More carmakers caught in headlights of VW engine-rigging scandal

More carmakers caught in headlights of VW engine-rigging scandal
Volkswagen has admitted it installed illegal software into 11 million 2.0 liter and 3.0 liter diesel engines worldwide (AFP Photo/Josh Edelson)

Volkswagen emissions scandal

Iran's 'catastrophic mistake': Speculation, pressure, then admission

Iran's 'catastrophic mistake': Speculation, pressure, then admission
Analsyts say it is irresponsible to link the crash of a Ukraine International Airline Boeing 737-800 to the 737 MAX accidents (AFP Photo/INA FASSBENDER)

Missing MH370 likely to have disintegrated mid-flight: experts

Missing MH370 likely to have disintegrated mid-flight: experts
A Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 commercial jet.

QZ8501 (AirAsia)

Leaders see horror of French Alps crash as probe gathers pace

"The Recalibration of Awareness – Apr 20/21, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Old Energy, Recalibration Lectures, God / Creator, Religions/Spiritual systems (Catholic Church, Priests/Nun’s, Worship, John Paul Pope, Women in the Church otherwise church will go, Current Pope won’t do it), Middle East, Jews, Governments will change (Internet, Media, Democracies, Dictators, North Korea, Nations voted at once), Integrity (Businesses, Tobacco Companies, Bankers/ Financial Institutes, Pharmaceutical company to collapse), Illuminati (Started in Greece, with Shipping, Financial markets, Stock markets, Pharmaceutical money (fund to build Africa, to develop)), Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Women, Masters to/already come back, Global Unity.... etc.) - (Text version)

… The Shift in Human Nature

You're starting to see integrity change. Awareness recalibrates integrity, and the Human Being who would sit there and take advantage of another Human Being in an old energy would never do it in a new energy. The reason? It will become intuitive, so this is a shift in Human Nature as well, for in the past you have assumed that people take advantage of people first and integrity comes later. That's just ordinary Human nature.

In the past, Human nature expressed within governments worked like this: If you were stronger than the other one, you simply conquered them. If you were strong, it was an invitation to conquer. If you were weak, it was an invitation to be conquered. No one even thought about it. It was the way of things. The bigger you could have your armies, the better they would do when you sent them out to conquer. That's not how you think today. Did you notice?

Any country that thinks this way today will not survive, for humanity has discovered that the world goes far better by putting things together instead of tearing them apart. The new energy puts the weak and strong together in ways that make sense and that have integrity. Take a look at what happened to some of the businesses in this great land (USA). Up to 30 years ago, when you started realizing some of them didn't have integrity, you eliminated them. What happened to the tobacco companies when you realized they were knowingly addicting your children? Today, they still sell their products to less-aware countries, but that will also change.

What did you do a few years ago when you realized that your bankers were actually selling you homes that they knew you couldn't pay for later? They were walking away, smiling greedily, not thinking about the heartbreak that was to follow when a life's dream would be lost. Dear American, you are in a recession. However, this is like when you prune a tree and cut back the branches. When the tree grows back, you've got control and the branches will grow bigger and stronger than they were before, without the greed factor. Then, if you don't like the way it grows back, you'll prune it again! I tell you this because awareness is now in control of big money. It's right before your eyes, what you're doing. But fear often rules. …

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Toyota steps up small car battle in India

Reuters, Chang-Ran Kim andJanaki Krishnan, NEW DELHI, Tue Jan 5, 2010 3:25am EST


NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Toyota Motor Co, seeking to draw a line under a dire 2009, is ramping up in India with the launch of a new low-cost compact car to tap the fast-growing market.

The world's largest automaker is a laggard in India, Asia's third biggest economy, and is facing increasing competition from rivals targeting one of the few bright spots in an industry ravaged by the global financial crisis.

At the Delhi Auto Expo, Honda Motor Co also unveiled a new compact car, a 5-seater model being developed especially for India and other emerging markets that are quickly replacing major Western markets as a key battleground for auto firms.

"India will play a pivotal role in Toyota's global expansion plans and the time has come for us to strategically accelerate our growth here," Toyota Vice-Chairman Kazuo Okamoto told a media conference to mark the launch of its new compact car Etios.

Driven by the world's second-largest population, government incentives and a relatively strong domestic economy, Indian auto sales are set to grow about 16 percent this year to 1.4 million vehicles, after posting double-digit growth through most of 2009.

By comparison, U.S. auto sales due later on Tuesday are expected to show the market there slumping to its worst year since 1982, or possibly 1970.

This year, China is due to surpass the United States as the world's largest auto market with about 13 million vehicles sold.

Toyota, which has forecast an operating loss of 350 billion yen ($3.8 billion) in the year to March 2010 after the slump in the U.S. market, said more than 2,000 engineers in India and Japan worked for four years on the Etios.

The car will go on sale later this year with a price tag of less than 500,000 rupees ($10,823).

"With the introduction of Etios, we hope to attain a sizeable market share in India in the shortest possible time," said Sandeep Singh, deputy managing director of marketing at Toyota's local unit, Toyota Kirloskar Motor.

CROWDED MARKET

Honda's new family car based on the "Honda New Small Concept" unveiled in Delhi will hit showrooms in India and Thailand by 2011. It will be one of the 10 small cars due to be launched at India's Auto Expo this week.

Shinzo Nakanishi, chief executive officer of Maruti Suzuki, said the entry of so many new models would make it difficult for his company to defend its half share of the Indian market.

"This is not an easy job this year with so many new cars being launched," he said. "We have to prepare ourselves well for the competition with more products and with better network."

Maruti Suzuki is the market leader with cut-price hatchbacks such as the Maruti 800 and Alto. The mini and compact segments of cars shorter than 4 meters (13 ft 1.4 in) account for three-quarters of India's car market.

The company was another to premier a new model, a 7-seat family car it said will create a new segment in the country.

The push in India is not limited to passenger cars either, with U.S. motorcycle maker Harley-Davidson announcing plans to launch 12 models there this year, and VE Commercial Vehicles, a joint venture between Eicher Motors and Volvo planning to ramp up production capacity to 100,000 units by 2015 as it targets a 15 percent share of the heavy duty truck segment.

SOURCING Center

As well as its growing influence as a market, India is becoming an increasingly important center for building and exporting small, low-cost vehicles.

Volvo, the world's second biggest truck maker, will increase component sourcing from India by five times to $5 billion by 2015, said Bertil Thoren, president of the Volvo Group Alliance Office.

Volkswagen, Europe's largest carmaker, said it will launch its Polo sedan model in India in the second half of 2010, with half the components to be sourced locally.

Honda will increase sourcing of parts from India for its new car. It plans to use Indian steel sheet for the first time when it starts making small cars on the subcontinent next year to lower costs, the Nikkei business daily reported on Tuesday.

($1=92.27 Yen)

(Additional reporting by Devidutta Tripathy and C.J. Kuncheria; Writing by Lincoln Feast; Editing by Anshuman Daga)

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