Cargo Ship Carrying 5,000 Japanese Cars is Sinking
The Cougar Ace, a 654-foot cargo ship carrying a variety of Japanese cars is disabled and listing on its side just south of the Aleutian Islands, off the Alaska coast. The ship was making its way from Japan to Canada to deliver it's load of
4,813 cars when it began taking on water Sunday night.
As of now all 23 crew members have been air lifted off the Cougar Ace but the fate of the vehicles is unknown. All the cars are secured on the ship before transport but from the angle the ship is sitting at it is unknown whether or not they have remained in place.
July 11, 2006
Porsche controlling Volkswagen?
Porsche's Plan to Purchase Controlling Interest of Volkswagen Approved!
What may be the quintessential sports car maker, Porsche, announced plans to seek a controlling interest in the Wolfsburg-based automotive giant Volkswagen group last month, submitting a proposal to German anti-trust authorities to gain clearance to purchase the remaining stock required. Already owning 21.2 percent of VW (Porsche owned 18.5 percent earlier this year but it has purchased most of its 3.4 percent available options in recent months), Porsche and the Peoples Car have had a longstanding and successful relationship, dating all the way back to Ferdinand Porsches design of the Beetle.
The pairs partnership began with Hitlers requirement for a car for working Germans in the 30s. As the premier German designer at the time, Ferdinand Porsche was charged with the design of the car, and constructed the now famous rear-engine, rear-wheel drive Beetle. With economy being the overall goal, Porsche built the car to be as frugal as possible, tuning the air-cooled engine to be a fuel miser, while Porsches Chief Designer at the time put the body in a wind tunnel to fine tune the shape, making the Beetle one of the first cars to be designed with a thought to airflow.
During World War II, VWs production line tooled up for military vehicles, and the basic Beetle chassis (and even shape) was used in the Kubelwagen utility vehicle and even the amphibious and aptly named Shwimmwagen. After the war, Volkswagen was decimated; quite literally. Allied bombing left the factory in ruins, and as a producer of military goods, everything was seized for reparations. Put under the command of an Englishmen, the factory was considered useless until the English commander painted one of the Beetles green and shipped it back to Allied Headquarters as a demonstrator. Shortly thereafter, the Allied forces within Germany, sorely lacking transportation, opted to purchase 20,000 of the little runabouts.
Fast forward seventy years and little has changed: with the announcement that Volkswagen will build Porsches uber-sedan, the Panamera, the pairs ties are stronger than ever; the two currently sharing the Toureg/Q7/Cayenne platform. As a major parts supplier to the worlds last large-volume independent sports car builder, Volkswagen is obviously incredibly important to Stuttgart, and as such Porsche is not inclined to see Volkswagen fall into the proverbial wrong hands, hence the interest in purchasing the requisite 25.1 percent of Volkswagen stock to give it control.
Porsche has been purchasing Volkswagen stock steadily since they announced a plan to acquire 20 percent of Germanys largest automaker last September, at a cost of $3.8 billion to fend off hostile takeovers, sharing the rest of the stock with Volkswagen and the Government of Lower Saxony. Now, with the approval of the takeover plan being granted late last week, the sports car company is legally allowed to purchase the remaining 3.5 percent needed to gain a controlling interest, effectively putting all fears of a hostile takeover to rest.
he two currently sharing the Toureg/Q7/Cayenne platform. As a major parts supplier to the worlds last large-volume independent sports car builder, Volkswagen is obviously incredibly important to Stuttgart, and as such Porsche is not inclined to see Volkswagen fall into the proverbial wrong hands, hence the interest in purchasing the requisite 25.1 percent of Volkswagen stock to give it control.
Porsche has been purchasing Volkswagen stock steadily since they announced a plan to acquire 20 percent of Germanys largest automaker last September, at a cost of $3.8 billion to fend off hostile takeovers, sharing the rest of the stock with Volkswagen and the Government of Lower Saxony. Now, with the approval of the takeover plan being granted late last week, the sports car company is legally allowed to purchase the remaining 3.5 percent needed to gain a controlling interest, effectively putting all fears of a hostile takeover to rest.
Mazda and Spacedog to Debut First Graphic Novel
Mazda and Spacedog will announce the world debut of the first book in the Revved series of graphic novels at this year's Comic-Con International - home of North America's largest comic book and multi-genre convention - in San Diego, CA. Revved, to be published by Top Cow Productions and developed into a television series by Fox Television Studios, is truly ground-breaking due to the level of integration and collaboration from concept to execution between Spacedog, Top Cow and Mazda. For an exclusive preview of the first 10 pages of Revved: The Beginning, visit www.mazdausa.com/revved.
July 10, 2006
60 Minutes or Less for Car Service?
Here's a policy we'd like to see made standard across every border.
Al-Futtaim Motors has promised full-car service on all Toyota and Lexus vehicles within 59 minutes. The policy started last month on the 15th and will end 59 days later on August 12th. Unfortunately, the service only applies to vehicles within the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and it's not worth it for us to drive that far for faster service. All of the chain's service stations in the UAE have also extended their hours to accomodate customers, and each customer will have a chance to win a Toyota Yaris in a prize draw.
'With the number of vehicles on the road on a steady increase, service centres in the UAE are currently faced with time constraints on car servicing, which in turn affect customers," states Kevin Jones, General Manager of Services. "Keeping our customers first, we have tried to combat that inconvenience by putting to work our years of expertise, the specially designed equipment and tools and Toyota's trained technicians, to offer our customers a full car service in just 59 minutes."
Unfortunately, the cited article doesn't say exactly what's included in a "full-car service", so if it takes these guys 59 minutes to change your oil, check the air pressure in your tires, and attempt to sell you new wiper blades, then they should that art has already been perfected and can be performed in 10 minutes.
Automated Parking Provided by BMW
Most automated parking systems previewed by automakers do all the work by themselves, but typically require the driver remain in the car. Not this one. BMW has developed a self-parking car that can be triggered by a button on the car's key. The technology works by using a small camera to find a reflective lens placed at the end of the garage. For the most part, the system uses technology already contained in the latest 7-series.
July 07, 2006
Maria Sharapova is an Ambassador for Land Rover
The world of Siberian tennis ace Maria Sharapova has changed infinitely since she first went to the US at the age of six.
In those early years, her parents were still struggling to establish themselves in a new country, to the extent that they even couldn't afford a car, the young Sharapova being ferried to tennis lessons on the back of her father's bike.
Toward the end of 2004 Sharapova met the people at Land Rover and was able to get them to organize a Land Rover for her in every city she traveled throughout the world. A little over a year later she signed on as an ambassador for the brand.
[Read Interview with Maria Sharapova]
July 05, 2006
BMW Wins for the Fifth Time
BMW 7 Series ranked most apealing premium luxury for the fifth time in J.D. Power and Associates 2006 appeal study. The study ranked automotive performance, execution and layout apeal. High marks for the X5, 3 Series and 5 Series Sedans helped make the BMW brand second overall.
The BMW 3 Series, 5 Series, and X5 posted top-three finishes in their respective segments.
These strong individual performances helped propel the BMW brand to a significant second place overall.
"These results offer an emphatic endorsement of BMW's entire model line by our owners," noted Tom Purves, Chairman and CEO of BMW of North America.
"BMW owners are among the most passionate and critical in the industry. Having four BMW Series perform so well in their respective categories demonstrates the strength of BMW brand values."
The 2006 APEAL Study is based on responses from more than 63,000 new-vehicle owners who were surveyed after the first 90 days of ownership.
The study, now in its eleventh year, measures owner delight with the design, content, layout and performance of their new vehicles.
The APEAL Study was redesigned for 2006 to provide better coverage of new technologies that didn't exist previously.
The Study is now based on ten categories of vehicle performance and design: engine/transmission; driving dynamics; storage and space; seats; vehicle interior; heating, ventilation and cooling; vehicle exterior; audio /entertainment/navigation; visibility and driving safety; and fuel economy.
