UK car factories rev back into life February 14, 2012 JAGUAR Land Rover underlined the rebound in the British car industry yesterday when it posted a record quarterly profit. Just three years after it turned to the European Investment Bank for a £340m crisis loan, JLR reported a 57 per cent rise in net profit to £440m for the final three months of 2011. Demand [...]
Scots will raise roof in Cardiff, promises Ford February 9, 2012 SCOTLAND captain Ross Ford insists they want the Millennium Stadium roof closed so they can take on Wales at their own game on Sunday. Ford rejected suggestions the forecast rain and slippery conditions might offer the visitors better hope of pulling off a surprise Six Nations win. “We’ve asked for the roof to be closed [...]
Revitalised England ready for battle February 2, 2012 Sarries pair Farrell and Barritt among new faces set to usher in new era against Scotland in Six Nations opener SCOTLAND vs ENGLAND ENGLAND head coach Stuart Lancaster has boldly predicted his new-look side will cast aside their relative inexperience and triumphantly usher in a new era for the national side by getting their Six [...]
Ford’s focus solely on Scotland February 2, 2012 RUGBY UNION: Scotland captain Ross Ford will pay little heed to England’s line-up for the Six Nations opener on Saturday. Only six players remain from the side that started the Red Rose’s World Cup quarter final defeat against France in October, but Ford said: “Whatever England bring, we’ll just have to deal with it and [...]
Mixed January for US car retailers as Chrysler and Ford beat forecasts February 1, 2012 FIAT-OWNED Chrysler Group posted a 44 per cent rise in US car sales in January, led by gains for its Jeep brand, while its larger domestic rival General Motors lost ground in a month marked by modest growth. Chrysler’s sales blew past some analysts’ expectations of a 35 per cent increase, demonstrating the unlikely comeback [...]
Ford revenues up but profits slip January 27, 2012 Car manufacturer Ford has reported that fourth quarter operating profit fell to $1.1bn (£700m), down $189m (£120m) on the same period last year, as the firm failed to meet analysts’ targets. This is despite quarterly net income of $13.6bn (£8.65bn), a $13.4bn (£8.46bn) increase from fourth quarter 2010. Revenues shot up thanks to a one-off [...]
Brown to skipper Scotland January 24, 2012 RUGBY UNION: Edinburgh hooker Ross Ford will captain Scotland in their Six Nations opener against England a week on Saturday after head coach Andy Robinson revealed Saracens No8 Kelly Brown has been ruled out of the tournament with a leg injury.
Boxing clever: the new Land Rover January 24, 2012 Right now Land Rover’s design team is halfway through a programme to redesign the world’s most famous 4×4, the Land Rover Defender. The goal is to take the key elements of the iconic car and create a cool, new and modern version of a design that has remained mostly unchanged since 1948. For the time [...]
Volvo hunting for partner to develop compact vehicles January 22, 2012 VOLVO Cars is hunting for a partner to share in the development of its compact models. Chief executive Stefan Jacoby, who took the helm at the Swedish brand when Volvo was bought by China’s Zhejiang Geely for $1.8bn (£1.16bn) in 2010, said a partnership would make sense for the relatively small carmaker to find economies [...]
Ratings agencies won’t be trusted without a fight January 22, 2012 THE Big Three rating agencies hardly seem to be out of the news with their ability to move markets. Following Standard & Poor’s (S&P) decision to reduce its assessment of the health of France’s sovereign debt by one notch to AA+ from AAA status, top German politicians like Michael Fuchs and others have jumped on [...]