FORD REPORTED READY TO SELL OFF VOLVO:Ford is planning to sell Swedish carmaker Volvo, and BMW could be a possible buyer, a Swedish newspaper claimed on Monday.
The Goteborgs Posten's website reported that a source within Ford said BMW has been studying a possible purchase of Volvo. The Financial Times also reported that BMW was in informal talks to buy Volvo.
"We cannot comment on speculation, this is a question for our owner," said a spokeswoman for Volvo cars. Ford bought Volvo in 1999 and it is now part of the US company's Premier Automotive Group, including Jaguar and Land Rover.
Ford does not disclose results for its individual brands, but taken together its luxury line-up lost €243 million in 2006.
Merrill Lynch has said Ford could raise over €6.68 billion by selling the remaining luxury car brands.
Volvo Cars chief executive Fredrik Arp said in March that Ford was committed to keeping the Swedish carmaker.
DIESEL CARS IN US TO OUTSELL HYBRIDS WITHIN FIVE YEARS:Sales of low-emission diesel cars in the US could outpace their hybrid counterparts within five years, a new study claims.
The US is the world's largest vehicle market, and purchasing patterns there will have a large influence on the economics of competing clean-vehicle technologies.
Ricardo, the automotive technology group that produced the study along with UBS Investment Research, estimates that sales of both diesel and hybrid vehicles will grow in the US as legislators tighten fuel-economy and emissions standards.
ONLY 1 IN 200 POLICE OFFICERS CONVICTED FOR TRAFFIC OFFENCES:For every 200 police officers in Britain caught on camera speeding or jumping red lights last year, only one was punished. From 90,480 offences captured on film, just 354 officers received fines or points on their licences - compared to 80 per cent of ordinary motorists.
One in four of the police motoring offences involved marked vehicles with blue lights flashing, indicating officers were responding to emergencies. The rest were quashed by senior officers who have the discretion to make tickets disappear if an officer puts forward a good reason for speeding - like chasing a suspect.