All New Gadgets Updates: 05/02/11

Audi Plans Extra Shifts to Reduce Waiting Times for SUV Models, CFO Says

Posted by Abhishek Monday, 2 May 2011 0 comments

Audi Plans Extra Shifts to Trim Waiting Times for SUV Models

An employee assembles an Audi Q7 sport-utility vehicle on the assembly line at the Volkswagen AG factory in Bratislava, Slovakia. Photographer: Jochen Eckel/Bloomberg

Axel Strotbek, chief financial officer of Audi AG. Photographer: Guenter Schiffmann/Bloomberg

Audi, Volkswagen AG (VOW)’s luxury brand, will add shifts to ease waiting times for models including the Q7 sport-utility vehicle, which starts at $46,250.

Audi plans additional weekend work this month at its two main German factories to increase production, Chief Financial Officer Axel Strotbek said in an interview yesterday.

“The extra shifts are required by the good order book,” Strotbek said by phone from Audi’s headquarters in Ingolstadt,Germany. “The delivery times of several models is higher than we’d like.”

Demand for Audi vehicles fueled a surge in VW’s first- quarter earnings before interest and taxes, which more than tripled to a record 2.91 billion euros ($4.3 billion). Bayerische Motoren Werke AG (BMW), Daimler AG (DAI)’s Mercedes-Benz and Audi are targeting their highest-ever sales this year, lifted by growing wealth in China and a rebound in spending in the U.S.

BMW, the world’s luxury-car leader, said in March it may add production capacity in Brazil, even as it expands in China and India to keep pace with demand. Chief Executive OfficerNorbert Reithofer said that handling the level of orders has been a “tour de force” for the production team.

“Demand for luxury cars is being driven by China, the U.S. and Europe,” said Daniel Schwarz, a Frankfurt-based analyst at Commerzbank AG. “Although we’re at historical levels, it doesn’t look like we’ve hit the peak yet.”

SUV Demand

Audi sold 18 percent more cars and SUVs in the first quarter, a total of 312,600 units, and April deliveries confirm that the VW division is on track to achieve its full-year target of delivering more than 1.2 million vehicles, Strotbek said.

“Demand in the SUV segment has accelerated sharply,” the CFO said. “The Q7 has the longest waiting times, but the Q5 is also enjoying enormously high popularity.”

Volkswagen is holding its annual shareholders meeting today in Hamburg. The company, which aims to merge with Porsche SE to strengthen its position in luxury cars and overtake Toyota Motor Corp. (7203) as the world’s biggest carmaker, is proposing a dividend of 2.20 euros per common share.

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Audi Plans Extra Shifts to Reduce Waiting Times for SUV Models, CFO Says

Posted by Abhishek 0 comments

An employee assembles an Audi Q7 sport-utility vehicle on the assembly line at the Volkswagen AG factory in Bratislava, Slovakia. Photographer: Jochen Eckel/Bloomberg

Axel Strotbek, chief financial officer of Audi AG. Photographer: Guenter Schiffmann/Bloomberg

Audi, Volkswagen AG (VOW)’s luxury brand, will add shifts to ease waiting times for models including the Q7 sport-utility vehicle, which starts at $46,250.

Audi plans additional weekend work this month at its two main German factories to increase production, Chief Financial Officer Axel Strotbek said in an interview yesterday.

SUV Demand

“Demand in the SUV segment has accelerated sharply,” the CFO said. “The Q7 has the longest waiting times, but the Q5 is also enjoying enormously high popularity.”

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Lamborghini Aventador to arrive at Al Ghassan Motors

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With the Aventador LP 700-4, Automobile Lamborghini is redefining the very peak of the world super sports car market. Its brutal power, outstanding lightweight engineering, and phenomenal handling precision are combined with superior design and the very finest equipment to deliver an incomparable driving experience.

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Lamborghini Aventador.

The President and CEO of Automobile Lamborghini, Stephan Winkelmann describes the work of art in these words "With the Aventador LP 700-4, the future of the super sports car is now part of the present. Its exceptional package of innovative technologies is unique, its performance simply overwhelming".

With the Aventador, Lamborghini is taking a big step into the future - and building on the glorious history of the brand with the next automotive legend. The Aventador inherited its name from the courageous bull that entered into the Saragossa Arena battle in 1993 and won the "Trofeo de la Pena la Madronera" for its fearlessness.

The technology package of the Lamborghini Aventador LP 700-4 is utterly unique.

Lamborghini is heading into the future with a systematic lightweight design concept based on an innovative monocoque made from carbon fiber.

The ISR transmission is unique among road-going vehicles, guaranteeing the fastest shifting time, as fast as 50 milliseconds. It goes without saying that the doors open upward and they are both made out of the carbon fiber. However, the Aventador also evokes its immediate predecessor the Murciélago - electronically managed air intakes open depending on the outdoor temperature and the need for cooling air, ensuring maximum smooth efficiency. Another feature for those whishing to flaunt the heart of their Lamborghini is the optional transparent engine bonnet; exhibiting the twelve-cylinder engine like a technical work of art in a display case.

The Aventador will be built to the very highest quality standards in an all-new production facility in Sant'Agata Bolognese and the first customers will take delivery of the new Lamborghini Aventador LP 700-4 in late summer of 2011.

Lamborghini is distributed throughout the Kingdom and in Bahrain by Al Ghassan Motors, formed in Jeddah at 1992. Al Ghassan Motors, owned by Sheikh Ghassan A.H Al Sulaiman began by specializing in all makes of super sport and luxury vehicles. Earning distribution rights for Lamborghini, Lotus, McLaren and Ducati in KSA and Bahrain, as well as Bentley and Bugatti for the entire kingdom. Moreover, securing distribution rights for CRG Karting chassis and Rotax Karting engines as well as offering world class protection solutions for automobiles
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Lamborghini Aventador to arrive at Al Ghassan Motors

Posted by Abhishek 0 comments

With the Aventador LP 700-4, Automobile Lamborghini is redefining the very peak of the world super sports car market. Its brutal power, outstanding lightweight engineering, and phenomenal handling precision are combined with superior design and the very finest equipment to deliver an incomparable driving experience.

Article continues below ▼

+ Enlarge

Lamborghini Aventador.

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The phone with two brains that's a secret speed demon

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A sight for sore eyes: The Sony Xperia Arc boasts a massive 4.2 inch screen, as well as a powerful dual-core processor

Bigger brains don't automatically mean higher intelligence -- otherwise the world would be ruled by the sperm whale, which tops the animal kingdom for sheer volume of grey matter.

It's what you do with it that counts.

That's the dilemma facing the new LG Optimus 2X mobile, which is the first on the market to boast a dual-core processor.

Dual cores have been common in computers for years but only now have the boffins conquered the technical hurdles to shrink the same technology into a mobile.

Essentially, it gives the device two brains and in theory makes everything run twice as fast.

The LG 2X looks not unlike many other premium Android phones, slickly designed and with a generously proportioned four-inch screen.

Light, yet solidly built, the 2X shows little outward sign of the horsepower under the bonnet.

Switch it on and it fairly zips along -- scrolling smoothly, launching apps in a trice and rarely pausing for breath.

But there's still a sense that nothing takes dramatic advantage of that extra oomph yet -- it's as if you were driving a Ferrari on an Offaly back road.

It may be the world's fastest phone but it feels only slightly nippier than single-core rivals.

But the 2X does have other tricks up its sleeve that make it worth recommending. The phone's big screen is impressive enough, delivering crisp and colourful visuals.

However, an HDMI port enables connection to a big-screen telly, all the better to show off the 2X's ultra-high-def video-camera footage, play games or simply to watch downloaded video.

Naturally, all this electronic brawn costs the 2X battery life versus similar rivals and, unfortunately, the phone runs a slightly outdated version of Android.

The LG 2X costs €500 SIM-free but is expected to be available on contract with O2 shortly.

www.lg.com/uk

Sony Ericsson failed to translate its early success in mobiles into the competitive smartphone field, only beginning to hit its stride with the Xperia X10 last year.

The jury's still out on its new 'PlayStation phone' but it definitely has a winner in the new Xperia Arc.

So thin it must live on a diet of cigarettes and water, the Arc somehow fits in a 4.2-inch screen, a superb eight-megapixel camera and the latest Android software.

Like the LG 2X, it can connect via HDMI to your telly if that gorgeous screen isn't enough for you.

The skinny buttons are a little awkward and someone should be shot for placing the headphone jack on the side.

But otherwise this is one classy contender from the Sony Ericsson stable.

It costs about €90 on the typical cheapest contract or about €450 on pre-pay.

www.sonyericsson.ie

Irish Independent