Entries from December 2009 ↓

This is as a result of it has turn out to be typically accepted that ladies provide a abundant reduced part of risk behind the wheel of a motor, notably when young women drivers are compared to male drivers of a similar age. There are a sequence of things that companies think about when setting the costs of car insurance.

Women are likely to drive a lot of rigorously and deliberately than men thus when they do build an accident claim, the price of repair is typically to cover minor scrapes and dents whereas male drivers manufacture a significantly higher number of written off vehicles. Female drivers conjointly decide up less driving convictions and fines than male drivers and this conjointly makes a difference to the value of car insurance. Car insurance for women is also a bit less as a result of women receive fewer tickets for things like speeding.

You will want to feature on some extra liability insurance. This can be necessary within the event that your young driver gets in a motor accident and causes damage to a automotive and is then revealed to be negligent. If your young driver gets in an exceedingly auto accident and damages go beyond your insurance upper limits, amounts not coated by your car insurance will be cause for a lawsuit not in favor of you.

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General Motors Co. said it will shut the money-losing Saab unit after talks collapsed on a sale to Spyker Cars NV, the second failure in less than a month to keep the 72-year-old Swedish brand alive.

GM and Skyker, a Dutch maker of $235,000 sports cars, faced “certain issues” that couldn’t be resolved, according to a GM statement today. Saab is expected to satisfy debts including supplier payments, and the unit will honor warranties and provide service and spare parts, GM said.

Closing Saab caps more than a month of reshuffling of GM’s European operations. On Nov. 3, the Detroit-based automaker reversed plans to sell the Opel unit and opted to keep it, and Koenigsegg Group AB backed out of a Saab purchase agreement three weeks later, creating an opening for Spyker.

“If you were a gambling man, you would have bet this deal would not close because none of the other deals have closed,” said Mike Tyndall, an analyst with Nomura Securities in London.

GM Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Ed Whitacre said Dec. 15 that the Trollhaettan, Sweden-based unit would be shut unless he had a sales accord by month’s end.

“We were so incredibly close,” Spyker CEO Victor Muller said in a text message to Bloomberg News. “I have no words.”

Spyker fell 33 cents, or 15 percent, to 1.86 euros at 3:59 p.m. on the Amsterdam exchange. The shares touched 1.62 euros earlier for the biggest intraday decline since Sept. 30, 2008.

The wind-down of Saab will commence immediately, the company said. Drivers of the vehicles will still be able to get warranty service, and parts for the vehicles will continue to be made available.

“We expect Saab to satisfy debts including supplier payments, and to wind down production and the distribution channel in an orderly manner while looking after our customers,” said Reilly.

Last week, Saab said it had sold powertrain technology associated with the 9-3 and new 9-5 models to Beijing Automotive Industry Holdings Co., known as BAIC. GM said today’s news would not affect that sale.

BAIC had been thought to be bidding on the entire Saab brand when it approached GM early this fall, but as negotiations progressed, its interests narrowed.

Although the government of Sweden has offered to make loan guarantees to a potential Saab buyer, it has refused to bail out the brand itself. Saab has 3,400 employees worldwide and 1,100 dealers.

Saab was founded in 1937 to make airplanes. It made its first car in 1946. Through the first 11 months of this year, GM sold 7,812 Saab cars and SUVs in the U.S., a 61% decline compared with a year earlier, and the brand’s worldwide sales are expected to come in under 50,000 units this year. .

Brands we loved … and lost in 2009

“Despite the best efforts of all involved, it has become very clear that the due diligence required to complete this complex transaction could not be executed in a reasonable time. In order to maintain operations, Saab needed a quick resolution,” said GM Europe President Nick Reilly. “We regret that we were not able to complete this transaction with Spyker Cars.”

GM has owned the Swedish automaker since 1989; Saab has been making cars since 1949. GM will now begin winding down Saab production, but warranties will continue to be honored, and spare parts will still be available, the company said.

In the past two decades, GM has made every effort to turn Saab into a profitable car brand, Smith said. But recent global economic problems were simply too much for the still-weak automaker to survive.

“It’s a business that has struggled more years than not during its existence,” Smith said.

A total of 3,400 employees will be directly affected by Saab’s closure, GM spokesman Chris Pruess said.

Saab has never been a big-selling car brand, but the recent global recession and news of the brand’s possible demise have driven sales down to crisis levels. Saab’s U.S. sales have been down by more than half so far this year.

Sweden’s other major automaker, Volvo, is currently owned by Ford, which is in the process of selling it to the Chinese automaker Geely.

As part of its bankruptcy restructuring, GM planned to sell of or wind down four of the eight brands it recently operated. Pontiac is being wound down; a deal to sell the Saturn brand to Penske Automotive fell through in September; and a deal to sell the Hummer SUV brand to Chinese heavy equipment maker Sichuan Tengzhong is awaiting government approvals.

GM’s remaining brands are Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac.

source : Bloomberg,latimes,cnnnews

2010 nissan micra (X02A/B02A) or Asian called March was captured by Autoexpress.co.uk on the UK road.It’s Bigger than current.

Spotted Audi A1 with justin while filming commercial .

press release from AUDI————-

Justin Timberlake new Audi brand ambassador

* Justin Timberlake gets leading role in Audi A1 Internet campaign
* Timberlake: “I am very excited to be a part of the next evolution”

Justin Timberlake will act as an Audi brand ambassador starting in 2010. The entertainer will play the leading role in an exceptional Audi A1 Internet campaign to be launched in the spring of 2010.

“Justin Timberlake is an extraordinary artist. He manages to keep advancing his personal development while proving his abilities in different branches of the arts,” says Peter Schwarzenbauer, Member of the Board of Management of AUDI AG for Marketing and Sales. “As a superstar he appeals to a young target audience that we’re particularly intent on exciting about the compact and efficient A1, which is superlatively well suited for city traffic.”

In the spring of 2010, Audi will launch an extraordinary Internet campaign for the market introduction of the new A1. That’s where Timberlake will play a leading role. “Audi has always been at the forefront of engineering and technology”, says Timberlake, „and I am very excited to be a part of the next evolution conscience with Audi and the A1″.

source : Worldcarfans.com

source : autoesporte.com

Audi A1: The countdown starts today

* Design of the Tokyo and Paris show cars was a sign of things to come

* The subcompact car has Audi genes yet is highly individual

* New face: independence and premium for a new target group

A new name, a new segment, a new car. Is there a more fascinating challenge for a car designer? Bold and surprising design was what the Audi team was aiming for in 2007 when it designed the A1 project quattro for the Tokyo Motor Show and again in 2008 for the A1 Sportback concept for the Paris Auto Show. Both studies are emotion-packed visions for a new, young target group and the particular requirements of city driving, and have been systematically refined ever since. The future is almost here: The countdown to the A1 is on. The car is still a secret, yet Stefan Sielaff, Head of Design at AUDI AG, is already talking about the future smallest model in the Audi family. “The new A1 has Audi design in its genes. Like all Audi models, the ratio of greenhouse to body is between 1:3 and 2:3. The front overhang is short, but the wheel wells are pronounced, giving the A1 a wide road stance.” The Audi design team has also come up with something special for the C-pillar. The coupé-like silhouette of the A1 is clearly different from that of the A3. “Audi is renowned for taking a lot of features of its showcars into series production. The roof arch is a unique characteristic of the Tokyo showcar; there is a certain dynamism in the flow of the A- and C-pillars. An important detail for customization; that much I can tell you,” said Sielaff. There will be many ways to customize the A1 to your personal ideas, especially in the interior. The single-frame grille – a central Audi design feature – will identify the A1 as an Audi. But there’s a surprise in store. “We’ll do something here, maybe with the corners and the width of the grille,” says Sielaff. This will affect the headlights. But more on that in January 2010.

Source : www.global-autonews.com / secretnewcars.com