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Latest Auto News
Gordon Brown ignored renewed calls from business leaders to save the car selling industry yesterday, just as America’s ailing automotive giants were offered a $17.4 billion bailout.
The Prime Minister insisted that the responsibility to help car makers lay with their owners, but Richard Lambert said that the Government needed to provide emergency financial support.
A number of foreign car makers, including Tata, the Indian owner of Jaguar Land Rover, have approached the Government for cash for their British subsidiaries.
Describing car manufacturers as “vital to our future”, Mr Lambert said: “The whole industry needs access to credit and I think this is something the Government could do and should do with urgency. This is not money that’s being given away, it is money that will be repaid.”
Mr Brown said that the Government had not agreed any deals. “These are issues that will be debated over the next period of time, but there is no promise that we have made of any support,” he said.
Concerns for the 800,000 jobs reliant on car making heightened on Thursday as car production slumped by a third, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders. Just 97,600 cars were made in Britain in November, the lowest number since 1987. Commercial vehicle production dropped by 50 per cent.
Mr Lambert’s concerns are shared by the unions. Derek Simpson, the joint leader of the Unite union, described the Government’s failure to agree a rescue package as “disappointing”.
“The urgency of the situation dictates that the Government must, however, do as it did with the banks and lose no time in intervening with vital assistance,” said Mr Simpson. “It is no good bailing out the banks if the banks won’t then bail out business.”
There was further bad news for the car industry yesterday as the bankrupt car parts manufacturer Wagon laid off almost all of its 300 staff.
The car dealership chain Lookers, which has more than 100 showrooms, warned shareholders that profits for this year would be less than half those for last year, and the upmarket London dealership HR Owen said it could make a loss this year, adding that sales of Alfa Romeos and Lamborghinis had plummeted as City bankers cut back on spending.
President Bush, with just a month left in the White House, announced that the US Government would lend $17.4 billion to General Motors and Chrylser, both of whom had warned that they might otherwise run out of money by the end of the month. The firms are expected to receive the funds by December 29.
Mr Bush insisted that there were strict conditions connected with the loan. He said that the car companies had until the end of March to set out how they would cut costs to survive in the long term.
Washington was scared that the collapse of General Motors and Chrysler would also cause Ford to fail, triggering the loss of about three million jobs across the US, but car experts gave warning last night that such concerns would prove unfounded.
scrapyard dealer ordered to sell his assets
AN car scrapyard dealer has been told he must sell his title to a lordship of a manor and other assets or face a year in jail.
A judge yesterday ordered Daniel Power to pay £190,000 within six months after he admitted running the scrapyard and money laundering offences.
The 29-year-old made almost £360,000 dealing in scrap at his home – Y Bwthyn, Penllergaer – Swansea Crown Court heard.
Among the assets Power has been told to dispose of are a BMW X3, a house worth £150,000 plus £11,627.87 in a bank account and the Lordship of Goldington title, valued at £6,000.
Judge Huw Davies QC told Power as he sentenced him: “You will lose the land that has been in your family a long time, and provided you with your home, and working environment.”
A second defendant in the case, Gareth Leigh Davies, 23, who admitted two offences of assisting Power, yesterday received a conditional discharge.
Power admitted two offences of dealing in controlled waste without a licence and one offence of money laundering at an earlier court hearing.
This was the first time Environment Agency Wales had prosecuted an illegal waste operator for money laundering. Agency officials alleged that Power knew he was making money from an illegal activity.
Officers began to investigate him after noticing a vehicle carrying scrap cars entering his property in September 2006.
Judge Davies the Environment Agency warned Power that he needed a licence for his scrap operation in September 2006.
The day after the warning, Power bluffed the Environment Agency, saying the vehicles belonged to his terminally-ill father, who died the following month.
But in January 2007 the Environment Agency started covert surveillance of the site.
Swansea Crown Court heard that lorries were seen driving in and out to load scrap cars and officers saw fuel being drained from vehicles, and then set alight.
Catalytic converters were removed from cars and then stored, alongside wheels and tyres taken from other scrapped vehicles.
Three months later evidence was seized to assist in the financial investigation that followed.
Tom Crowther, prosecuting, had previously told the court it was agreed by both sides that Power had made a total of £359,890 out of running the scrapyard.
Judge Huw Davies QC told Power he understood “the impact of this case on you has been substantial”.
Speaking after the hearing, Graham Hillier, the Environment Agency’s manager for South West Wales, said: “Legal waste companies are having a tough time of it in the current financial climate. It is even more important, as regulators of the waste industry, that we make sure everyone operates on a level playing field.
“Those who choose to operate outside the law will now not only face prosecution and a criminal conviction, they now have to understand we have the power to take away any financial gain they may have made from their crimes.
“We want to reassure those who operate legally that those who undermine their businesses will be found and taken to court.”
Power was also sentenced to 180hs of unpaid work.
P1 eco-sports car It's the electric dream that could soon become a reality. This is the P1-E – a sports car that can do 0-60mph in 2.9 seconds without emitting any carbon dioxide at all.
The work of ex-McLaren F1 designer Jim Dowle, the P1-E is powered by a combination of lithium-ion batteries and twin electric motors. Although it's still on the drawing board at the moment, Dowle predicts that as well as offering storming acceleration, the four-wheel drive machine will be able to cover 230 miles before it needs to be re-charged.
Weighing in at just 1,055kg, the P1-E features gullwing doors and a stunning bodyshell, while the batteries and motors are mounted as low down in the chassis as possible. Together with wishbone suspension front and rear, the P1-E is said to have brilliant handling.
The first working prototype is expected to be revealed before the end of 2009. Sales could kick off in 2010 with a projected price tag of £55,000. |
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