Word: auto
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Like many other manufacturers attempting a comeback, VW is engineering a revamp that involves both new products and cost cutting. At the Los Angeles auto show in December, the company is expected to unveil a small SUV called the Tiguan, due in 2008. A minivan, to be built in partnership with Chrysler, is also planned for 2008. There's even talk of importing another retro favorite, the Scirocco, which is being revived in Europe. VW aims to double sales in the U.S. over the next five to six years. "If we're going to be a global player, we have...
...powerful, recently agreed to extend the workweek--to 35 hours for factory workers, up from 28.8 hours. In return VW promised to keep production of the next-generation Golf in Germany. "Such deals rob VW of the flexibility you need in this business," says Ferdinand Dudenhöffer, a German auto-industry expert...
...turbine blades, and Zoltek's orders have soared as wind energy expands worldwide. Automakers are also evaluating carbon fiber as a substitute for some metals to improve fuel economy, and next-generation hybrids and fuel- cell vehicles should contain more of the material. Except for the Japanese, "all the auto companies are using or testing carbon fiber with Zoltek," Robinson says. The stock is up more than 185% this year...
...floor. I asked about the universal plan recently passed in Massachusetts, which was a triumph of Obama-style bipartisanship. The plan requires everyone who earns three times the poverty rate to purchase health insurance and subsidizes those who earn less than that. Shouldn't health insurance be mandatory, like auto insurance, for those who can afford it? Obama wouldn't go there. "If there's a way of doing it voluntarily, that's more consonant with the American character," he said. "If you can't solve the problem without the government stepping in, that's when you make it mandatory...
...potential rivals for the presidency in 2008 voted, as a matter of political expediency, to give Bush the authority to use military force in Iraq. Then Obama returned to the energy issue. "When I call for increased fuel-economy standards, that doesn't sit very well with the [United Auto Workers], and they're big buddies of mine ... Look, it's just not my style to go out of my way to offend people or be controversial just for the sake of being controversial. That's offensive and counterproductive. It makes people feel defensive and more resistant to changes...