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Filed under: Euro , Government/Legal , UK What Car is reporting that the European Parliament has graciously agreed to allow Britain to continue using the mile a bit longer. How nice of them. The EU has just passed a broad measure that allows shops to continue to display imperial and metric measures, thus keeping Britain from having to switch their speedometers and road signs to kilometers. The governing body had previously asked for firm dates from Britain and Ireland to make the switch and stop using Imperial measures, and though their neighbors in Ireland have already made the change, Britain remains noncommittal. We sympathize with our British brethren. If the EU could just walk 1.609344 km in our shoes, they'd know that switching to the metric system would wreak havoc on poetry and songwriting as we know it. Smiles would no longer be the longest word. There would be no more Mile High Club. Denver would lose its Mile High Stadium. Eminem would be crushed upon losing 8 Mile Road....
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Filed under: Sports/GTs , Euro , Government/Legal , Green , Supercars With the European Union tightening restrictions on carbon emissions, danger has been spelled out in big bright letters for the sportscar-makers we know and love. The bulk of the world's best supercar manufacturers - including Ferrari, Lamborghini, Lotus, Aston Martin and Porsche - reside in Europe, but while industry executives continue to campaign for exception and protection, things don't look good. There are, however, a few solutions that could keep the exotic automakers in business and unmolested. Firstly, both automakers and lawmakers agree on the need to reduce weight, which helps neither emissions nor performance. However, weight reduction itself won't bring the supercars below the 120g/km target touted by the EU. One possible solution would be to give niche automakers an exemption, noting that the few cars they produce are rarely driven anyway. According to Lamborghini CEO Stephan Winkelmann, exotic...
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Filed under: Euro , Government/Legal , Porsche , Volkswagen , Earnings/Financials Porsche is one step closer to its goal of purchasing Volkswagen. Back in April of last year, the German automaker passed the 30-percent mark, forcing it to make an outright offer for The Volkswagen Group in its entirety, which it did . Not too many VW shareholders sold their stake to Porsche, as the bid was for the bare minimum amount allowed by law. Still, the legal requirement had been met, allowing Porsche to continue gobbling up the automaker according to its own timetable. Earlier this year, the VeeDub board approved a request by Porsche to obtain 51-percent of the company for some $15.73 billion, which would give it a majority stake. Before the house that Ferdinand built could complete its acquisition, the European Commission required it to make one last purchase, which took place in June of this year. Finally, the EU has granted its permission for the buyout. This story is likely far from over, as the...
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Filed under: Euro , Government/Legal , Green , Marketing/Advertising , UK How much do marketing angles play into consumer choices? The European Union apparently thinks a lot. For instance, we've recently seen all tobacco sponsorships pulled from motorsports, such as the world's most popular, Formula 1. Now it seems that automobile advertisements will be the next form of media ordered to clean up its act. Potential new rules that are currently in draft form and up for review by the College of Commissioners call for the inclusion of fuel consumption and carbon emission warnings on all vehicle advertisements, just like health warnings are included on packs of cigarettes. It is suspected that the legislation follows a previously published report that suggests 20 percent of every automobile ad should address environmental concerns. Arguments against the proposition claim that it will lead to lost revenue from decreased advertising by automakers who don't want to publicize how dirty...
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Filed under: Euro , Government/Legal , Plants/Manufacturing , Porsche , Volkswagen , Roewe In a move that may undermine Germany's protection of Lower Saxony and its close ties to Volkswagen, the European Commission plans to review the case of Volkswagen Law in the European Union's top court. As you may recall, Porsche has been trying to take majority control of rival Volkswagen. However, the so-called "Volkswagen Law" has protected VW from takeover by allowing the state of Lower Saxony (where thousands of VW jobs are at stake) to retain just enough stock in the company to prevent Porsche from capturing a majority vote. While the upcoming ruling may not only alter the ownership of Volkswagen, it also demonstrates the escalating authority that the European Commission has over once sovereign countries. [Source: Automotive News Europe , subs. req'd] Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Filed under: Government/Legal , Jaguar , Land Rover , Tata In what seems like an official bookend to the sale of Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford to Tata, the European Union, like the U.S. Federal Trade Commission , has given its official seal of approval to the deal. The E.U. had received no complaints regarding the impending purchase, so approval of the $2.3 billion deal had been expected. In fact, the "simplified procedure" used by the European Commission has never ended up with anything but acceptance. No more speed bumps appear ahead of the Indian automaker, which previously had specialized in small and inexpensive vehicles. Now that these formalities are over and done with, hopefully we can simply look forward to what an injection of cash can do to the two classic British marques. [Source: Automotive News - sub. req'd] Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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