The Bumper Protection Company Introduces the Ultimate Rear Bumper Guard for Cars, Trucks and SUVs.

The New York based Bumper Protection Company specializes in rear car bumper guards and car bumper protection accessories, have recently unleashed the 2010 Bumper Bully Extreme car bumper guard in major U.S. cities and abroad. Think of it as an accessory for your car bumper. It’s the latest fashion statement for parking garages and a must have accessory for parallel parking. New York, NY (PRWEB) February 12, 2010 -- The New York based Bumper Protection Company specializes in rear bumper guards and car bumper protection accessories. They have recently unleashed the 2010 Bumper Bully Extreme car bumper guard in major U.S. cities and abroad. Think of it as an accessory for your car bumper. It’s the latest fashion statement for parking garages and a must have accessory for parallel parking. The Bumper Bully Extreme bumper guard is an innovative temporary car bumper guard that has found use in indoor parking garages, outdoor parking garages, valet parking garages and street parking. Parking in the City almost guarantees a bumper pimpled with screw marks, scratches and abrasions. While most bumper protectors and bumper guards protect only the corners, the Bumper Bully protects the mid-section of a car bumper, the area most susceptible to damage when parking. Each year millions of dollars are spent fixing car bumpers that are damaged while parked. This figure is likely to increase, as more cars are being introduced with painted plastic bumpers. The 2010 Bumper Bully Extreme bumper guard aims to change the way people think about rear bumper protectors, infusing modern design and function into an easy to use car bumper protection product. The Bumper Protection Company understands the importance of providing customers with a high quality bumper guard that’s free of environmentally toxic PVC plastics. Unfortunately, many products in the car bumper protection / car bumper guard industry are made of PVC plastics – a cheap environmental pollutant used to make many items with Chinese based production. Understanding the necessity to provide customers with a superior car bumper guard the 2010 Bumper Bully was designed with the car enthusiast in mind. Several unique features set the 2010 Bumper Bully Extreme bumper guard apart from the competition (1) Unique patented bumper guard design that flows around exhaust pipes (2) Extra wide protection area - at 46” wide and 12” in height the Bumper Bully bumper guard covers almost 3/4 of the rear car bumper, offering unparalleled car bumper protection for your parked car (3) Steel Reinforced Straps helps deter theft (4) Patent pending stabilizer bar system keeps the car bumper guard from folding or curling back and (5) Air Impact Ribs run linearly across the product to provide added cushioning. The Bumper Bully Extreme bumper guard fits securely over your car bumper, utilizing steel reinforced straps that attaches inside your trunk. Once attached the Bumper Bully bumper guard is easy to use – after parking flip it out of the trunk and before driving flip it back inside the trunk. When properly used and maintained the Bumper Bully bumper guard may help protect the rear car bumper from scratches sustained in low impact bumper-to- bumper contact, which commonly occur during parking maneuvers. The main focus of the Bumper Bully is to provide better rear car bumper protection than other products on the market. According to Bumper Bully’s marketing coordinator Tim Russell, “there is no fancy gimmicks or marketing fluff here. People who buy the Bumper Bully rear car bumper guard want the best product at an affordable price. It all comes down to getting the best value for your money and the Bumper Bully car bumper guard is the bench mark.”

All Electric Car Makes a Big Sustainable Impact

Featured this week at the Chicago Auto Show is a fantastic new sustainable vehicle made by Ford. Built for the small business owner, the latest Ford Transit Connect is an alternative vehicle which offers two choices for fuel - either compressed natural gas or electric. Along with a hundred or so other people, I was invited to attend the pre-show reveal at the Museum of Science and Industry's transportation gallery. Surrounded dramatically by hanging full sized airplanes, a train engine, and The Spirit of America (one of the fastest land vehicles on earth), the Ford Transit Connect was in good company. Notable attendees like City of Chicago Commissioner, Norma Reyes, were enthusiastic about the possibilities for both the fuel efficient taxi cabs and all electric fleet vehicles for the future of the City of Chicago. Transit Connect Electric is well-suited for commercial fleets that travel short-range and have a central location for daily recharging. The vehicle, which will accelerate at a similar rate as the gas-powered Transit Connect and will have a top speed of 75 mph, has a targeted range of up to 80 miles on a full charge. Owners will have the option of recharging the Transit Connect Electric with either a standard 120V outlet or preferably a 240V charge station installed at the user's base of operations for optimal recharging in six to eight hours. A transportable cord that works with both types of outlets will be available for recharging at both kinds of locations. Ford confirmed the zero-emissions small van will be in fleet operators' hands later this year. While the original Transit has been well tested, more than 600,000 Transits have been sold since 2003 to customers in 58 countries on three continents; it is the 2011 version which proves unique in its ability to reduce carbon emissions. For me, coming to the Ford Transit reveal was a personal experience. My husband, Luis Coronado, and I are both small business owners, and the Ford Transit is considered a fantastic sustainable tool for small businesses. As the CEO of a computer services company, I felt my husband was the perfect person to bring along to see the new vehicle and put the Ford Transit to the test. Indeed, we found the vehicles surprisingly roomy with some amazing options specifically for the small business owner. For example, the back of the Transit Connect Electric is decked out with a full range of shelving and storage areas for a small business owner to take his business on the road. It would be perfect for a computer services team, a florist, or any number of other businesses that have fleet requirements or require off-site delivery or services. Both the Transit Connect Electric and the compressed natural gas Transit Connect Taxi offer a lot of energy savings. Why go electric with a vehicle like The Transit Connect Electric? It is expected that these vehicles will offer lower cost of operation, because recharging with electricity is generally less expensive than refueling with gasoline. Users may also benefit from much lower maintenance costs over the life of the vehicle.

Consider the following:

* The number of components typical in an internal combustion engine and transmission are

dramatically reduced in an electric vehicle to just a few moving parts in the electric motor and
transaxle, which results in much fewer parts to wear out or maintain

* Electric powertrains operate with solid state electronics, which have demonstrated low or no
maintenance over the life of the product
* Electric vehicles have completely sealed cooling systems that do not require refilling,
replacement or flushing
* Electric vehicles require no oil changes or tune-ups
* There are no belts to wear out or break and no spark plugs or injectors to clean or adjust
* There is no exhaust system to replace and no liquid fuel system to freeze or clog
* The use of regenerative braking reduces wear and tear on brake pads

In addition to the Transit Connect Electric, Ford plans to bring three more electrified vehicles to market by 2012 - the Focus Electric in 2011, a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle in 2012 and a next-generation hybrid in 2012.

Club Car sees new GPS system as a moneymaker

Feb 11, 2010 (The Augusta Chronicle - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Club Car introduced a new mobile information system at the Golf Industry Show that is now underway in San Diego. The system, called Visage, combines cellular, wireless and Global Positioning System technologies to create the "new face of customer experience." Visage lets golfers see their position on a hole, combined with three-dimensional flyovers with audio similar to network television coverage, and be in contact with the golf course to order food and beverages.

For golf courses, the system is a management tool that improves the pace of play, limits golf car access to sensitive areas and allows for weather alerts. "Course managers remain under pressure to operate more efficiently and grow revenues," said Gary Michel, president and CEO of Club Car. "Visage is a cost-effective way to lower operating costs and attract more play by improving the golfer experience." The system is priced based on fleet size with annual costs ranging from $30,000 to $50,000.

The first Visage units are scheduled to ship by the end of March. Visage can be installed on any brand of golf car. Visage is a joint development of Club Car and Sarasota, Fla.-based GPS Industries LLC. They will be installed at the golf courses, not the Club Car plant in Evans. It may not increase employment at the Evans facility, company officials said, but it is a system seen as important to the company's financial health. "We fully expect Visage to be very good for our business. It will further increase the popularity of Club Car golf cars and it provides Club Car with a growth opportunity despite the fact that the golf market itself is relatively flat," Michel said.

According to parent company Ingersoll Rand's last quarterly report, Club Car revenues decreased worldwide due to weakening economic conditions in key golf, hospitality and recreation markets. In addition, the company was affected by customers deferring golf car replacement by extending their leases.

"Visage leverages technology in ways that the golf industry never has," said David Chessler, CEO of GPS Industries. "It's the right solution at the right time for operators who need to increase margins and create competitive difference that can attract more play." GPS Industries was created in 2009 through a series of mergers. One of its major investors is Greg Norman's Great White Shark Enterprises.

To see more of The Augusta Chronicle, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://augustachronicle.com. Copyright (c) 2010, The Augusta Chronicle, Ga.

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Proud Malaysia to unveil first Formula One racing car

PETALING JAYA: It will be a grand day for Malaysia at the Royal Horticultural Hall in London this afternoon when the Lotus F1 Racing car is officially unveiled to the world. The weather is freezing cold in the city but the Malaysian management team involved in reviving the historic British legend will be glowing with warm pride as the covers are lifted off the car to reveal the livery in full view.

Air Asia chief executive officer Datuk Seri Tony Fernandes got associated with F1 through the sponsorship of the Williams team and has now thrown his all into the current project in partnership with Proton, the owners of Lotus. His vision was to revitalize Lotus and to show that Proton can be world-class apart from helping to project a bigger Malaysian presence at the highest level of motorsport when the venture into F1 was officially announced on Sept 15 by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

Meeting the challenge of building the first Lotus car in 16 years seems so far away, especially with the March deadline of the season-opening race in Bahrain. But rest assured that with the launch in place, Malaysians can look with pride as the Lotus cars line up on the grid in Bahrain with the likes of Mercedes, Ferrari, BMW, Renault and McLaren.

The new car, which was assembled with loving care at the Lotus plant in Norfolk, is expected to adopt the famous green and yellow British racing colours.

And chief technical officer Mike Gascoyne, the man in charge of the project, admitted that the challenge of making Lotus competitive in their return to F1 is something he holds close to his heart.

“The launch will be a big day for your country and for us, the folks at Norfolk. I’m a Norfolk boy myself and to bring the Lotus name back in is something special,” said Gascoyne, who was given full freedom in the design of the car right from the start.

Malaysian reserve driver Fairuz Fauzy gave the car its first on-track debut in a private shakedown at Silverstone on Tuesday, three days after the engine was fired up at the Lotus plant

Fairuz will be sharing the centre stage at the launch today with Heikki Kovalainen, the former team-mate of Lewis Hamilton at McLaren, and long-time Toyota driver Jarno Trulli.

Alex Yoong, the last Malaysian to drive a F1 car in 2002, said that it would be a huge step forward for the country.

“It’s no longer a small influence as we have a F1 team with Malaysians in the upper level of management,” said Alex, who was recently appointed as the head of the driver development programme in Asia for the team.

“They are doing everything right and spending money in the right places. But it is a tough business in F1 and we need to have realistic expectations in the first season.”

Kia Ray Plug-in Hybrid Concept Car With Solar Roof

With everybody trying to “go green”, it seems that Kia Motors doesn’t want to be left behind as Kia Motors America has unveiled the Ray, a Plug-in Hybrid concept at the 2010 Chicago Auto Show. The most notable feature of this 173-inch long car would have to be the single piece of glass that extends over the hood, and another that starts at the cowl of the windshield, going all the way back to the rear header. The specially coated glass helps to keep the interior cool while your car is baking in the sun, thanks to the roof-top photovoltaic cells that help power the climate control system. Kia claims that it can travel over 50 miles using its electric motor alone, and sports an effective fuel economy of over 202 miles per gallon. The ray is to be the first of what will be many cars in the company’s new sub-brand, EcoDynamics.

Rental car rates rise as Toyota recall shrinks fleet

Rental car rates became even more expensive this week as agencies nationwide grappled with the loss of scores of recently-recalled Toyotas now sitting in mechanics' garages waiting for retrofits.

The dilemma prompted one of the country's largest agencies, Hertz, to say that it won't honor coupons or promotions for new rentals for at least several weeks until it adds popular mid-sized and full-sized Toyota models back into its inventory.

"We've scaled back on the number of deals and promotions we have out there," Paula Rivera, Hertz' manager of public affairs, told WalletPop. She declined to say how many of Hertz' vehicles were affected, but the company's 2008 annual report states that Toyota models make up 13% of its fleet worldwide.

Analysts said that roughly 8% of the country's rental car fleet overall -- or about 104,000 vehicles -- were pulled off lots belonging to Hertz, Enterprise, Avis, Budget, National and Alamo since the massive recall was announced last month.

Some companies were more forthcoming than Hertz. Avis said in a press release that the recall impacted about 20,000 vehicles, or about 7% of its fleet. Dollar Rent A Car told WalletPop that about 1.5% of its vehicles, or about 15,900 cars, were sidelined. The country's largest rental car company, Enterprise Holdings, which operates the Alamo, Enterprise and National brands, said about 4.1% of its fleet was impacted.

The news comes just as the travel industry is readying itself for spring break -- one of its busiest periods of the year.

The rental car rate for a mid-sized car rented for a day jumped about 4% over the last week, said Neil Abrams, president of Abrams Consulting Group. He cautioned that the rise may not be attributable to the recall, but to typical market fluctuations due to supply and demand.

"Rental car companies have been operating tight fleets for the last year and a half," Abrams said. "This situation has put them in a tighter position."

One thing is for sure, and that is that rental car prices are already up about 30% after companies shrunk the number of vehicles in their fleets by as much as 40% over the last five years, he added.

Whether your rental car is more expensive this spring is likely to depend on where you're traveling. Rental car agents in Southern Florida -- a popular spring break getaway -- suffered mightily during the Super Bowl, with some losing over half the cars in their fleet to the recall.

Car rentals booked through Expedia.com also reportedly increased in weeks following the Toyota recall at several major airports including John F. Kennedy International, Chicago's O'Hare International, Los Angeles International and Miami International.

Fiat in Russian car venture with Sollers

Fiat on Thursday teamed up with Sollers of Russia to produce cars and sports utility vehicles for the Russian market in a joint venture that is supported by the Kremlin and gives a needed boost to the country’s ailing auto industry.

The Italian carmaker’s move represents a significant and potentially risky investment in a market where it has traditionally had a weak presence. Fiat said the joint venture was part of its move to increase its international presence following its acquisition of Chrysler and was one of the largest such ventures it had undertaken outside Italy.

The venture will produce up to 500,000 passenger cars and sports utility vehicles a year by 2016, mainly for the Russian market, with a minimum of 10 per cent of production for export markets. Production will be at a Sollers facility in the city of Naberezhnye Chelny, 1,000km east of Moscow, which will be expanded through new facilities and a technology park for component production.

The two companies said they envisaged investing €2.4bn ($3.3bn) in the new facility, which “will become one of the biggest investment projects in the Russian automotive sector and will include all key aspects of vehicle production with high added value”.

Sergio Marchionne, Fiat’s chief executive, said the venture marked “a turning point for our presence in the Russian market”. A memorandum of understanding was signed on Thursday by Mr Marchionne and Vadim Shevtsov, his Sollers counterpart, at a ceremony attended by Vladimir Putin, the Russian prime minister.

Speaking at the ceremony, Mr Putin said: “The ministry of industry and trade has drafted a request to the Russian government for financial support for the project. We will make a decision as a result of today’s meeting.”

Fiat’s 50 per cent stake in the venture would add a potential 250,000 new cars to its annual production total, which analysts at UniCredit said would “represent around 10 per cent of the total volumes sold by Fiat Auto”.
They said Fiat’s record of joint ventures in emerging markets “has not represented an easy task in the recent past” but the risks could be mitigated by Fiat and Sollers already working together in the Russian market.

Russia was set to overtake Germany as Europe’s biggest car market before the financial crisis, but car sales plunged more than 50 per cent last year as the economy contracted and cheap consumer credit evaporated. Russia has 230 cars per 1,000 people compared with 450 in western Europe. More foreign carmakers are expected to form assembly ventures in Russia to evade high car import duties.

Sollers, formerly known as Severstal-Auto, was founded in 2000 by Severstal, the Russian steel group controlled by Alexei Mordashov. While other Russian carmakers have struggled, Sollers has expanded, using a loan from VEB, the state bank, to build a new plant to assemble foreign cars in Vladivostok that opened last December.

Sollers builds Uaz sports utility vehicles and assembles cars for Fiat and Ssangyong, the South Korean carmaker, at plants in European Russia. Mr Shevtsov bought Severstal-Auto in 2007.

Shares in Fiat traded about 2 per cent lower on Thursday, while shares in Sollers rose 4.5 per cent.