Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: i-node who wrote (487094)	6/11/2009 10:48:36 AM
From: Bill	Respond to of 1572214

Ed is now part of the DNC Wall St crowd, with guys like Rattner, Geithner, Steiner, Altman, and Pinch Sulzberger. I just see no reason why he'd want to do this.

To: i-node who wrote (487094)	6/11/2009 12:13:03 PM
From: bentway	Respond to of 1572214

Tata Nano at Fiat-Chrysler Showrooms? By NICK KURCZEWSKI wheels.blogs.nytimes.com Rajanish Kakade/Associated Press Tata Motors says it hopes to sell the ultra-cheap Nano in the United States in two years. But how? It’s no secret Tata Motors, India’s largest domestic automaker, wants to introduce its low-buck Nano city car in the United States. After all, a small matter like a global recession suddenly makes marketing the car, billed as “the world’s cheapest,” about as easy as selling snow cones in the Sahara. Speaking at a meeting for Sustainable Global Enterprise at Cornell University last week, Ratan Tata, chairman and chief executive of the Tata Group, said he hoped to see the Nano arrive in North America by 2011, according to Reuters. This is despite the need to engineer the Nano to meet United States safety and emissions requirements, not to mention the search to find a suitable location to sell the cars. So how does a company hope to re-engineer a car within two years for a market where it has absolutely no sales presence? Luckily for Tata, the answer to these problems could be solved with a call to Fiat-Chrysler. Despite continued legal battles over the deal, a healthy Fiat-Chrysler union could pave the way for the Nano’s coming to the United States. Fiat and Tata already share many joint ventures. Tata sells Fiats in India and has access to the Italian company’s diesel engines. The two companies share a giant factory in India, and Tata has developed a pickup truck that Fiat will sell under its own name. Fiat’s chief executive, Sergio Marchionne, has also routinely stated his desire to introduce a budget brand to fit below Fiat’s already economical range of vehicles. An American or European version of the Nano, minus Tata badges, and possibly wearing a dormant nameplate from Fiat’s past (Autobianchi, anyone?), could give the Fiat Group its cheap car brand and Tata an entry into markets in Europe and the United States. Considering that the Tata Nano can exceed 50 miles a gallon, even a revised version (fitted with air bags and a larger 3-cylinder engine) could help Fiat-Chrysler meet tough new Environmental Protection Agency emissions standards that start taking effect in 2012. These new regulations will push car company fleet averages to more than 35 miles a gallon by 2016, up from the current level of about 25. A fuel sipper like the Nano could help.