The people want an empire, apparently, with that unassuming little black VW bug at the head of it.
The U.K.’s Guardian explains, “Volkswagen-Porsche has overtaken Toyota to become the world’s largest car manufacturer as the German group benefits from state-backed stimulus packages around the globe.” VW has “produced 4.4 million vehicles so far this year, outstripping its Japanese rival which has seen four million cars roll off production lines since January.”
Ironically, VW reached the milestone in part by taking over Porsche – which it was forced to do after Porsche failed in an attempt to take over VW earlier this year.
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Archive for the ‘News’ Category
Volkswagen Steals Toyota’s Crown as World’s Largest Automaker
Wednesday, November 11th, 2009GM chairman says co. is committed to repaying aid
Tuesday, November 10th, 2009General Motors Co. remains committed to repaying its billions of dollars in government loans, though it’s too soon to say when that will happen, the automaker’s chairman said Tuesday.
“Can GM pay back its loans? You bet,” Ed Whitacre said during an address at Texas Lutheran University in Seguin, Texas. “I can’t tell you when, but it won’t be very long.”
But Whitacre added that the company, which has received more than $50 billion in taxpayer bailouts and is majority-owned by the U.S. government, has a long way to go before it’s in “fighting shape” again.
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Navies of 2 Koreas exchange fire
Tuesday, November 10th, 2009The two Koreas briefly exchanged naval fire Tuesday along their disputed western sea border, with a North Korean ship suffering heavy damage before retreating, South Korean military officials said.
There were no South Korean casualties, the country’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement, and it was not immediately clear if there were any casualties on the North Korean side. Each side blamed the other for violating the sea border.
“It’s a regrettable incident,” South Korean Commodore Lee Ki-sik told reporters in Seoul. “We are sternly protesting to North Korea and urging it to prevent the recurrence of similar incidents.”
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TV star Rachael Ray helps reeling Ohio town
Sunday, November 8th, 2009Television cooking star Rachael Ray is boosting the local food supply for a struggling Ohio town.
On Saturday, Ray brought a Wilmington soup kitchen new appliances, shelves and furniture. Ray’s show also promised to supply food for the kitchen for the next year.
The soup kitchen is getting as many customers in a day as it did in a week a year ago.
Wilmington is still reeling from the departure of DHL Express and other Wilmington Air Park operations, which has left a 15 percent local unemployment rate in its wake.
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G-20 finance officials: Too early to end stimulus
Sunday, November 8th, 2009Finance officials from rich and developing countries have pledged to maintain emergency support for their economies until recovery is assured, but failed to reach a clear agreement to bear the cost of fighting climate change.
There was also a mixed reaction among the Group of 20 leading rich and emerging nations Saturday to a British-led push to consider a fund for bank bailouts, possibly financed by a tax on financial transactions, to ensure that taxpayers don’t bear the brunt of any future rescues.
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U.S. Should Bar Funds for China-Backed Wind Farm, Schumer Says
Friday, November 6th, 2009The Obama administration should bar a $1.5 billion wind-farm project in Texas from receiving U.S. government stimulus funds because most of the power turbines would be made in China, Senator Charles Schumer said.
“The idea that stimulus funds would be used to create jobs overseas is quite troubling,” Schumer, a New York Democrat, wrote in a draft of a letter he said yesterday he would send to U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu. “I urge you to reject any request for stimulus money unless the high-value components, including the wind turbines, are manufactured in the United States.”
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Microsoft lays off 800 more workers worldwide
Wednesday, November 4th, 2009Microsoft Corp. says it is cutting 800 more jobs. That’s in addition to the 5,000 layoffs it announced in January.
Lou Gellos, a Microsoft spokesman, said Wednesday the cuts are being made in offices around the globe. He would not say what specific product groups or job types are affected.
Gellos also says Microsoft had already let nearly all of the 5,000 go, in what was the company’s first-ever widespread layoffs.
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GM board decides to keep European Opel unit
Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009General Motors Co. said Tuesday it will keep its European Opel unit and restructure it instead of selling a 55 percent stake to Canadian auto parts maker Magna International and its partner, Russian lender Sberbank.
GM’s board of directors made the decision at a daylong meeting after determining that a 3 billion euros ($4.43 billion) restructuring plan was significantly lower than what GM would have had to contribute to other bidders for the division. GM CEO Fritz Henderson added that Europe’s business environment and GM’s overall health have both improved since it put the division up for sale.
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Karzai’s election increases pressure on Obama
Monday, November 2nd, 2009Hamid Karzai was declared the winner by default Monday in Afghanistan’s fraud-marred presidential election, increasing the pressure on President Barack Obama to end his marathon deliberations at a time when a scaled-down version of his commander’s ambitious plans is gaining support.
Obama welcomed Karzai’s election with as much admonishment as praise, telling America’s partner in war that he expects a more serious effort to end corruption in his government and ready his nation to defend itself when international troops ultimately withdraw.
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Bargnani, Raptors overcome LeBron’s triple-double
Thursday, October 29th, 2009Seven years in the NBA has taught LeBron James(notes) the importance of patience. It is being tested after Cleveland started its new season with two straight losses.
Andrea Bargnani(notes) scored 28 points, Chris Bosh(notes) had 21 points and 16 rebounds, and the Toronto Raptors overcame James’ 25th career triple-double to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 101-91 on Wednesday night.
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