TOP 100 TRANSPORTATION AND LOGISTICS SITES
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| Toyota Plans $1 Billion Marketing Binge Zacks.com submits: Toyota Motor (TM) seems to be regaining consumer confidence in the U.S. at a fast pace. The company has rolled out a plan to spend $1 billion on a marketing campaign to boost its U.S. sales in the fourth quarter. The marketing outlay is 30% to 40% higher than the company typically spends in any quarter. Besides the huge marketing campaign, Toyota will also expand its line of gas-electric hybrid models under the widely popular compact Prius. The company is also looking forward to offer hybrid models both larger and smaller than Prius. Complete Story » seekingalpha.com |
Boeing Secures Korean Air Order for New Model 747 Zacks.com submits: Boeing Company (BA) bagged an order for five 747-8 series Intercontinental jetliners from Korean Air. The $1.5 billion deal is the first Asian airline order for the passenger version of the new, fuel-efficient 747-8 planes. Korean Air already has arrangements to operate seven 747-8 Freighters. Korean Air plans on flying the 747-8 Intercontinental on long-haul routes to the Americas and Europe. The new 747-8 Intercontinental is 18.3 feet (5.6 m) longer than the 747-400. As a result, the 747-8 Intercontinental has an additional 51 seats to a total of 467 seats in a three-class configuration as compared to the 747-400. It also offers a range of 8,000 nautical miles (14,815 km). Using the new GEnx-2B engines, the 747-8 provides a quieter, more fuel-efficient airplane. The 747-8 also provides nearly equivalent trip costs and 13% lower seat-mile costs than the 747-400, plus 26% greater cargo volume.Complete Story » seekingalpha.com |
Toyota's Not the Only One - Six Myths About Car Recalls Rick Newman submits:With all the hype surrounding Toyota's (TM) quality problems, you'd think a recall notice in your mailbox is the equivalent of a pink slip or IRS audit. Hardly. Toyota is certainly reeling from recalls of nearly 5 million U.S. cars, including top sellers like the Camry, Corolla, RAV4, and Prius. But recalls are a fact of life in the auto business, usually generating little news or heartache for car owners. With Toyota's woes mushrooming into a media and political feeding frenzy, here are some of the mounting misconceptions about recalls: They're rare. On the contrary, millions of vehicles are recalled every year. So far this year, Toyota's recalls have obviously dominated the news, but they haven't been the only ones. Chrysler has recalled about 20,000 vehicles to fix a clip on the brakes. And Honda (HMC) has had two major recalls. One is to fix a power window switch on 141,000 Fit subcompacts that could melt or catch fire if water leaks in. Another, affecting 129,000 Ridgeline pickup trucks, is to place a protective cover around the wires for an A/C blower motor, to prevent damage that can occur if a passenger kicks the motor. In December 2009 alone, there were at least eight separate recalls that each involved thousands of passenger cars.Complete Story » seekingalpha.com |
Exchange Rate Hurts GOL Linhas Earnings Zacks.com submits: GOL Linhas Aereas Inteligentes S.A. (GOL) reported a net income of R$23.9 million (US$13.4 million) for the first quarter of 2010, 62.1% down from R$61.4 million (US$26.4 million) in the year-ago quarter. EPS dropped to R$0.18 or 10 cents from R$0.30 or 13 cents. Reported EPADR was much below the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 19 cents. The decrease in net income is driven by exchange rate loss of R$59.0 million (US$33.04 million) versus an exchange rate income of R$86.1 million (US$37.0 million) in the same period of 2009. During the quarter, net revenues were R$1,729.8 million (US$968.7 million), up from R$1,517.0 million (US$652.3 million) in the corresponding quarter of 2009. GOL posted an operating income of R$191.4 million (US$107.2 million) and an operating margin of 11.1%, 82.1% up from R$105.1 million and a 6.9% margin in the first quarter of 2009. The improvement in revenue is the result of the company's competitive advantages in relation to greater flight frequency between domestic airports, low-cost leadership, and strong indicators of punctuality, regularity, safety, and differentiated client service, as well as increased demand from the domestic and international markets. During the quarter, operating costs and expenses (excluding depreciation) came to R$1,476.6 million (US$827.0 million), 7.4% up year over year due to a 23.5% increase in aircraft fuel and a 15.4% increase in salary, wages and benefits. In the first quarter, GOL took delivery of five Boeing (BA) 737-800NG SFPs to replace five Boeing 737-300s and three Boeing 737-800s, which were retired during the period. The company closed the quarter with 108 operational aircraft, with an average age of 5.8 years. As on March 31, 2010, GOL recorded a net debt of R$1,740.0 million (US$974.4 million), up from $1,692.2 million (US$981.5 million) at the end of the previous quarter. Cash position was R$1.4 billion, with cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments of R$1.5 billion, equivalent to 24.0% of annual net revenue, 5.6% up from the previous quarter. GOL remains better positioned to capitalize on the increase in discounted air travel in Brazil and the rest of Latin America given its strong market share position and efficient operations. GOL has been delivering positive and increasing operating profit for the last six consecutive quarters. We expect the company to experience growth in the short-to-medium term, based on international agreements and continued investment in fleet renovation. However, competitive pressures and the impact of the global financial crisis are a concern. Moreover, infrastructural constraints at the Brazilian airports force us to reiterate our Neutral recommendation on the ADR.Complete Story » seekingalpha.com |
US Airways Group, Inc. Q2 2010 Earnings Call Transcript US Airways Group, Inc. (LCC)Q2 2010 Earnings CallJuly 22, 2010 01:30 pm ETComplete Story » seekingalpha.com |