END OF INCENTIVES: GM has signalled that financing incentives may be reaching the limit of their effectiveness. Rick Wagoner, chairman and chief executive, said incentives had become "incredibly expensive" for the world's largest carmaker, which has been the most aggressive of the Detroit carmakers since the attacks of September 11th, 2001.
In his first speech since replacing Jack Smith as chairman he said: "It's getting harder and harder just to pull people into showrooms just based on the financing deal. We're either faced with a great spring selling season or some tough decisions on the production side."GM sales in the US, excluding Saab, fell 8.9 per cent in April in spite of what it described as its most aggressive incentive programme ever.
STAMP OF APPROVAL: With Ford topping the car sales market at the moment, competitors may jump at the chance to give the marque a good licking. As part of Ford's centenary celebrations, An Post is issuing a stamp featuring a Model T and its creator, Henry Ford, whose father William emigrated from Cork in the 1840s.
SAFETY STAR: Toyota's new Avensis (below) has achieved five stars in Euro NCAP's latest crash tests. The car scored 34 points out of a possible 36, the highest score recorded in Euro NCAP's testing to date. Alongside the Avensis, Peugeot's people carrier, the 807, became the first MPV to achieve five stars. As it is technically identical to sister cars, the Citroën C8 and Fiat Ulysse, the results are expected to reflect their scores.
CARAVAN OF GREENS: Actor and environmentalist Dennis Weaver, a proponent of hydrogen-powered cars long before the White House jumped on the bandwagon this year, is on his second cross-country "Drive to Survive". Weaver is leading a caravan of eight alternative-fuel vehicles on a cross-country drive from Los Angeles, scheduled to end in Washington next Wednesday.