greece bailout
May 3, 2010 by Trend PK
Filed under World News
After weeks of foot-dragging, mutual contradiction and confusion, a clear plan emerged on Sunday and members of the European Union agreed to a euro 110-billion package to stave off Greek bankruptcy.
The package has been decided upon jointly by the EU and the International Monetary Fund and the European body will be coughing up 80 billion of the 110 billion-deal, with the rest coming from the IMF.
Bilateral loans
For the first year, the Euro-zone will pay euro 30 billion in the form of bilateral loans, as a complement to financial assistance from the IMF. Under the plan Greece will take further austerity measures such as cutting pensions, bonuses, further extending the retirement age and slapping on additional levies to reduce its budget deficit by some euro 30 billion in order to bring it below 3 per cent in 2014.
“The problem is that this is only the tip of the iceberg and we are going to see much worse. Speculators are waiting in the wings for the Portuguese, the Italians, the Spaniards, and why not the French, to proffer the begging bowl. These states are in extreme fiscal difficulty and we have many hard years of austerity ahead of us. David Cameron may decry the Euro but Britain too is in a very poor way. The problem with Greece is that there is large-scale tax fraud. Their fiscal evasion is equivalent to 12 per cent of GDP whereas in France it is close to 3 per cent. I cannot see any government being able to streamline Greece’s fiscal setup by 2014. Talking of bringing the Greek deficit to under 3 per cent by 2014 is a pipe dream, one that cannot be fulfilled,” Mr Langlet, the Editor of the French economic daily La Tribune told The Hindu.
Brussels meet
Eurozone heads of State and government will meet during an extraordinary summit in Brussels to thrash out the procedural details. “But under no circumstances will the European Council go back on this plan,” explained Eurogroup President Jean-Claude Junker. The monies for Greece will be unblocked before May 19, the date when the country has to meet major debt obligations. The loans are being extended by Greece’s eurozone partners at a 5 per cent interest rate.
Germany, Europe’s biggest and richest nation and the one least affected by the recession and financial crisis, has been the most reluctant to help out Greece. Angela Merkel faces a crucial regional election in North Rhine-Westphalia — one she is expected to lose — and public opinion in Germany is dead set against giving any aid to Greece.
Germany has been prudent. That is also due to historical reasons. Every German remembers the crazy runaway hyperinflation of the Weimar Republic in the 1920s which directly contributed to Hitler coming to power and the establishment of the Nazi Third Reich. And the feeling in Germany is never again.
Post-war Germany has been extremely fiscally prudent and has expected the same of its EU partners. Germans believe they have been the thrifty ant while Greece has been the proverbial free-spending grasshopper.
auto sales
May 3, 2010 by Trend PK
Filed under World News
TOP 10 BEST-SELLING LUXURY AUTO BRANDS IN AMERICA – APRIL 2010It’s been many years since anyone was surprised to hear that Lexus was routinely out-selling far more prestigious luxury automakers from Germany. Once again, even as a troubled brand with the GX460 on a sales stoppage and its parent blasted by NHTSA, Lexus squeaks out a victory.
Don’t be fooled by Audi’s relatively low finish in these U.S. standings either. Month after month Audi’s sales improve, and citizens of the world out there are buying Audis at an even faster rate. The 2011 Audi A8 won’t be a huge boon to Audi’s U.S. figures, but its arrival at dealerships will add cachet. Up above Audi a few 
notches sits BMW. As you’ll see in a future Sales Stats Graph, the BMW 3-Series is once again the best-selling luxury car in America. Even so, Lexus is still in control of the U.S. luxury vehicle Marketplace.
Toyota Recall Models List
Latest News Update Toyota Recall Models List, Toyota Motor Corp said Tuesday its Canadian sales fell 14.8% year over year du
ring the month of January, excluding the Lexus brand, as a result of a massive recall that prompted the Japanese automaker to halts sales on eight of its most popular models in North America for most of the last week ofthe month.
Including the Lexus brand, Toyota Canada’s total sales were down 10.4%, the company said.
Meanwhile, Hyundai Auto Canada Corp. reported its best January on record Tuesday, saying it sold 6,084 units in Canada during the month, or a 32% increase over the same period last year. That was also nearly 1,300 units higher than its previous January record set in 1986, and marked twelve-straight record months of sales for the company’s Canadian division.
General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler will report their own sales figures later today.
Toyota recalled 2.3 million vehicles across on Jan. 21 due to a faulty gas pedal that proved a propensity to stick on rare occasions when worn and exposed to condensation. On Jan. 26, the world’s largest automaker said it would halt the sales of eight of its most popular vehicles and the production of those models this week, including the RAV4, Corolla, and Matrix that it buildsin Canada.
The recall has also spread to Europe and China, putting another 1.9 milllion vehicles on the recall list, and adds to the more than 5 million vehicles Toyota had already recalled since November due to its gas pedals getting stuck on floor mats.
As a result, overall sales for the Toyota brand in Canada was 8,246 units in January, down from 9,681 units for the month last year.
Toyota, however, said this week it intends to begin repairing the recalled vehicles as of Friday at its dealerships and modify its production lines, which should allow it to begin selling the affected models again by this weekend.
Stephen Beatty, Toyota Canada Inc. managing director, said he expects it could take more than a month to repair all 270,000 vehicles affected by the sticky pedal recallin Canada.
On a bright note, Toyota’s Lexus sales in Canada were up 62.1% for the month of January, or 953 units for the month from 588 for the same period a year ago.
Toyota Recall Models List was first posted on February 2, 2010 at 10:43 pm.
Toyota Recall Models List
Latest News Update Toyota Recall Models List, Toyota Motor Corp said Tuesday its Canadian sales fell 14.8% year over year du
ring the month of January, excluding the Lexus brand, as a result of a massive recall that prompted the Japanese automaker to halts sales on eight of its most popular models in North America for most of the last week ofthe month.
Including the Lexus brand, Toyota Canada’s total sales were down 10.4%, the company said.
Meanwhile, Hyundai Auto Canada Corp. reported its best January on record Tuesday, saying it sold 6,084 units in Canada during the month, or a 32% increase over the same period last year. That was also nearly 1,300 units higher than its previous January record set in 1986, and marked twelve-straight record months of sales for the company’s Canadian division.
General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler will report their own sales figures later today.
Toyota recalled 2.3 million vehicles across on Jan. 21 due to a faulty gas pedal that proved a propensity to stick on rare occasions when worn and exposed to condensation. On Jan. 26, the world’s largest automaker said it would halt the sales of eight of its most popular vehicles and the production of those models this week, including the RAV4, Corolla, and Matrix that it buildsin Canada.
The recall has also spread to Europe and China, putting another 1.9 milllion vehicles on the recall list, and adds to the more than 5 million vehicles Toyota had already recalled since November due to its gas pedals getting stuck on floor mats.
As a result, overall sales for the Toyota brand in Canada was 8,246 units in January, down from 9,681 units for the month last year.
Toyota, however, said this week it intends to begin repairing the recalled vehicles as of Friday at its dealerships and modify its production lines, which should allow it to begin selling the affected models again by this weekend.
Stephen Beatty, Toyota Canada Inc. managing director, said he expects it could take more than a month to repair all 270,000 vehicles affected by the sticky pedal recallin Canada.
On a bright note, Toyota’s Lexus sales in Canada were up 62.1% for the month of January, or 953 units for the month from 588 for the same period a year ago.
Toyota Recall Models List was first posted on February 2, 2010 at 10:43 pm.
Toyota Recall September 2009
Latest news updates about Toyota Recall September 2009, Toyota recall in history with over 3.8 million cars having problems because of the floor mats. On August 28, four people in a Lexus crashed at over 120mph because of jammed accelerators caused by faulty floor mats.
According to the Toyota press release on the floor mat recall, “Recent events have prompted Toyota to take a closer look at the potential for an accelerator pedal to get stuck in the full open position due to an unsecured or incompatible driver’s floor mat.”
This is not the first time it happens as the first problem was reported in 2004 with the Prius. Then in September 2007 Toyota recalled thousands of Toyota Camrys and Lexus ES 250s due to the all-weather mats. So far there were 102 reports and 13 crashes with 5 deaths and 17 injuries caused by Toyota and Lexus floor mats which ham the accelerator pedals.
As a desperate measure Toyota is urging all Toyota and Lexus drivers to remove the driver’s side floor mats and do not replace it with anything else and the car maker can come up with a solution to the floor mats.
Last month we’ve seen millions of Toyota cars recalled all over the world because of various faulty parts. Toyota recall September 2009? 3.8 million units because of faulty floor mats.
Toyota Recall September 2009 was first posted on September 30, 2009 at 9:05 pm.
