Ford grapples with UK exchange rate
US car giant Ford has this evening announced plans to increase the cost of new cars in the UK by an average of 4% amid concerns over the exchange rate. This is the third increase in the price of Ford motors over the last few months and has prompted significant criticism from UK consumers. This comes at a time the UK government is still basking in the glory of the car scrapping scheme which appears to have increased business levels in the sector since it began.
There is no doubt that the demise of General Motors just a few days ago perfectly illustrates the difficulties being felt in the car manufacturing industry on a worldwide and UK basis. We also saw the collapse of LDV and there are concerns that the ongoing bailout of General Motors Europe is in trouble. Obviously Ford would rather have retained a lower pricing strategy for its UK division but with sterling starting to strengthen against the US dollar the company was fighting a losing battle.
While the car scrappage scheme has injected some business into the sector there is no doubt that the general sale of new cars is significantly lower now than when the economic downturn began. Sector funding is stretched, employees are struggling with no increase in salaries and redundancy levels continue to rise.
Share this..
Related stories
UK tax authorities confirm 27 MPs under investigation
The UK tax authorities have today confirmed that 27 members of Parliament are currently under investigation regarding their expenses. Not only are MPs under pressure from an internal parliamentary investigation into expenses, but the tax authorities are also investigating whether any tax laws have been broken by the 27 MPs in question.
In a rather interesting development, the tax au...
UK beggars earning up to £200 a day
UK beggars in some of the more upmarket areas of the UK are known to be earning up to £200 a night which equates to a £73,000 a year salary, paid free of tax. UK police have drawn attention to so-called "professional beggars" who crowd the streets in many towns and cities in the UK, catching the attention of passers-by and ultimately making a very good living.
We have seen instanc...
How Inflation Could Erode Your Savings
Today's news that year on year inflation has risen to 4.4% and looks set to hit 5% in the later part of 2008 does not bode well for the legion of savers in the UK. This dying breed of careful savers will soon be hit with a worrying scenario, the fact that rates available on their savings will be less than inflation and result in their spending power being reduced in real terms.
Whe...
Is deflation still a major problem?
Only a few days ago the inflation figures surprised on the upside and many analysts believed this was the beginning of the end of the recession. However, today's release of the August monetary policy committee notes suggest that Mervyn King, and two other members of the MPC, believe the economy is still struggling and deflation could be a major problem in the weeks and months ahead.
...
Dow Jones breaks 13,000 barrier
The Dow Jones industrial average broke through the 13,000 barrier for the first time in its history yesterday.Solid quarterly results from several US companies helped boost stocks, with personal care giant Colgate-Palmolive and soft drinks firm PepsiCo among those announcing higher earnings.While strong company performances helped allay fears that a weakened US housing market might hamper consumer...
Read More