007 of £2.4m, despite increasing the number of used cars it sold by three per cent. It shifted nearly 50,000 hatchbacks and saloons over 12 months against a backdrop of [...]
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. [...]