Cash-strapped French leader sells armoured car on eBay

French far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen says he has put his armoured car up for sale on online auction site eBay to face up to the financial crisis gripping his party.

"The National Front is not bankrupt because its assets are greater than its debt. But that means we have to cash in the crown jewels, as it were. They are being sold," the 79-year-old told French radio.

"I am even selling my armoured car, to tell you the truth. It's on the internet, it's all very public."

The National Front is also negotiating the sale of its historic headquarters in the plush Paris suburb of Saint Cloud.

The bidding race for Mr Le Pen's car, a 1992 blue Peugeot 605 model with full leather interior, started overnight and had reached 13,000 euros within hours.


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Motorists shifting from trucks to cars

Passenger cars outsold light trucks last month for the first time in at least two decades as soaring gasoline prices sent consumers scrambling to more fuel-efficient vehicles.

That dealt a major blow to Detroit's Big Three automakers, which are still heavily dependent on sales of trucks and SUVs.

Demand for passenger cars rose 5.2 percent to 655,432 units last month from 622,873 units in April 2007, according to figures provided by Autodata Corp. Sales of light trucks, which include crossovers, minivans, sport utility vehicles and pickups, dropped 17.4 percent, falling from 715,730 to 591,122.

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MARK PHELAN: Pontiac's roomy, fuel-efficient wagon flies under the radar

Some cars get far less credit than they deserve. They please their owners, start every day, look good and go about their business reliably without fanfare.

If the auto industry were a film, those cars would be Kevin Bacon.

Sexy, high-profile models like the Honda Civic, Chevrolet Corvette and Ford F-150 are the Harrison Ford-Jodie Foster faces on the posters for big-budget summer smash hits.

Bacon doesn't get many headlines, but the talented and versatile actor has played key roles in wonderful movies like "Mystic River" and "Apollo 13," turning in stellar work without a fuss.

In that spirit, I name the 2009 Pontiac Vibe Kevin Bacon Car of the Year.

The 2009 model is an all-new replacement for the Vibe wagon that went on sale in 2002.


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Metal thieves hit used car lot

Thieves who stole catalytic converters from 16 vehicles at a car lot Tuesday morning to sell recyclable metals left the business owner with 16 vehicles that now can't be sold.

Michael Ritter reported the thefts after he tried to start a used car for a customer at Mr. T's Auto Sales on Middle Tennessee Boulevard.

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"Smart Car" Small In Size, Great On Gas Mileage

From the inside, it looks like just about any car from its parent company, Mercedes. From the outside, it looks like a souped-up golf cart!

It's called the Smart Car, which we found is short for "brilliant."

Bob Gerding first spotted the shrunken car in Europe back in 1993 and just had to get one. "It takes up about half a parking spot," he explains. 15 years later, it's here in the states. "The waiting list right now is a year and a half."

Like any odd-looking foreigner, the smart car draws a lot of curious stares, and Bob spends half of his commute answering questions.

"How much did you pay for it?" One woman asked. "About $16,000," Bob replied. "I can pick it up and you can take it home with you, want me to grab it?" He adds.


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New Book Shows Car Dealers How to Rev Up Profits and Customer Satisfaction

28/04/2008 18:54:00 Business Wire Car manufacturing has been transformed by lean production over the last 20 years yet car dealerships have remained virtually untouched by lean principles.
Now that s changing.
Dealerships experimenting with lean principles have experienced a doubling of throughput, increases in productivity of 50% or more, and returns on sales several times the industry norm.
These are not "freak" results.
They occur every time lean principles are applied in a disciplined way -- as has already been done in service sectors such as healthcare.
Creating Lean Dealers, a step-by-step workbook for improving dealer operations, shows managers how to remove the many barriers to smooth the flow of work, starting in service and repair.
"Because lean thinking does not naturally fit the mind-set of dealers, the place to start is with service and repair," said Dan Jones, founder and chairman of the Lean Enterprise Academy (LEA) in the UK, the book s publisher.


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ICOP Wins Bid to Supply Digital In-Car Video to Law Enforcement Agency in Illinois County

LENEXA, Kan., April 30 -- ICOP Digital, Inc. , an industry-leading company engaged in advancing digital surveillance solutions, today announced that pursuant to its response to a Request for Proposal issued by one of the largest counties in Illinois, the Company has been notified that it has won the bid to equip the County's sheriff office's fleets with ICOP Model 20/20(R)-W digital in-car video systems.

Pursuant to its winning bid, ICOP has received an initial order valued at approximately $52,000. Following the determination of logistical protocols for installation and user training, phased fleet deployment of the ICOP Model 20/20-W in this agency is expected to occur as funding is approved. The total number of squad cars comprising this agency's fleet is approximately 90.

As noted in its March 27, 2008 press release, ICOP has won approximately one out of every three RFP's that it responded to in 2007.


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