DEEP WATERS: Gibb Technologies, maker of the new amphibious Aquada (above), is being cagey about technical details. We know that once the driver pushes a button to start the transition from car to boat, a number of sensors make sure the car is floating properly before the wheels are drawn up into the chassis. But they're not saying how the sensors work.
The modified petrol engine which drives the wheels on land also powers the boat's jet-pump. The steering wheel is used to change the direction the jet-pump points, and the accelerator pedal increases its thrust.
Coming back on land, the driver has greater control over the transition. The wheels are put back into place at the touch of a button, and for a short time the engine is then connected to both the wheels and the jet-pump, allowing the driver to head back up the beach.
DODGING C-CHARGE: A British firm specialising in digital traffic information, is to introduce a "congestion charge dodger" to its Smartnav system. The facility, the first of its kind, will allow drivers to cross London avoiding the congestion charge areas but will let them pay the toll from their cars through a Smartnav "personal assistant" should they enter pay zones.
Smartnav, one of Trafficmaster's four divisions, and Citroën have agreed to offer the system as an option on its models. The system already has deals with Chrysler, Peugeot, Mitsubishi and Hyundai.
RUNNING ON EMPTY: DaimlerChrysler's US unit reached a tentative labour agreement with the United Autoworkers of America union (UAW) but the deadline for GM and Ford to forge an agreement passed without a resolution. The talks, which began in mid-July, had been aimed at establishing a new labour contract between the union and all of Detroit's "big three" carmakers. The current four-year contract covering about 300,000 workers has just expired.
The talks are being seen as crucial to the future of General Motors, Ford and Chrysler because all three are struggling with the rising cost of paying for the healthcare and pensions of employees and legions of retirees.Their Japanese competitors, by contrast, have minimal retirees in the US and are gaining market share.
KEN BOWS OUT: One of the industry's gentlemen characters, Ken Grace of Grace & Harvey Motors in Dun Laoghaire, has called time on his 35-year career. Grace was well known for his trademark bow-ties. "Ken's logic was that people would forget a salesman's name but would always remember the salesman with a bow-tie," said business partner Joe Harvey.
The tactic worked. Starting in Archers in 1968, Grace moved to Smiths, Rathgar, in 1972 and was promoted through the ranks, becoming general manager of its dealership in Rochestown Avenue. In 1986, he left to set up Ken Grace Motors in partnership with Harvey. He will now be devoting his time to his favourite hobbies of tennis and horse riding.
VOLVO GOES EAST: Volvo is to open a car plant in China to build its new line of S40 and V50 models. Chief executive Hans-Olov Olsson says initial plans call for the plant to assemble parts shipped from Europe to China. The cars would be sold in Asia.
Olsson says the Ford-owned marque sells 3,000 cars a year in China, but wants to increase that to as many as 20,000.
Mazda is at the design review stage for its new MX-5 roadster. With the current model beloved by soft-top fans the world over and the MX-5 offering a vital halo effect across the rest of the model range, it will be crucial to get the design right.
According to Mazda officials speaking to Motors, we can expect to see some hints at the new look late next year, but expect it to be a mix of the modern look (with several V-shaped features) and the current roadster.
FORD €8.5m PLAN: One of Ford's largest dealerships in Ireland, South Dublin Ford Centre in Rathfarnham, is to embark on a €8.5 million expansion plan in the south-west Dublin area. It's another example of the money now being invested in dealerships with the liberalisation of the car market arising from the lifting of Block Exemption. Planning permission has been granted for a complete rebuild of the centre's existing premises at Whitechurch, Rathfarnham.
Two showrooms are planned for the site, which will house both the car retail and fleet management businesses, the latter operating as Armada Fleet Services. In addition, the company has recently acquired a 2,700 square metre premises on a 1.25 acre site in the Cookstown Industrial Estate, Tallaght. The €5 million investment will see a Ford authorised service centre open in the coming weeks, with a major retail park to follow.