Author: Serkadis

Want your Aston Martin Rapide as a shooting brake or as a convertible? Well, if you have the money and the imagination, you can probably get one in a couple of years. Speaking to AutoExpress at the 2010 Geneva Motor Show, Aston Martin design director Marek Reichman said that he wants to set a new standard for personalization of Aston vehicles.

He said that he is working on creating a team of engineers and designers that could build virtually any model a customer can dream of, as long as it goes with Aston Martin’s philosophy.

“There is much more choice in the world,” Reichman said, “so our cars need to be much more personal. For example, each Rapide requires 200 man hours of work to create. We have a total of 11 stitching options for the interior – and drivers can choose from a huge color palette.”

Reichman also said that to make sure the process runs smoothly, there are very few machines involved in the production of the vehicle.

“With the One-77 we have taken this philosophy a step further. It is a car built around a stationary chassis, not while it moves along a production line. This means that if we need to, we can swap shapes, interiors, engines or wheels without destroying the production process. It offers us infinite possibilities.”

– By: Kap Shah

Source: AutoExpress

When iTunes web preview pages first appeared for songs and albums the industry was abuzz with the possibility that iTunes could be migrating to the cloud. iTunes preview has so far had little impact on how we use purchased media content, but it has had a huge impact on how we find iTunes media content on the web, especially with iPhone apps. The iTunes web preview pages are an enormous draw for search engines and consistently rank high in the results when searching for the names of apps.

A Quick History of iTunes Web Preview

Previously, web links to iTunes content opened a redirect page (hosted on phobos.apple.com) that asked you to wait “One Moment Please” while the iTunes application was launched. This page only had a thumbnail of the cover and sparsely listed just the title and publisher.

iTunes web preview first appeared on November 13, 2009 with full pages including descriptive text (hosted on itunes.apple.com). Audio clip previews were added on January 7, 2010. These pages still launch the iTunes application, but also include the full description, select customer reviews, and links to related content. Preview pages for iPhone apps were published on February 4 and podcasts were added March 1. TV Show and Movies still have the old style pages that just launch the iTunes application.

In hindsight, the launch of iTunes 9 on September 9, 2009 with store pages rendered completely in WebKit using HTML was a sign of things to come.

iTunes Web Preview has SEO Mojo

These web preview pages have exposed text content to Google and other search engines that can now crawl and index these pages. To measure the impact this has had on search results, I did a short study on the Top 100 Paid Apps in the iTunes App Store. I chose to track the relative ranking in Google search results of the iTunes preview page and the app’s homepage when searching on the app name.

For this study, I only looked at the search results for the app name. While keywords would have been interesting to track, they are not publicly available. The keywords that publishers submit to Apple are hidden content in the iTunes App Store and are not included in the web preview page. I dropped special characters that appeared unlikely to actually be typed into a search (trademark and copyright symbols, for example).

In almost all results, iTunes appeared in the first 10 results on Google. In fact, the median result was #4. In some cases, the pages were only launched only a month ago, so that’s impressive. iTunes appeared above the app homepage for 68 of the Top 100 Apps.

In about 2/3 of the apps, the iTunes preview page ranked higher in search results. There is a marked difference between these two sets of apps.

For all 100 apps, the median rank of the developer’s homepage (as published in iTunes) in Google search results was #17. Developers should take note here because a rank of 17 means that your app’s homepage is pushed off to the much less visited second page of results.

For those cases where the homepage appeared before iTunes, the median search result rank was #1. The iTunes preview page median result was #5. When we look at the other set, where iTunes appeared above the homepage, the median iTunes result was #3 and the median homepage result was #71.

We can see here that homepages that rank well for searches on the app name have a pretty good chance of capturing customers who are looking for that app. However, if the homepage is not doing well for a search on the app name, it is far more likely that the customer will end up at the iTunes store, or perhaps a review site.

Some Surprises

While I was not surprised to see the iTunes preview pages come in at the #1 result for App Store specific titles like “Space Miner: Space Ore Bust,” I did not expect to see the iTunes page fall near the top with some older brands that predate the App Store. “Frogger,” “Skee-Ball,” and “SpinArt” — single word titles — all show iTunes at #6. Tetris, Scrabble, Rock Band and Final Fantasy have the iTunes preview page holding a spot between #13 and #15. “Playboy” — another single word term that I would have thought to have lots of search results — shows the iTunes page for the app at #7.

What Does It All Mean?

There are two issues that most developers should look for right away. The first is the non-safe characters issue mentioned above. The second is to look closely at the app description. Previously, the app description was not indexed for iTunes searches. Only the name and hidden keywords are used for searching inside iTunes. However, the description text is being indexed by Google now. It would benefit publishers to spend more attention on crafting the right message in the app description to reach those searching on the web.

Apple’s move to go with HTML content in the app store and the new preview pages for the App Store and other content have had a clear effect on where iTunes content appears in web searches. More web traffic is going to go straight to the iTunes Store as this trend continues but developers can take a few steps to make sure that customers find the info that they have prepared for shoppers on their own web sites.

Related GigaOM Pro Research:

• Needed: A Neiman Marcus for Mobile Apps
• Are App Stores and Social Media Strangling the Web?
• Is Marketing Key to Mobile App Store Sales?

In a farewell letter sent to customers, Ralliart announced today that it is going to close its doors as of March 2010.

“Because of the sudden change of economy situation since the year before last, the business circumstance surrounding our company radically became worse and so, this time we have reached the conclusion that we Ralliart Inc., would scale down our business activities as of the end of March 2010,” the company said in a statement.

Click here to get prices on the 2010 Mitsubishi Lancer.

As far as Ralliart and Mitsubishi go, the closure of the company will not affect any current or future Ralliart Mitsubishi vehicles – so all you Ralliart Lancer fans can breathe easy.

– By: Omar Rana

By Thalif Deen* – IPS/TerraViva UNITED NATIONS, Mar 10 (IPS) Whenever gender empowerment is a vibrant topic of discussion internationally, some of the countries in Europe, Asia and Latin America are invariably singled out for their success stories in politics, education, health care or civil liberties even as Africa is mostly left out of political reckoning – and wrongly so.

Rwanda has provided global leadership in terms of women holding elected office, with more than half of all its parliamentary seats filled by women, says Litha Musyimi-Ogana, director of women, gender and development directorate at the 53-member African Union (AU), the largest single coalition of African nations.

Cape Verde, another African high achiever, has "had the highest level of cabinet ministers in the world:" at last count, about 12 out of 17.

But still, Musyimi-Ogana points out, the AU is aware that although 70 percent of its members have gender policies, there are "huge implementation challenges".

The reason why most of these policies are not implemented is primarily lack of financial resources.

As a result, the AU has set up an African Women's Development Fund to tide over "resource constraints".

At the same time, it has also established a protocol – an addendum on the 'Rights of Women' ratified by 27 countries – to the existing African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights.

Lalla Ben Barka, deputy executive secretary of the U.N. Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), claims Africa has made "impressive gains" in closing the gender gap in primary education, largely due "to free, universal, compulsory education" – continent-wide.

She told the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), which concludes a two-week session Friday, that 65 percent of the region's countries were conducting research on the situation of girls, and some countries had revised school curricula to present positive images of women.

Still, there were gaps in several areas: inheritance rights for women, higher education and the elimination of cultural practices and barriers to women's advancement.

She said Liberia has had the distinction of having elected the first female African president, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who took office in January 2006.

Ben Barka also said that 47 percent of countries had enacted laws to combat female genital mutilation (FGM), and many offered comprehensive services for victims.

According to Tsegga Gaim Misgun of the National Union of Eritrean Women, efforts to abolish FGM began as far back as the late 1970s – even before the formal independence of Eritrea in 1993 – by the then de facto government, the Eritrean People's Liberation Front.

As a result of these efforts, the people of Eritrea had initiated community laws banning FGM. On the basis of these initiatives, the government of Eritrea banned the practice in March 2007.

"The proclamation made female genital mutilation a criminal offence," Misgun said.

Noluthando Mayende-Sibiya, South Africa's minister for women, children and persons with disabilities, told delegates that although violence against women and girls remains a "major concern of government", the country is in an advanced stage of developing a comprehensive framework to address gender violence.

These include, among others, legislation on sexual offences; trafficking in persons; domestic violence; and the children's act.

The Thuthuzela Care Centre, described as a comprehensive one-stop service centre for victims of domestic violence, was hailed as an example of "best practice" in the 2007 report by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on violence against children.

"These are replicated and piloted in some countries at the global level," she said.

Mayende-Sibiya also said that South Africa was proud of the high number of women deployed in peacekeeping missions, averaging about 40 percent of peacekeepers from her country.

Alphonsine Mbie N'na, Gabon's minister of health and social affairs, said her country had created a poverty reduction strategy as well as an exam to promote socio-economic activities among women, with winners receiving 40,000 dollars and an overseas trip.

In the field of employment, Gabon has no hiring or salary discrimination. Schooling and text books were free.

In Ethiopia, the ministry of women's affairs was an integral part of the executive branch of the government.

And to boost gender equality in agriculture – the country's main economic sector – Ethiopia registers names of spouses for land certification in order to ensure that women can own their economic assets.

By Mary Kiio NAIROBI, Mar 10 (IPS) Kenyans affected by the violence that erupted after the country’s disputed presidential elections in 2007 may soon be able to speak out without fear. A new bill will offer better protection to state witnesses.

The Witness Protection (Amendment) Bill 2010, if passed in parliament, will stipulate the formation of a witness protection agency through which the state offers special security to those giving evidence in court.

The Bill was published after numerous Kenyan human rights organisations and international bodies, such as the European Union, urged the country’s government to reform laws to better protect state witnesses in post-election violence court cases.

More than 1,000 people died and 300,000 were displaced in the turmoil after the elections, according to the United Nations.

The amendment to the bill is deemed necessary because various witnesses’ lives have been threatened by alleged perpetrators. Kenyans are now waiting for the passing of the Bill to be scheduled in parliament.

If the Bill is adopted by parliament, it will have to be accompanied by reforms in the judicial and police sector that support the safety of witnesses, as specified in the National Accord and Reconciliation Agreement signed by Kenya’s president Mwai Kibaki and prime minister Raila Odinga in early 2008.

"There are many witnesses who have either been killed or disappeared without a trace, while others have fled to neighbouring countries, because they received threats from those whom they saw as perpetrators during the post-election violence," says Patrick Githinji, national secretary of Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) Network, a non-profit organisation based in Nakuru, in the South Rift Valley.

Githinji – who was affected by post-election violence himself and forced to escape from his Rift Valley hometown Kuresoi – says he continues to fear those who attacked him, despite the fact that he relocated his family to Nyandarua district, in Kenya’s central province.

"(The Bill) provides a means for the police to be (more) accountable, and I am confident that the police shall act upon any information given to them expeditiously. I am sure that there will be more security for those who speak out. My only hope is that parliament does not derail the process of its enactment," he told IPS.

To ensure the proposed witness protection agency’s independence, the Bill will stipulate that members of the agency’s advisory board comprise of officials from multiple security and justice segments, including the commissioner of police, the director general of the National Security Intelligence Service, director of public prosecutions, justice minister and the chairperson of the National Commission on Human Rights, among others.

"By bringing in these key people, the capacity to protect witnesses will be improved," confirmed police spokesperson Eric Kiraithe.

Not all witnesses will have access to the special protection programme, however. The witness protection agency will take under its wing only those who "have information that is crucial to the case and whose life is in danger. Witness protection is an expensive exercise," explained private lawyer Minayo Lugalia. "(Witness protection) can only take place after a threat risk assessment has been carried out and the witness’ (authenticity is) verified."

So far, efforts to protect witnesses have not always been successful. For example, the National Commission on Human Rights recorded the confessions of police officer Bernard Kirinya in June 2008, who said he witnessed extra judicial killings of 58 suspects by his colleagues, under orders from his superiors, according to information from leadership, governance and accountability organisation Mars Group Kenya. As a result, Kirinya was shot dead three month later, before he could testify in court.

Intimidation and threats to the lives of post-election violence witnesses first came to light when Luis Moreno-Ocampo, chief prosecutor at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, Netherlands, asked for investigations into the planning of the post-election violence in Kenya in the beginning of March.

He had drawn up a list of 20 people suspected to be masterminds of the violent attacks of 2007. Some of them are believed to be businessmen who paid perpetrators of post-election violence, while others are members of parliament and senior government officials.

If the ICC allows Moreno-Ocampo to proceed with his investigation, the names on the list will be revealed so that witnesses can come forward. The adoption of the Witness Protection (Amendment) Bill 2010 may be crucial in aiding this process, especially since it also offers protection during trials held outside of Kenya.

housing and the stock market – The Rubber Hits the Road – John P. Hussman, Ph.D. – … From the pattern we observed during the round of sub-prime resets, delinquencies tended to follow the resets within about 3 months, and foreclosure actions within about 6 months. Although the 2010 peak in the Alt-A / Option-ARM reset schedule doesn’t occur until July, with a much larger peak in mid-2011, a small initial round of resets is already in progress, having started about November of last year. I would expect that if we are indeed at risk of a second wave of mortgage defaults and credit strains, it will show up first as a surprising jump in 30-day mortgage delinquencies in the data we see over the next 2-4 months … – Hussman Funds

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Fighting the Headwind in Housing – Special Housing Market Edition – by Diane Swonk, Chief Economist, Mesirow Financial 

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3 NEAR-TERM RISKS TO THE (STOCK) MARKET – 1) Complacency  2) Catalysts  3) China  -   has charts and commentary – The Pragmatic Capitalist

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new term -   REVERSE FORECLOSURE – Desperate condo, homeowner associations thrown a lifeline – A new maneuver called reverse foreclosure helps condo and homeowner associations collect badly needed overdue maintenance fees. – BY RACHAEL LEE CO – … Under a reverse foreclosure, the association files its own foreclosure notice and takes title, which is its right after the homeowner stops paying maintenance fees. The association can’t sell because of the bank’s lien. But it can renounce its claim on the property in court and ask the judge to give the title back to the bank. Then the bank has to pay the fees.. … – Miami Herald

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4 Biggest Lies in Real Estate – by Ilyce Glink -  CBS Moneywatch

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RESPA legacy? – No More Pre-approval Letters, Say Lenders – By Peter G. Miller – As a result of the new mortgage borrower protections that took effect January 1st, some lenders are now saying they can no longer provide pre-approval letters … – thanks Peter – OurBroker.com 

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Mortgage Principal Writedown Won’t Save Housing – By: Diana Olick – CNBC

Testing the Rate Barrier – Every few months I draw the spotlight on long-term US interest rates as they approach a long held barrier.  Thirty year treasury yields have not been above 4.8% since the fall of 2007 but have tested the 4.7% level about 10 times since then.  I consistently draw attention to long-term interest rates because they are intimately tied to housing affordability and the cost of servicing debt. … – Surly Trader

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contract abrogatiopn ahead? – has slide show – A Preview: California’s Coming War On Banks And Pre-Crisis Swaps – Joe Weisenthal and Gus Lubin -  Clusterstock at
Business Insider

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3 must watch videos: Video From the “Make Markets Be Markets”  Conference Online – Simon Johnson, Elizabeth Warren, Frank Partnoy -  RortyBomb Blog

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Jim Rogers is long the euro – Tim Iacono – Famed investor Jim Rogers talked to Damien Hoffman at Wall Street Cheat Sheet and shared his thoughts about the future of the common currency in this interview:  …. " Either way, I think there’s probably a rally coming. There’s a huge short position in the Euro and whenever there’s been a huge short position in anything, it’s sometimes profitable to go to the other side. So, I am long the Euro because I think there are too many pessimists." … – The Mess That Greenspan Made

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What Gen Y-ers Will Need to Retire – Breaking down Gen Y’s $2 million retirement price tag – By Carla Fried – CBS Moneywatch

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Morgan Stanley: The 15 Must-See Charts That Explain The Global Economy – Vince Veneziani – … Inside the 88-page report is a section called "Charts You Can’t Miss." It’s broken down in the following order of countries: Global economy, Europe, Asia (excluding Japan), and Japan. These charts focus on the underlying issues that truly affect our economy. … – Money Game at Business Insider

By Arnaud Bébien DAR-ES-SALAAM, Mar 10 (IPS) Pregnancy is the leading cause of dropouts for school girls in Tanzania. And a national law forbidding young mothers to return to school after giving birth did not make it any easier for them to continue their education.

But thanks to pressure from the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF), the Tanzania government has now adopted a new law that allows young mothers to continue their education at their former schools.

Before the revision of the law, some girls studied at vocational centres which made it easier to return to school.

Centres exist throughout the country and depend on the ministry of education. The training is funded thanks to family support: the girls learn a trade (such as hairdressing or dressmaking) or take refresher courses in the evening.

Bethsheba, 18, takes classes at Temeke Centre, but lives with her aunt. Mother of little Thabit, she fell pregnant with the child of her friend and neighbour in 2006.

"He told me loved me. Since I was waiting for the results of last year exam I thought it was a good time to have a relationship," she told IPS. Currently, Bethsheba is taking refresher courses at the centre, and hopes to be able to return to secondary school soon.

However, despite the best intentions, the return to school is difficult, especially without family support. Catherine, 16, became pregnant during high school. "I was in 3rd year when I was forced to drop out because I got pregnant," she recalls. "I want to go to the vocational centre, but it's difficult because I have nobody at home to watch my daughter."

Early pregnancy is not a new problem in Tanzania and has often sparked national debate.

On Feb. 10 during a National Assembly session, an official from the opposition 'Civic United Front', challenged the deputy minister of education, Mwantumu Mahiza, to explain the measures taken by the government to reduce the number of girls falling pregnant at school.

Mahiza said that his ministry is preparing new laws and policies to address the issue, adding that six percent of girls leave school each year due to pregnancy. Twenty-five percent of Tanzanian women under 18 are already mothers.

According to ministry of education statistics, 28,600 girls left school between 2004 and 2008 because they were pregnant. At secondary level the figures are alarming: in 2007 one in five girls fell pregnant and did not finish school.

One of the main reasons for the large number of pregnant girls is that many have unprotected sex and lack access to contraceptives. Moreover, there is the social context. For example, in the Shinyanga region (western Tanzania), parents threaten to throw their daughters out of their homes if they attend high school.

Many ask their daughters to fail their studies so they can marry as soon as possible. In some remote areas of the country, children as young as 11 are pregnant. Some blame the Marriage Act of 1971, which legalised marriage between a man and a 14-year-old-girl. For some parents the dowry they receive when marrying their daughter is a significant source of income.

Moreover, in this population that is 80 percent rural, low-income parents often do not have the means to send their children to secondary school. When they finish primary school at 13 or 14, girls stay home in the village and fall pregnant.

"A number of parents don't take their children's education seriously," says a reproachful ministry of education.

Nevertheless, the issue is taken very seriously by officials as the majority of these teenagers face challenges for which they are unprepared. The Beninese singer and UNICEF ambassador, Angélique Kidjo, visited Tanzania in January to raise awareness on this issue.

"It makes me sad to see these young girls because being mother at 16 is not easy," she said in Dar es Salaam during a meeting with young mothers.

Thanks to pressure from UNICEF the Tanzanian government adopted the new law in January 2010 which allows young mothers back into their old schools. This was strictly forbidden before now. But UNICEF recognises that all is not won, some schools still do not accept girls returning after childbirth as they are unaware of the new law.

In addition to the risk of contracting HIV during sex, these girls also face the risk of complications during birth. In Tanzania, three-quarters of births take place at home without proper care and treatment.

Angelina, 16, was pregnant when she dropped out of her grade school in Dar es Salaam. Her baby was born premature with heart problems. She spent four months in hospital, but she is studying at a centre similar to Temeke. Her story has a rare positive outcome in a country were young mothers just like her are less fortunate.

As for the child's father, a bus driver, he disappeared without a trace. Abandonment is a frequent occurrence for these girls. Many are too young to be mothers and are left stranded by their baby’s fathers with no means of supporting themselves.

Sometimes parents help their daughters when they can, but some do not hesitate to kick them out of their homes. As a consequence: many young girls with very small children sell fruit and vegetables by the roadside, forced to fend for themselves.

(FIN/IPS/AF/EA/ED/HD/DV/WO/GR/SX/MD/AB/AIT/10)

Filed under: Government/Legal, Chrysler, Dodge

Remember a couple weeks back when we told you about Chrysler’s improbable legal battle against little Lake Mary High School in Florida? Chrysler’s legal team put the smack down on the school for using the Ram logo as its school insignia, and the law jockeys in Auburn Hills, MI were giving the school until June 15 to remove all instances of the logo at a considerable cost to the school district and neighborhood taxpayers.

It appears cooler heads have prevailed at Chrysler, as Allpar is reporting that the school and automaker have made an agreement that allows the school to keep the admittedly perfect-for-a-football-helmet logo, at least until wear and tear requires their replacement. The reported agreement stipulates that the school must declare its partnership with Chrysler on signs stating “Lake Mary: Proud Partner of Chrysler.” We think Chrysler should also sponsor the prom and provide a 300C stretch limousine for every senior. C’mon, think of the good will!

When we originally told you about the legal tussle between Lake Mary HS and Chrysler, we were more than a little critical of Team Pentastar for its legal action against the small school in a town of 15,000. It wasn’t because Chrysler didn’t have every legal right to protect its trademarks, but rather making a school district pay lots of money to remove a logo when it wasn’t really damaging is just bad PR for a company that can ill afford any more bad PR. Compromise can be a very good thing, and it’s nice to see that the folks at Chrysler see that. Good people of Lake Mary, Florida: feel free to continue purchasing vehicles from the Chrysler group.

[Source: Allpar]

Update: Texas high school gets to keep using Ram logo originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 10 Mar 2010 16:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

According to a report by Swedish financial daily Dagens Industri, Chinese automaker Geely has reportedly obtained financing for its long-overdue purchase of Volvo from FoMoCo. The report says that financing was concluded in recent days and the money is now in Geely’s bank account.

Geely will reportedly cash out about $2 billion for the Swedish brand. The only thing standing in Geely’s way now is the approval of various Chinese, Swedish and U.S. officials.

Geely has previously said that it plans on keeping Volvo production in Sweden. Volvo currently employs 22,000 people on a global scale, 16,000 of those are located in Sweden.

Geely also plans on doubling Volvo’s annual global production with a new facility in Beijing, which is expected to make the loss-making brand profitable by 2011.

– By: Stephen Calogera

Source: AutoObserver

Jo Ann Stores (JAS), owner of Jo Ann Fabrics, just came out with their Q4 earnings.

And guess what? They were very solid.

Apparently, demand for cloth, mothballs and wood glue is on the rise. Fourth quarter revenue was $602.2 million versus a Street consensus of of 600.4 million. Same store sales are up 4.4%.

And their outlook is positive, too. Jo Ann Stores sees FY11 SSS up 2.5%-3.5% and earnings per share of $2.75 to $2.90 versus the consensus of $2.85.

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• Want A Non-Productive ‘Hard Asset’ With Psychological Value That Beats Gold? Buy Collectibles And Art
• Average Weekly Earnings: February 2010
• RadioShack’s Earnings Just Exposed How Greedy Investors Have Become

Chrysler announced today that it has appointed Laura J, Soave to serve as the Head of the Fiat Brand for North America. Chrysler said that Soave will lead the reintroduction of the Fiat Brand in North America, which will begin with the Fiat 500 – meaning we will most likely see other Fiat models make it over to the stateside.

“Laura joins Chrysler with extensive experience in automotive marketing,” said CEO Sergio Marchionne. “Her rich background will serve as a springboard for reintroducing the Fiat brand when it takes to U.S. and Canadian roads this December after more than a 25-year absence. This truly iconic car exemplifies Italian style, technology and passion and, offers something more. The 500 heralds a new vision of technology’s role in sustainable mobility.”

Soave will be responsible for profit and loss for the Fiat product portfolio in North America and will report directly to Marchionne.

Soave came to Chrysler over from from Volkswagen of America where she was recently the General Manager of Experiential Marketing leading to consumer marketing initiatives.

– By: Omar Rana

At the NTEA Work Truck Show today, Nissan unveiled the new 2011 Nissan NV (Nissan Van), its first production commercial vehicle for the North American market.

The first production commercial vehicles from Nissan in North America will consists of the 2011 Nissan NV1500, NV2500 HD and NV3500 HD. All will be available with a choice of 4.0L V6 and 5.6L V8 engines and in two body styles, Standard Roof  and High Roof (available only on the NV2500 HD and NV3500 HD models).

The High Roof option seems to be the big news in Nissan’s new NV lineup. While the 2011 NV already offers ample cargo room with a 120.7-inch cargo floor length and 70.3-inch cargo floor width, the NV High Roof offers a maximum 76.5 inches of cargo room height, enough for most users to move cargo while standing. The Standard Roof model offers 55.4 inches of cargo area height.

Sales of the 2011 Nissan NV will start in late 2010. Prices will be announced closer to launch date.

Make the jump for the press release and the high-res image gallery.

2011 Nissan NV:

Press Release:

2011 Nissan NV Debuts at NTEA Work Truck Show; Breakthrough Design Brings New Thinking to CV Van Segment

– Nissan Enters North American Commercial Vehicle Market with Innovative Standard and High Roof Vans Designed to “Help Businesses Run Better” –

As Nissan finalizes plans to bring its first production commercial vehicle (CV) to the North American market in late 2010, it is starting with a truly ground up design – from its rugged ladder frame to the roof rack mounting brackets on the top of the innovatively conceived and styled body. Yet the all-new Nissan NV (Nissan Van) also has the advantage of Nissan’s exceptional commercial vehicle heritage, covering 75 years and more than 75 percent of the global CV market.

“The new kid on the block, as it turns out, is also a long-time player in the global commercial vehicle market. As the first non-domestic nameplate to design, manufacture and sell CVs in the United States, we bring a more than seven-decade tradition of durability, quality and reliability to our products,” said Joe Castelli, vice president, Commercial Vehicles and Fleet, Nissan North America, Inc. (NNA). “At the same time, we’ve taken a fresh look at every aspect of the CV business – including styling, powertrain, interiors, cost of operation and ownership, dealership sales and service operations and, most importantly, real world customer needs.”

The first production models in Nissan’s new North American CV lineup are the 2011 Nissan NV1500, NV2500 HD and NV3500 HD. They will be available with a choice of 4.0-liter V6 and 5.6-liter V8 engines and in two body styles, Standard Roof (all models) and High Roof (NV2500 HD and NV3500 HD only) – with High Roof models offering stand-up walkthrough/work cargo area capability.

“It’s been too many years since any manufacturer in this segment has taken a ’clean sheet’ look at the needs of owners and operators in the CV segment,” said Castelli. “We’ve invested more than five years researching the comfort, style and smart functionality demands that will enable business owners to accomplish more throughout their day. We plan on coming out of the box with segment-busting vehicles, so customer input was essential.”

The NV planning team employed a wide range of innovative customer research methodologies, including focus groups, on-site visits and concept reviews. The quantitative and qualitative research took place all across America – Los Angeles, Chicago, New Jersey, Dallas, Detroit, New York, Minnesota, Arizona and other markets. The team met with large fleet owners and managers, small business owners, aftermarket suppliers and converters and rode along with owners of competitive vehicles.

“The NV is one of the most researched projects ever in the history of Nissan. We touched the market at every point possible, with the findings reflected in every aspect of the final NV design,” added Castelli.

Comfortable Seating and Standing
Research showed that commercial van owners are the least satisfied of any vehicle segment, with many van owners disposing of their vehicles in favor of light duty trucks despite the compromise of convenience and utility. In developing the new Nissan NV, one of the overarching goals was to combine pickup truck-like comfort, interior amenities and drivability with a cargo van’s capacity and security.

“Looking at the CV market in recent years, there’s been a migration of van users to light-duty pickups due to the lack of comfort, image and dependability of the current outdated van platforms,” explained Castelli. “Yet many of these truck owners admit they need a van for weather protection, security and the convenience of a tall roof van to carry large items or equipment. With the Nissan NV, we’re giving them the best of both worlds.”

Answering one of the major unmet owner needs – driver comfort and roominess – the Nissan NV interior starts with wide front doors for easy ingress and egress, supportive bucket seating with extensive adjustability, large armrests and a truck-like driving position with ample legroom and foot room. The available center console (removable) provides a range of integrated storage features, while the fold-down passenger seat – which is unique to the segment – adds worktable functionality and enhances the cab’s feeling of openness.

Another major contributor to the pickup-like cab is the absence of the traditional CV engine “doghouse” that intrudes into the cab due to the setback engine placement. The Nissan NV utilizes a conventional truck engine layout with the engine and transmission located ahead of the firewall/A-pillar. This not only frees up space under the instrument panel and between the seats, it also provides easy under-hood access to the entire engine for routine service and maintenance.

“From the seats forward the NV looks, acts and feels like a pickup. You don’t have to take apart the interior to access the engine and you don’t have to worry about tucking your work boots into a cramped footwell,” said Castelli. “But, make no mistake, behind the seats the NV is pure, practical van.”

The NV’s ample cargo area offers a 120.7-inch cargo floor length and 70.3-inch maximum cargo floor width. NV Standard Roof models offer a maximum 55.4 cargo area height, among the tallest in class. The NV High Roof provides a maximum 76.5-inches of cargo room height – enough for most users to move about the cargo area while standing up straight.

“Standard Roof NV models are designed to fit in most garages or go through most car washes and fast food drive-through lanes – along with offering easier reach to access roof racks,” said Castelli. “But for so many businesses, the added cargo capacity and the ability to stand up and work inside the High Roof NV will be a priceless enhancement to their everyday operations and productivity.”

Smart Functionality and Flexible Layout
Inspired by customer needs and usage, the Nissan NV offers an amazing array of smart functionality features, including storage pockets, spaces and compartments designed to provide secure access to the typical commercial customers’ everyday use objects. An under seat drawer, for example, fits small tools, stationary or first aid kits, while the deep door pockets fit flashlights, legal-size binders and clipboards. High Roof models offer an available overhead console designed to hold work gloves, legal size binders, safety glasses and system books. The available center console (removable) fits letter size files and laptop computers – and includes a computer or mobile phone charging point.

“A commercial van must serve many more functions today, including acting as a mobile office for time spent on the road or at a job site,” said Castelli. “We’ve made storage and productivity items integral to the design, rather than tacked-on afterthoughts. The result is a clean, practical and comfortable workspace for a wide variety of professions and businesses.”

Along with being conceived as a “mobile office,” the Nissan NV is designed to function as a “mobile workshop” – thanks to its simple, flexible cargo area layout. Along with offering wide door openings, the NV offers room between the wheelhouses to accommodate standard plywood or drywall sheets or pallets. There are also a range of cargo area tie-down rings and ample cargo area lighting.

The new Nissan NV was also designed to accommodate aftermarket outfitting and modifications. For example, the roof rack mounting brackets are designed for various rack systems without piercing holes in the roof, which can lead to corrosion and water leaks. The available “upfitter pre-wiring” allows easy access into the electrical system.

The NV also offers a full-length cargo area inner panel to protect the outer walls from dents and dings from the inside, and there are multiple weld-nut attachment points for shelving and racks – again requiring no sheet metal drilling. In addition, the NV’s nearly vertical sidewalls maximize the usable cargo space, accommodating common aftermarket storage systems, as well as a bulkhead behind the driver.

Three Well-Equipped Models
Cost of ownership and operation is a critical factor in the CV segment, whether for major fleet operations or individual business owners. “From the rugged fully boxed all-steel frame to the body-on-chassis construction, the NV is designed to the highest Nissan standards of durability, quality and reliability,” said Castelli. “The NV is designed to be affordable and to stand up to the abuse that real work trucks face everyday.”

The new Nissan NV will launch with a choice of two engines – a powerful yet fuel efficient 4.0-liter V6 or a powerful, torquey 5.6-liter V8. Both engines will be matched to a standard 5-speed automatic.

Safety systems include the Nissan Advanced Air Bag System (includes dual-stage front supplemental air bags with seat belt sensors), 3-point front seat belts with pretensioners and load limiters, available supplemental front seat-mounted side-impact air bags and roof-mounted supplemental curtain air bags.

The 2011 Nissan NV will be offered in three well-equipped models, the NV1500, NV2500 HD and NV3500 HD. All three models will be available with the Standard Roof, while the High Roof body will be offered in the NV2500 HD and NV3500 HD models only. Additional information regarding standard features, trim levels and optional equipment will be provided later.

The new Nissan NV will be manufactured in Canton, Mississippi and available through a select network of authorized Nissan Commercial Vehicle dealers nationwide. For updates and more information, please go to www.nissancommercialvehicles.com.

– By: Kap Shah

You can read about some of today’s top performers here.

Here’s the final scoreboard:

Dow: Up 3 points to 10,567.

NASDAQ: Up 18 points to 2358.

S&P 500: Up 5 points to 1145.

Commodities were up earlier but metals fell later in the day. Oil is up $0.33 to $81.81 a barrel.

Gold is down 1.5% or $16.70 to $1105.60 an ounce as it rapidly approaches the $1100 mark. Silver is down nearly 2% to $17 an ounce.

Futures remain mixed, with metals and grains falling whilst equities, energy climb.

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See Also:

• Metals Struggle As Gold, Silver Dip
• CHART OF THE DAY: As Europe Crumbled, Investors Quietly Tip-Toed Back Into U.S. Stocks
• Five Stocks On The Rise Today

Filed under: Spy Photos, Wagon, Opel, Vauxhall

The Opel/Vauxhall Astra Sports Tourer – otherwise known as a wagon or estate – is testing its cold weather chops with minimal camouflage.

Details on the little cargo carrier are slim, but snappers at CarPix tell us that the rear liftgate differs from that on the larger Insignia ST by being separated from the taillights. We are also told that the interior and engine options will be the same as on the five-door hatch, and a spicy GSi model is on the way to fill out the line. It’s too bad no one from Buick will tell us in the States, “Yes, you can have it…” You can check it out from various angles in the gallery of high-res photos below.

[Source: CarPix]

Spy Shots: Opel Astra ST spotted braving the elements originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 10 Mar 2010 16:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The team at Sony’s Santa Monica Studio isn’t resting on its laurels even with God of War III’s release looking ever closer (it’s out next week!). According to John Hight, the studio’s director of product development, they already