The Car Industry :: Automotive Industry

The Automotive Industry In the U.S., the 2007 market was approximately 15.9 million cars and light trucks sold, down from about 16.5 million the previous year. Production in North America, during 2006, including cars and trucks of all types, totaled 11.8 million produced in America, 2.6 million produced in Canada and 2 million produced in Mexico. Globally, about 53 million new cars were sold in 2007, up from about 49 million the previous year. These estimates are from Scotiabank Group. There are approximately 244 million vehicles in operation in the United States. Around the world, there were about 806 million cars and light trucks on the road in 2007. By 2020, that number will reach 1 billion. Currently, those vehicles burn nearly 260 billion gallons of fuel yearly. In the U.S., as of 2006, the industry included about 21,200 new-car dealerships, 1.07 million manufacturing employees and 1.12 million retail new and used car dealership employees. Total revenues at new-car and light truck dealers exceed $675 billion, according to NADA. The years of 2004 through 2006 will long be remembered as a pivotal period in the automobile industry. It was a period during which high gasoline prices started a sea change among U.S. consumers that is finally creating significant demand for fuel-efficient vehicles. Gasoline prices of approximately $2.00 per gallon started taking a huge bite out of family budgets in 2004, and many middle-class consumers who owned fuel guzzling SUVs and pickup trucks began to wish they had vehicles that were much less expensive to operate. By 2005-2006, with gasoline prices in the $3.00 range, the party was over for traditional, large SUVs. While gasoline prices moderated during much of 2007, they were still in the $2.70 range in most markets. One result was the phenomenal demand for Toyota's Prius hybrid car. Toyota responded by raising the price and planning production increases. Meanwhile, Toyota made investments in its Georgetown, Kentucky plant to enable it to manufacture 48,000 hybrid Camrys yearly there by late 2006Ââ€"Toyota will likely wish it had created even more hybrid capacity. Meanwhile, there has been good demand for Toyota's Lexus RX400h hybrid crossover. Ford launched its first hybrids, and other carmakers, including GM, were greatly encouraged in their own efforts to bring more hybrids to the market. However, response to hybrids from U.S. makers has been lukewarm at best. Consumers generally aren't as impressed with U.S. hybrid technology as they are with that of Toyota models, and actual mileage results on the road have been disappointing, largely due to driver habits such as quick acceleration which uses more fuel.

Arms and the Man Essay

G. B. Saw’s Freedom actually is one of the series of radio talks delivered in 1935 on the B. B. C. As it was intended for the larger circles in their capacity as listeners, the lecture seems to be free from theoretical jargons. But Shaw can be very much deceptive in what he says. For, behind his homour lies the satire of the contemporary social condition. Not only that, his simple talk was actually a denunciation of the conventional and capitalist view of freedom. Politically Shaw conformed to democratic socialism, a variant of Marxism, according to which the society should try to reach the socialist political condition gradually by the democratic means. The concept of freedom, which Shaw satirises, was the fundamental principle of Enlightenment, and he does so because in a capitalist society, according to the Marxian view, freedom of the individual can never be realised. Shaw begins the essay with the proposition that a person can be called completely free in such a condition, in which he will be able to â€Å" do what he likes, when he likes, and where he likes, or do nothing at all if he prefers it†. He firmly denies the possibility of the existence of such a person as human beings are all slaves to nature: â€Å"†¦we must all sleep for one third of our lifetime__ wash and dress and undress__ we must spend a couple of hours eating and drinking__ we must spend nearly as much in getting about from one place to place. † From this funny yet inexorable condition of human life, Shaw very cleverly moves on to the fact that some of the â€Å"natural jobs† can be placed on others’ shoulders: â€Å"What you do to a horse or a bee, you can do to a man or woman or child†¦sort†. With this Shaw, however, comes to the immediate social and political condition of the time, in which the concept of freedom __ derived from the grand idealistic project of the Enlightenment, and nationalistic bias produced by the First World War __ was being glorified and used by the upper class as a means to achieving their self-interests. According to Shaw the farce of the democratic system in a capitalist state lies in the fact that â€Å"most actual governments†¦enforce your slavery and call it freedom†. But the citizens of the state continue to be duped by the system instead of rising to protest. Shaw terms this unequal relationship â€Å"the unnatural slavery of man to man†. Shaw points out an important difference between the â€Å"natural slavery of man to Nature and the unnatural slavery of man to man†. According to him, the first, though unavoidable, provides pleasure after its fulfilment; for instance, if nature forces us to drink, she makes drinking pleasant. The same is true of eating, drinking, sleeping and other activities. Shaw introduces this difference and cites examples more importantly to explain the evils of the former in more acute terms. He refers to few thinkers like Karl Marx and Thomas Moore, who denounced this slavery and tried to abolish it. At this point his explanation of the capitalist mechanism, that is, the means by which the system tries to dupe people and establish, legitimize and perpetuate itself approaches the ideological theories of Althusser and Gramsci. â€Å"Ideology represents†, Althusser tells us, â€Å"the imaginary relationship of individuals to their real condition of existence. He points out that there are found a number of ideologies – namely, religious ideology, ethical ideology, legal ideology, political ideology – all of which operate invisibly in the superstructure. Shaw strikes at the very root when he says, â€Å"Naturally the master class, through its parliaments and schools and newspapers, makes the most desperate efforts to prevent us fro m realizing our slavery. † He explains historically how the British capitalist system has established itself by propagating the so-called glorious events as the Magna Charta, the defeat of the Spanish Armada and Napoleon. Then he explains how â€Å"ideological apparatuses†, to quote Althusser, manipulate the common mass to cast votes in favour of the capitalist leaders. What is more alarmingly effective, according to him, is the educational system, which operates in the superstructure and â€Å"ends in deluding the master class much more completely†. Thus Shaw explains the difference between two kinds of slavery and conclusively tells the listeners/readers: â€Å"Wipe out from yours dreams of freedom the hope of being able to do as you please all the time. For, according to him, people have to remain occupied doing the natural slavery for at least twelve hours a day, while their unnatural slavery is controlled and regulated by the legal and administrative system of the country. Character of Louka in Arms and the Man Shaw conceived of Louka as a strong willed woman, necessary for his dramatic purpose of exposing the vanity of the upper-class and the political purpose of showing the socia list principle of showing equality among individuals in a society. It must be said that it was daring attempt on Shaw’s part to lead and raise a maidservant to the status of an aristocratic lady. But he does not do this as a kind of poetic justice or as a matter of mercy; he makes her capable of realizing her aims and object by her worth as a human being and by her strong will power. In the beginning of the play Louka is presented as a maid-servant having some sort of tension with the lady she serves. She behaves in defiant manners and her physical movements, gestures and postures produce the impression of haughtiness and discontent. The audience ascribes this to typical feminine jealousy of a servant for the lady of the same age, but in Act II they understand that she is Raina’s rival in love and is eyeing something above her position. Her confidence is generated from some of the secrets she knows about the ladies of the house. Always on the lookout for those sorts of things, she discovers a terrible truth about the fugitive in Raina’s chamber at night and keeps it for use in future. In Act II Louka is given a loud voice justifying her position. While being instructed threateningly by the middle-aged maid servant Nicola, she scornfully rejects his advice and brands him as a person with â€Å"the soul of a servant†. From Nicola, however, we come to know the predicament of Louka and her father â€Å"on his little farm†. Shaw here brings out the conflicts between rich and the poor, fuming in the backyard of patriotism and nationalism. Shaw makes this explicit by making Nicola fully aware of the effects any confrontation with the aristocracy will bring about. It is not that Louka is not conscious of this; in fact, her defiance of the upper-class people can be ascribed to the angst deposited in her. But while Nicola chooses to reap profit by serving the upper-class and thereby cashing on their weaknesses, Louka resorts to using her youth and feminine skills backed up by her will-power to trap an upper-class gentleman. In Act II Louka employs her youth and charms when she finds Sergius posing as a playboy. From the familiarity of their conversation we can understand that this is not the first time that Sergius engages himself in relaxation from the pressure of higher love† for Raina. As soon as Louka detects his susceptibility or vulnerability, she proceeds to break Raina’s pose of higher love by informing him of the presence of another man in her chamber at night. She does this in order to bring her down to her level of an ordinary human being before Sergius. Even she goes to the extent of saying â€Å"I am worth six of her†, meaning that she is capable of serving or satisfying the six different persons in Sergius, which Raina, according to her, is not capable of. But it would be an injustice to the character if we say that Louka uses only her youthful charms; we find her possessing subtle power of observation, by which she can surely foretell Raina’s move away from Sergius in the case of the fugitive’s return. No other person, including Raina could have this kind anticipation because Louka observes her from a pragmatic position: â€Å"I know the difference between the sort of manner you and she put on before one another and the real manner. Thus she creates agitations in Sergius’s mind quite consciously and deliberately in order that she may win him away by exposing both of them. But since she is intelligent enough to anticipate that he will not believe her unless and until he discovers the truth himself, she lets him out to find the rest of the truth. In Act III Louka enters the stage with her usual â€Å"bold free gait† with the marked difference that her left sleeve is â€Å"looped up to the shoulder with a br ooch, shewing her naked arm, with a broad gilt bracelet covering the bruise†. She does this intentionally in order to remind Sergius of the mark he made on her arm, and perhaps to display proudly the mark as a gift of love in a sort of masochistic exhibitionism. Nicola, as a man with practical wisdom can sense something wrong with her, and that is why he proceeds to warn her about her unusual fashion. Here once again she reiterates her contempt for his servile mentality and refuses to accept 10 levas from him as share of the bribes. Her basic independent nature is to be found in the following words: â€Å"You were born to be a servant. I was not. When you set up your shop you will be everybody’s servant instead of somebody’s servant. † She demonstrates the place she is eying to reach at by seating herself ‘regally’ in Sergius’s chair, an act which the audience notice with surprise and amusement. As Nicola understands her and humbly makes way for Sergius, she once again attracts Sergius now with the mark of bruise, which she uses as a kind of bait for him. When Sergius tries to compensate for the bruise by offering her an amorous favor, she rejects it straight and tries to make him understand that she wants more. She entangles him in a sort of emotional cheating with the protestation of the courage she can show in the case of realizing her true love: â€Å"If I loved you, though you would be as far beneath me as I am beneath you, I would dare to be the equal of my inferior. † Here by implication of the logic Louka wants him to come out of the class-barrier and accept her on equal terms. When Sergius expresses his inability and insults her by making a comparison between Raina and her in terms of the difference between heaven and earth, she returns this and the charge of her being jealous of Raina with a bold assertion: â€Å"I have no reason to be. She will never marry you. The man I told you of has come back. She will marry the Swiss. † Thus she succeeds in creation an emotional storm in his mind and in making him confess: â€Å"If I choose to love you, I dare marry you in spite of all Bulgaria. † In true chivalric fashion he even pronounces an oath, which she readily jumps upon to win him away in the next encounter. In the final encounter with Sergius Louka gathers all her strength of mind and risks being caught up in eavesdropping. However, quite unexpectedly she finds a supporter in Bluntschli, who defends her act by saying that he too once committed this kind of act as his â€Å"life was at stake†. Louka takes the cue from him and boldly declares her â€Å"love was at stake†. At this point we find Raina insulting her from her supposed social superiority and thus quite unknowingly provoking her to disclose the truth about her chocolate cream soldier. Louka is further insulted after the discovery of the â€Å"chocolate cream soldier†, and she turns the situation in her favor by forcing Sergius to apologize to her. As he still clings to his false heroic ideals, he apologises and falls motionless in her trap. In fine, we can say that through the presentation of Louka, Shaw illustrates once again the triumph of women in the chase of the men of their desire. There may be perhaps another reason: she is necessary as the woman for Sergius because she can balance the excess of romantic ideas and impractical dreams in him. But the audience cannot be sure of her capacity; for, immediately after becoming Major Sergius Saran off’s â€Å"affianced bride†, she addresses the lady she was serving by her name and tries to scandalize Raina by openly expressing her doubt of the latter’s being â€Å"fonder of him than Sergius†. The audience and more particularly the readers can take note of the fact that she does not utter a single word after that. She remains speechless even at the climax of the action when the chocolate cream soldier becomes Raina’s man amidst many revelations and amazements.

If I Were a Millionaire

IF I WERE A MILLIONAIRE Everyone have dreams and every dream is different with each others. Some of them want to be a teacher, and some of them want to be an astronaut, but for me, I have in interesting and marvelous dream. My dream is to become a millionaire. I already have so many plans in my mind if the dreams become true. One of them is to start a recording studio. I will hold an audition to those who want to be a singer in future. At the end of the audition, I will choose the best among them based on their talents to become one of my assets for my studio. Next step, I will hire the most trustable producer to create songs for my singer. In order to build my studio’s reputation, I will try to promote my studio to the people and the society by using the power of media. Such as, television, newspapers, radio, magazines and so on. Then I will launch the albums for my singer to get people interested and listen to my products. When the people interested to my studio, I will invite them especially any other recording company to join my business and co operate with them in order to make my business bigger and gain more profit. Other than that, I will also do some kind of charity towards other people who really need it. This is done purposely to help them reducing the burden in their lives. For example, recently, we had heard a lot of news regarding disaster that happen in many countries such as terrible flood, tsunami, earthquake and so on. These unlucky people lost their houses and properties. They suffered cold and sun heat everyday. How could we imagine that they will survive in this kind of situation? As for that, I will help and support them to continue their lives, such as providing them food, build a big hall in order to let them stay there temporary. Furthermore, I will also give scholarship to those who are in need including secondary and university students. I will support them until they have complete and success in their studies. I am willing to do so because I know the importance of education and I had been through this before. In order to achieve my dream, I am working hard and studying hard. I am also planning to start my business. Once I started my business, I will try all my best to make my dream come true.

Truman Doctrine and Marshall Aid

Greece and Turkey -By 1946, Greece and Czechoslovakia were the only countries in Eastern Europe that weren’t Communist. -Even in Greece, the government, which was being supported by British soldiers, was having to fight a civil war against the Communists. In February 1947, the British told Truman they could no longer afford to keep their soldiers in Greece. President Truman stepped in. The USA paid for the British soldiers in Greece. Truman noted that Turkey too was in danger from Soviet aggression, so Congress voted to give aid to Turkey as well. -Part of the money was given in economic and humanitarian aid, but most was spent on military supplies and weapons. Truman Doctrine In the 1930s, America had kept out of Europe’s business. Now, on 12 March 1947, Truman told Americans that it was America’s DUTY to interfere. His policy towards the Soviet Union was one of ‘containment’ – he did not try to destroy the USSR, but he wanted to stop it grow ing any more. This was called the ‘Truman Doctrine’. Greece -After WWI Greece appeared to be ‘under threat' from Communism. -Britain was unable to support Greece (as it had done in the past). -In 1947 Greece was under attack from Communist rebels and asked the USA for help. Communism -Truman was concerned about the spread of Communism and was determined to take action. -He offered arms, supplies and money to Greece. -Communism in Greece was defeated by 1949 following a civil war. Doctrine Truman was determined that the USA would not live in isolation. -The Truman Doctrine aimed to contain Communism, but not push it back – known as Containment. -Offered assistance to â€Å"all free peoples† resisting â€Å"attempted subjugation†. Marshall Aid -Truman saw war ravaged Europe as a â€Å"breeding ground† for Communism. -He felt it was vital to encourage countries to become prosperous again – to recover from the war. -US Secretary of State, George Ma rshall, propsed Marshall Aid (also know as the Marshall Plan) Just being helpful? -Helping European countries to recover also meant creating a market for US exports. -Also (although not publicly admitted) it was a clear aim to prevent the spread of Communism. -Stalin saw this as America trying to buy support. Tension -Between 1947-51 12 billion dollars was given in aid! -Vital help for recovery. -However, Stalin refused Marshall Aid and banned Eastern European countries under the USSR's control from accepting it. -This created tension on both sides.

Press Release Paper Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Press Release Paper - Assignment Example Press releases have also been changed on how they are being submitted on the wide world web. Those that are commercial based, and charge a fee so as that press releases’ are bound to happen. This include the free website or the news service which go along the way in the making of news distribution more cheap and thus enabling smaller business to operate. , Such websites tend to hold over the press, and claim the news of the company to be more prominent on the World Wide Web and can be searched through the search engines. Airports can be considered the places on earth that are least sentimental. When in the air, the pleasantries, the food and around the experience are considered to be totally not real. Most people hate this experience and consider it not the best. Airports are also considered a world of their own. As said before airports are a world of their own and thus the security there is much heightened and thus tight. Some of people feel stressed while at airports since t here is a lot of potential for different things that are bound to happen that are outside human control. When these factors are combined they make airports be one stressful place to be. Sometimes they are filled with travelers who are excited or harried or maybe just doing business as they usually do. The worlds topmost surveyors in the field of airport authority and also the field of customer satisfaction with many airports totaling to about a hundred and ninety in about fifty countries worldwide do a conductive survey on their passengers each and every month. All the airports all over the world use this type of questionnaire and also follow the same methods used by others. This ensures that there is a highly detailed plan for each and every airport so as to ensure that there is a comparable result. Most of the airports today receive data from the other airports thus allowing them to choose and identify the best practices there can be so as to measure its operation and performance. So as excellence in service is achieved there must be continued commitment and a lot of effort so as to ensure that the best services there can be are provided. It also helps in the understanding of t=hoe to focus on the human efforts and also on the finances. A case example to this is that last year alone there totaled to about eleven million passengers travelling with airlines who happened to come from about one hundred nationalities that took part in a research, and was expected to rise over the years of study. There also happens to be a total guarantee in the transparency in all the airports across the world as conducted by the Airport Survey process and that some operate not on the basis of making profits, this case allows the customers who are real to have their own independent choices and categorize which airports the consider to be the best to them to be served in. The awards scheme is what is called of today the Passenger Awards. The Airports do not necessary book themselv es in this award scheme and also into the survey, and there is also no criteria of membership and there is also no levied charge for winners to be at the awards ceremony (World Airport ceremony). Sponsorship to the third parties is never allowed and accepted. Fast paced communication systems, restrictive budget, efficient planning, and just-in-time deliveries make projects operation easy for both the project leaders and

Explain and justify the ventures potential success Essay

Explain and justify the ventures potential success - Essay Example Since financial risk is connected with inclusion of debt capital, this implies that if there are no debt funds hence there will virtually be no financial risk. This also implies that activities which are totally financed by equity convey no financial risk. Subsequently, equity capital has the long-term potential for generating superior returns for the investors and is thus considered as appropriate source of finance especially for new business ventures. The investment appraisal techniques reveal that the net present value of investment is  £19,538.43 with an IRR of 29 percent. As the return on investment is more than cost of capital, it is apparent that project is viable and investors may accept this project. It is also apparent that budgeting will contribute towards the success of the business venture. Below is an outline of the anticipated budget as well as pricing structure for the business venture. The average per unit cost of delivering pizza is expected to be  £20 for sale of 8,825 units (in first year) and considering the demand of product and current competition in market, the management could expect sales turnover of around  £176,500. This means that average revenue per unit of pizza delivered will be  £31.14 (shown in price chart above) making a profit of  £11.14 per unit. The pricing structure is viable since it will enable the business venture to raise enough revenue to sustain its operations as well as to generate profits. Essentially, the aim of business is to make profit and this is achievable since our products are likely to attract more

CHRYSLER LLC Business failure Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

CHRYSLER LLC Business failure - Research Paper Example ed in making decisions, technological and global competitiveness, mergers and the acquisitions, rethinking business processes and alliances among others. The reasons behind the failure of the company were a result of a complex combination of organizational, managerial and leadership factors. The use of organizational behavioral theory helps in explaining why the company failed in the achievement of its strategic and operational goals. This was a clear example of ineffective leadership, poor organizational structuring and imbalanced management (Stephen, 2004). From 1940s to the beginning of the 21st century, the company underwent a series of changes but these changes did not help in ensuring its sustainability over time. The failure of the company can be dated back to the 1950s whereby it failed to survive the competitive and organizational pressures of the time. The company experienced lack of adequate organizational support and ended up relying on external consultants. The company w as transformed and followed the patterns adapted by General Motors whereby each division of the company had its own executive who had the powers to decide and authority over everything under its division. Unlike the case of the General Motors, the executives at the company felt that this decentralization was unfamiliar to them and as such did not welcome it (Robbins, 2003). Another factor which led to its failure is the merger with Daimler as mentioned earlier. At the time, the company was experiencing rapid organizational advancement, high profitability rates as well as huge opportunities in business. Before the merger, the company executives had already got used to working as a team and the merger destroyed this with many executives departing the company. As such, this organizational... Further still, poor leadership was experienced in Chrysler and the company failed to form a better corporate image and failed in overcoming its market and operational challenges. With considerations on the management and the departure of effective leadership, and the effect of the organizational culture of Daimler, there was a huge gap in the leadership and management of the company. The merger led to a crash of the cultures of the two organizations. The attribution theory can explain the failure in the Chrysler LLC Group. The attributions theory explains the actions of other individuals, the employees and stakeholders. These attribution processes are perceptional in nature and not motivational. It analyses how the attitudes of the individuals affect their actions as the views enable individual to filter information and choose the one to believe (Scott, 2007). The failure of the company was due to the perception of the leaders of their positions within the company. The differences in the perceptions of the executives and the stereotypes each of them had became a barrier to them effectively cooperating in the management of the business. The business failure of this company confirms the importance of organizational behavior and illustrates how poor leadership, mismanagement and ineffective organizational restructuring can result to the failure of a business.