A round-up of today's other stories in brief
Leaf lands March 2011
DESPITE REPORTS of delays in left-hand drive markets, Nissan’s Leaf will reach the first of its Irish customers on March 1st. More than 100 orders have been taken for the electric vehicles, which recently won European Car of the Year.
“There are no delays on the arrival of Leaf to Ireland,” said Nissan Ireland marketing manager Paul O’Sullivan. “We have three cars registered in Ireland already for our own testing and everything is on schedule.”
The Leaf will cost €29,995 after the €5,000 Government incentive, and standard equipment includes 16-inch alloys, fully-automatic climate control, satellite navigation, cruise control, rear parking camera and electronic stability control.
Audi Ireland boss on Lamborghini board
Audi Ireland brand director Fintan Knight has been appointed as commercial director of supercar brand Lamborghini. He will join the board of the firm.
Knight leaves his post this month having been in charge for just over two years. Previous to his posting here, he had been Audi’s area manager for Asia and Pacific and before that product manager for the A8 and Audi’s SUV range.
Knight leaves behind a brand with a healthy 3.29 per cent market share and Audi is now the 10th most popular brand in Ireland.
He inherited a strong brand, but arrived just as car sales collapsed due to the economic crisis. However, Knight wasn’t afraid to take some tough and often unpopular decisions which will mean that many long-established Audi dealerships will lose their franchises in the near future. There have been new Audi outlets opened in Dublin and Waterford, as well as a three-storey flagship Audi Centre, located on Pembroke Road in Ballsbridge, under his tenure.
Australian Andrew Doyle, who has 18 years of experience in the industry and has worked with Audi Australia and the BMW Group, will replace Knight at the helm. Recently, he was responsible for helping Audi Australia with a development plan costing 230 million Australian dollars (€175 million). Audi Australia has tripled its market share and volume over the last five years.
Toyota's $32.4m fine
TOYOTA HAS agreed to pay the maximum fine of $32.4 million (€24 million) related to two US probes into its handling of a spate of vehicle recalls which hurt sales and tarnished its once impeccable reputation for quality.
The settlements cap off a tumultuous year for the world’s largest carmaker.
“I am pleased that Toyota agreed to pay the maximum possible penalty and I expect Toyota to work cooperatively in the future to ensure consumer safety,” said US transportation secretary Ray LaHood in a statement.
Toyota said it agreed to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) fines without admitting any violation of law.