In a surprising twist, Honda beat out diesel and electric cars to be named the 2012 Green Car of the Year by the editors of the Green Car Journal. It beat out the likes of the Ford Focus Electric and Volkswagen Passat TDI diesel. Looking for a new car or to replace some auto supply parts, seems like Honda is your best bet.
Okay, so maybe it’s not new, but it’s certainly the latest model. You definitely won’t be going to the repair shop to replace auto part supplies on this baby. Ferrari just launched the 2011 Ferrari FF and if you have $395,000 handy, it could be yours!
Check out this sweet ride.
The Middle Class hasn’t been doing so well. While the earnings of middle-income Americans have barely budged since the mid 1970s, the new data showed that from 2000 to 2010, they actually regressed. Over the 10-year period, their income is down 7%. According to the census data, losses disproportionately hit the lowest 60% of Americans, while the richest 40% actually gained wealth, relative to the entire U.S. economy. Have bad credit funding a problem? Give us a call at United Capital and we will help you get back on your feet.
A rough 10 years for the middle class.
Travel was suspended on the East Coast in anticipation of Hurricane Irene. Now that the storm has blown through when will the transportation system be up and running? The subway, buses and trains are back online in NYC, but many flights are still suspended. It was estimated that some 10,000 flights were canceled this weekend causing many headaches for travelers and airlines alike. Major airlines are focusing on bringing airplanes back to the East coast – checking equipment, clearing debris from the runways and rescheduling flights.
Irene leaves transportation headache for some.
Talk about your old cars. Recently Marjorie Hansen took her 1910 Oakland for a drive. Wonder were they find auto supply parts for that. I’m sure all the mechanics that worked on those cars have long since retired. See the car in the link below as it was driven by Bud Jonas as along Highway 20 in Racine, Wis., July 13, 2011.
Cars in the News.
If you own a restaurant or cafe, you know customers appreciate value for their money. Often that means bigger portions. But there are parts of America that don’t associate value with an Awesome Blossom the size of your head. For some value comes in healthy options at fair prices. There has been a trend in quick serve and fast food markets to deliver smaller portions of healthier food. We’ll see if the public bites!
Starbucks, other marketers go huge with healthier offerings.
What is July 4th without fireworks? From the Olympics and inaugurations to celebrating the nation’s birthday, five family-founded companies have ruled the industry for decades. Grucci. Zambelli. Vitale. All small businesses started by immigrants who came to America looking for a better life and oh, by the way, found it. Now they help us celebrate America’s birthday every year.
The 5 royal families of fireworks.
Are you a leader or manager? Do you know there is a difference? When it comes to small business, you need to have elements of both in order to succeed. A leader has vision for the business and the leader can execute the plan and drive others to do the same. But the key iis being able to do both effectively. Every entity – business both large and small, government, and not for profits – can all suffer from poor management.
To succeed in small business, you must lead and manage.
What do you do when your Franchisor goes under? It wasn’t for a lack of trying or management, Blockbuster simply got squeezed out of the market by new technology and quick, convenient upstarts like Redbox and Netflix. One Blockbuster owner who owned several dozen stores lost it all, but was fortunate to start all over….buying into another franchise.
How one owner survived being Blockbusted.
Automakers have had a rough couple of years. With multiple closings in Detroit and now auto supply parts affected by the devastation in Japan, we could use some good news. One bright spot in the industry is the growth of hybrid cars both compact and luxury. Hybrid cars and pure electrics will grow to 7.2% of the market in 2015.
Hybrid-car sales will grow — but not how you would expect.
