TOP 100 RACING SITES
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| Heidfeld quickest in testing Nick Heidfeld was quickest in testing in his BMW-Sauber at the Montmelo circuit, posting the fastest lap time of 1 min 20.338sec to outspeed Kimi Raikkonen of Ferrari. foxsports.com.au |
Rahal Lands Driver After missing the IndyCar season’s first three races because of a lack of sponsorship, the team owner Bobby Rahal, the 1986 Indianapolis 500 winner, said he had completed a deal to put the Spanish driver Oriol Servia in the cockpit of his No. 17 car for this year’s 500. DAFCA, a company that provides security against cyberterrorism and counterfeiting, will sponsor the Rahal car for the 500. nytimes.com |
Porsche's Wiedeking Facing Last Days? Embattled Porsche SE CEO Wendelin Wiedeking [see Q&A with Wiedeking in Bssinessweek from 2007]may be moving closer to ending his 16-year run as head of the iconic German automaker, according to German press reports on Friday.Wiedeking, together with Porsche SE supervisory board chairman Wolfgang Porsche, has been trying to execute a takeover of the much larger Volkswagen AG. But the derivative scheme Porsche was using to finance the move backfired on the company last Fall when the global credit markets collapsed, leaving Porsche with more than $12 billion of debt it can’t afford to service.The CEO, the highest paid in Europe, has been trying to line up a $7 billion investment in Porsche from Persian Gulf State of Qatar to buttress the company’s balance sheet, and allow it to complete a takeover of VW. Porsche currently owns 51% of VW. But the transaction would have to be approved, ironically, by Ferdinand Piech, supervisory board chairman of VW and a controlling shareholder in Porsche SE. Piech is believed to not favor the Qatar investment, and is instead pushing a plan for VW AG to absorb Porsche into its auto group that also includes Audi, Bentley, Seat, Skoda and Lamborghini.VW has made an offer of about $5.6 billion for nearly half of the shares in Porsche, saying that a sale would allow it to trim its debt of around nine billion euros (12.6 billion dollars).Porsche executives have countered that VW is not offering enough money for half of the automaker’s shares. That offer would have to approved by the Porsche family led by Wolfgang Porsche. Porsche and Piech are cousins, and both are grandsons of Porsche founder Ferdinand Porsche. The families control 100% of Porsche’s voting shares.Rumors have followed Wiedeking for months that he would not survive the outcome of the debacle between VW and Porsche. On Friday, an online report by Der Spiegel magazine, which did not identify its sources, said the Porsche and Piech families that control Porsche SE would name production chief Michael Macht as new CEO of its core sports-car operations.A Porsche spokesman said: Wiedeking is and remains the boss" of the company, while noting that Porsche would hold an extraordinary meeting of its supervisory board next Thursday. Both Porsche and Volkswagen have announced they will hold extraordinary board meetings that day in Porsche's home town of Stuttgart, raising speculation that a deal may be on the horizon.Wiedeking on Thursday personally denied rumors that he would resign as chief executive, saying he planned to complete his contract which expires in 2012. On Bloomberg TV, Wiedeking said, “I’m the chief executive officer,” Wiedeking said in Ingolstadt, Germany, attending a 100th anniversary of Audi AG. “I bear responsibility for this company and I’m feeling happy as a cat in that role.”Wiedeking has long been very popular with German labor because of his insistence on keeping jobs in Germany rather than manufacturing Porsche's in other countries. The Works Council of Porsche gave Wiedeking its support on Wednesday. Chairman of the Porsche AG Group Works Council, Uwe Hück, backed Wiedeking as well as the idea of Porsche remaining independent. rss.businessweek.com |
Penske limits Busch crew chief's access to team Penske Racing crew chief Pat Tryson says he's only welcome at the race shop for the once-weekly debrief meeting. Because Tryson ... rssfeeds.usatoday.com |
A coup for Subaru Well, it is the holiday season so I figured I would take a break from the woes at General Motors, Honda’s hybrid malaise and Toyota’s quality snafus to pen up some good news. Take a look at Subaru. In the U.S sales are up 14.4% through November and will easily top 215,000 cars for the year, notes Automotive News. Yes, even in this wretched car market, a company is growing. Subaru did a few things to get the growth. First, the company has renewed its entire lineup other than the B9 Tribeca in the past two years. They also spent a lot to market the cars even as the economy was hitting the skids, says James N. Hall of 2953 Analytics Inc. When the competition pulled back, Subaru hit the accelerator, Hall said. By taking to the airwaves, Subaru got on a lot more shopping lists. To close more deals, the company slashed prices on its cars. Until 2006, Subaru used to try to sell its cars at 5% to 10% more than rival Japanese models, Automotive News said. Now they undercut their chief competitors in head-to-head comparisons. That has helped the company move the metal. But it could be tough to get that pricing back. Most companies are trying to get better pricing to improve margins. That has helped Honda and Toyota reap big profits for years. GM and Ford are both trying to do the same thing now. Subaru is moving in the opposite direction. That could diminish their brand image if they drop prices too low. The real test comes when the newer models start to age. Car companies typically spend more on advertising when they are launching new models. If Subaru pulls back on marketing but sales stay strong, then the pricing play will go down as a success. If Subaru can't sustain the growth, then the company will have a dual problem with flat or falling sales and weaker pricing. But make no mistake. The company’s sales show that Subaru is headed in the right direction. The unique brand with a strong image for rugged, all-wheel drive cars looks like it is catching on. rss.businessweek.com |