HUMMER SET FOR IRELAND: Hummer is to officially enter the Irish market this year. The US brand, which built its name supplying vehicles to the US military during the first Gulf war, plans to enter the Irish and British markets by July. Initially its H2 and H3 models will be available only in left-hand-drive, but a right-hand-drive version of the H3 is due on sale by the end of the year.
It's not a great time for Hummer to enter the market, considering the growing campaigns against giant SUVs in urban areas and the fact that most Hummers are sold to urban and suburban dwellers who use the vehicle strictly as a fashion statement rather than a working vehicle.
European distribution is being handled by Dutch firm Kroymans, which expects to appoint an Irish distributor in the coming months. Kroymans already has several ties in Ireland to the OHM Group, which handles other niche US brands such as Cadillac and Dodge.
FORD DENIES PLAN TO SELL JAGUAR: Ford's chief executive, Alan Mulally (below), has denied the group plans to sell British luxury brand Jaguar.
There has been intense speculation over the future of loss-making Jaguar, which is part of Ford's Premier Automotive Group along with Aston Martin, which has officially been put on the auction block.
Mulally insisted that Ford was not seeking buyers for Jaguar, but left the door open to offloading the business in the future: "Jaguar is not for sale at this time."
GM MAKES PROFIT IN EUROPE:General Motors' European unit is poised to record a profit for 2006 - its first in six years. The news delivered a boost to the troubled US carmaker which is losing market share to foreign rivals in the US market.
The European operation reported net income of €150 million in the first nine months of 2006, and accounted for a fifth of GM's total automotive revenues of €98 billion.
The carmaker also said it had sold more than 2 million units in Europe for the first time last year. GM's restructuring plan in 2004 reduced its European workforce by 12,000 and cut costs by €500 million. However, Carl Peter Forster, GM Europe's president, said two-thirds of the unit's profit improvement over the past two years were due to margin improvement produced by the introduction of new cars and increases in revenue per vehicle.