Sports One - The rubbish version of Sky Sports!

By Simon Wright (Humour and Personal Piece)

MY LACK of use of video calling device Skype and Sean Lock’s hilarious stand-up at last week’s Channel 4 Comedy Gala got me thinking this week.  I'd have a laugh at sport and create a new sports channel that simply can’t compete with the might of Sky Sports, with some added tweaks.  Sport One is the latest innovation for addicted sports fans that simply can’t enough of sport, no matter how bad the quality is.  If we compare the events Sky Sports has to Sport One, let’s see what humour I can come up with, to see if there is any competition between the two.

SKY SPORTS LIVE TELEVISED RIGHTS

Football

Sky Sports has the broadcasting rights to 115 live games from the best league in the world, the Barclays Premier League.  All the matches, including the big head-to-heads (Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United and Liverpool) are screened exclusively live on the channel and are in glorified HD.  Some of the games are also available in 3D.  Sky Sports also has live rights to Npower Football League action, La Liga, the Carling Cup, the UEFA Champions League and Euro 2012 qualifiers featuring England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

Cricket

Sky Sports is the only place where cricket fans can see live coverage of all of England’s test summer matches at home, including encounters this summer with Sri Lanka and India.  Sky Sports also has the rights to the Cricket World Cup, the 20:20 cup and various other forms of the cricket game.

Rugby Union

A pioneer of rugby union coverage, Sky Sports is the only place to see live Heineken Cup rugby, the European rugby equivalent of the UEFA Champions League.  They also screen all of England’s home winter internationals, summer internationals and the prestigious Tri-Nations series involving the Southern Hemisphere sides.

Rugby League

Since 1996, Sky Sports is the home of top class rugby league, featuring the Super League, the tri-nations series between New Zealand, Great Britain and Australia + the Rugby League World Cup.

Golf

If you love your golf, Sky Sports is the place for it.  From 2011 onwards, Sky has three of the four golfing majors live, the US Masters, US Open and USPGA Championship, as well as various events from the European and American tours.

Tennis

Follow Andy Murray’s progress throughout the year with the key ATP Masters series events from Indian Wells, Monte Carlo, Paris and Rome amongst others.  Also, the US Open is exclusively live.

Motor Racing

Is not a leading foray with Sky Sports, but they do have live rights to the Indy Racing League, which includes the prestigious Indianapolis 500 and live NASCAR.

SPORT ONE LIVE TELEVISED RIGHTS

Football

If you love your football and I mean love it more than drinking a cold pint of Carling, then Sport One is the place for you.  Sport One has live and exclusive coverage of the UK Pub League, featuring the leading pub teams from across the country.  They are with you every step of the way, with some 200 live matches screened in standard definition only from some of the filthiest pitches across the country.  It isn’t just pubs that get the live coverage deserved in football rights.  Sport One also has live and exclusive rights to the Ford Pub Cup, sponsored by the all-new Toyota POWERDRIVE!  The winner of this prestigious competition doesn’t get a place in Europe, as the team get to share a brand-new Toyota between them, which I have been assured will not carry any dodgy accelerator parts!  There is also live coverage of the Primary Schools Lunchtime League, the Periodista Liga (featuring the best journalists in Spain), the 7UP Cup with the final infront of three people on the racecourse in Northamptonshire and coverage of the 2012 0ver 40’s European Championship, with qualifiers featuring the best sides in Europe; Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Andorra, San Marino and Armenia!  Sport One offered to do a new football drama on a fictional football club, starring England legends, but the legends turned it down as they were worried it was going to be the real-life drama of Sky One’s Dream Team (which ran from 1997-2008).

Cricket

At Sports One, they don’t do live cricket, as it is simple too bearable to watch.  So, they show highlights packages every summer of the Umpire Associations Division, again featuring the best teams from England.  They can umpire the game, but can they play it?  The winner of the division at the end of a hard-fought season gets a lifetime supply of bananas from ASDA for their efforts!  There is live coverage however of the Six Balls Cup, as teams aim to make the most of playing cricket in just a single over; the quickest form of cricket around.  Sports One will also follow the England Builders Cricket Association, as they tour the world to play seven tests against Estonia and Georgia this winter!  Let’s see if that entire sleeping and regular coffee break pattern comes into any fruition here!

Golf

Sports One don’t cover golf, because simply they are more interested in sport that actually matters!

Motor Racing

The new concept of motor racing has arrived.  Created and supported by the Daily Express, it’s the Daily Express Counties Cup of Motorsport.  22 counties across England (ranging from Northamptonshire and Nottinghamshire, to Staffordshire and Lancashire) come up against one another, racing on some of the finest go-karting tracks and streets in the country.  The season finale on a gravel pit in the Channel Islands is a must see.  Other prestigious motorsport events are the Tesco Car Park 500, as 501 cars compete for 500 parking spaces, with the one left at the end being declared the winner!  Of course, let’s not forget the British Lawnmowing Championships, as Britain’s best lawnmowers take part in 20 events across the country to find out just who is; Britain’s Best Gardener!

Tennis

Andy Murray had to start somewhere and tennis is thriving at the moment, especially with Wimbledon around the corner.  Sports One will not be covering the SW19 championships, due to its crammed scheduling, so instead, it brings you the Fictional Lookalike Tennis tour, with the likes of Ian Beale, Scary Spice from the Spice Girls and Fabio Capello taking part.  They will do well to beat Mojo the Helper Monkey, who has been ranked no.1 for the past seven years.  Wonder if he got any inspiration from Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer’s dominance of the ATP tour!  Of course, in the Fictional Characters Tennis tour, there are four grand slams; the Butterfinger Open from Springfield, USA (Homer Simpson has won four years running!), the Traffic Jam Open held at Spaghetti Junction, Ice Cream Open, in the land of Ice Creams and the Sauce Open, held in the pleasant countryside of Emmerdale, in the Yorkshire Dales.

Horse Racing

Whilst the Cheltenham Gold Cup, Royal Ascot, The Epsom Derby and the Grand National take the highlights of the horse racing calendar, nothing can beat the football mascot national, which sees all 92 mascots taking part in a series of legendary jumps and chases across the UK.  From Towcester and Yarmouth, to Wolverhampton and Newcastle – which mascot will come out on top and win a lifetime seat on the board at their football club!

OTHER EVENTS

Other events to be screened on Sports One are;

The YouTube Amateur Rugby Union Premiership (The best secondary school rugby around)

The European Tag Rugby Cup, sponsored by Heinz (Winner gets a lifetime supply of Heinz Baked Beans).

The More Fun than Watching Paint Dry World Snooker Championship (The best painters in the world meet every year to see who is good enough at snooker and replace the Dulex dog as its main advertising campaigner.  (The Dulex dog is being knighted for his services to television broadcasting, and his owners have decided to retire him at the top.)

The University Wrestling Festival (Screw the League Tables, The best University students fight it out in the three-day wrestling event to see who really is The Best University in the UK)

The Water Pistol Championships (Target practice is of the essential, just what can you knock out of the hands of your competitors)

So, forget Sky Sports, because if you love your sports, it has to be Sports One.  The new channel is coming soon to Freeview, so you don’t have to miss out!  Enjoy the wild and wacky side of sport!

NOTE: Sports One is a fake sports channel and IS NOT A REAL LIFE channel!

F1's day of shame - The Indianapolis 2005 tyre debacle

AS THE FIA and the Grand Prix teams clash over whether we should end up going to race in Bahrain this season, I will share the darkest day the sport shared in recent times, when politics overcame sport and turned one of the greatest shows in sport into an utter farce.  The 2005 United States Grand Prix at Indianapolis was the day when Formula One rejected America and many fans walked away in disgust.  Here are the events of a dark weekend in its colourful 61-year history.

     Formula One arrived in Indianapolis, the capital of the motor racing world for the ninth round of the 2005 world championship.  After another dramatic event in Montreal, many were gripped by the intense title battle between young guns Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen.  Alonso had a handy championship lead for Renault, but Raikkonen’s victory in the Canadian Grand Prix seven days earlier had put pressure on Fernando, who crashed in Montreal.  Any talk of championship potential quickly whittled away when free practice began in America.

CHAIN: Dark events took place after Ralf Schumacher's crash

     The weekend looked like it might turn into a bleak one when Toyota test driver Ricardo Zonta spun off the track into the turn four gravel trap, with a right-rear puncture.  Surely, this was just a dodgy set of tyres?  No, it wasn’t.  Moments later, fellow Toyota driver Ralf Schumacher crashed heavily in the turn 13 banked oval, also due to a right-rear tyre failure.  Ironically, it was at the same place where Ralf had crashed his Williams in the 2004 event, which forced him to miss six races of the previous campaign.  Incredibly, he got out of his battered chassis unharmed, but clearly had been shaken up, and missed the rest of the weekend.  With Ralf okay, attention soon turned to how the accident had been caused.  Speculation began to rise that the Michelin tyres might not be able to handle the newly resurfaced track on the turn 13 banked oval.

      On Saturday morning, Michelin wrote to the FIA, insisting that they did not have total guarantee that the tyres would be able to handle the resurfaced area, unless a speed restriction, such as a chicane was put into place.  Meetings were held throughout the weekend between the FIA, team bosses and drivers to discuss the possible solutions that could occur.  As Michelin were supplying seven of the ten teams; Toyota, McLaren, Sauber, Renault, Red Bull, BAR and Williams, it was clear that this was a dire situation.  Michelin flew over tyre constructions that had been used in May’s Spanish Grand Prix, but they also couldn’t hold up to the turn 13 corner, especially over a full Grand Prix distance.  As all drivers in 2005 were required to complete qualifying and the race on just a single set of tyres, this was a big problem.  It is believed that the Michelin teams offered the chance to handicap themselves, such as grid penalties, fines for tyre changes and even no points for teams and drivers, just so the fans could see a race spectacle.  They all pushed for a temporary chicane to be installed in turn 13 by raceday.

     Come race morning, and the chicane had not been built overnight.  FIA president Max Mosley insisted that a chicane couldn’t be built, as if a crash occurred on a temporary part of road and injury occurred, an American judge wouldn’t care less about the background and would throw the book at the accused.  As ITV (UK), Speed TV (USA), Ten (Australia) and other worldwide broadcasters went on the air to start their race build-up, no-one knew whether a race would take place.

      The Michelin teams were furious and until more meetings were held, insisted they would not leave the pits on raceday.  Minardi, a Bridgestone shod-team joined the party, and accusations soon pointed in Ferrari’s direction.  There were claims that Ferrari felt a significant disadvantage would be handed to them, for having suitable tyres.  Bridgestone, only represented by Ferrari, Minardi and Jordan bought a conservative race tyre to Indianapolis, as the Japanese manufacturer understood the risks of potential high tyre wear through the resurfaced turn 13.  With twenty minutes to go, before the scheduled 1pm race start, the Michelin teams were given permission to go out to the grid.  On the grid, team bosses were still holding discussions, which still suggested that things weren’t right.  Even FOM president Bernie Ecclestone didn't seem to know much about what was going on when ITV commentator Martin Brundle pressed him for answers on the grid.  After all, with many worldwide sponsors in presence, a huge television audience to please and an expectant crowd at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Formula One was under pressure to deliver.

      No-one quite knew what was going to happen as the cars set off on the formation lap, with drivers warming up in a normal procedure.  Toyota had taken their first pole position through Jarno Trulli, with Raikkonen alongside him.  Alonso had only managed sixth in qualifying, behind Jenson Button, team-mate Giancarlo Fisichella and the first Ferrari of Michael Schumacher.  As the cars approached the final corner, Alonso was told by his race engineer the plan for this event; “straight into the pits mate.”  Pole man Trulli led the teams with Michelin tyres into the pits.  All the Michelin-shod teams were pulling out of the event.  A shocked Schumacher led team-mate Rubens Barrichello around onto an empty grid, with only two Jordan’s and two Minardi’s also lining up at the back of the grid.  As Schumacher led the six-car farce into turn one, the Michelin teams stood back and watched.

      The drivers all wanted to race, and were just as disappointed.  Ron Dennis had to restrain Kimi Raikkonen from racing, Jenson Button looked as white as a sheep in the pits, Mark Webber disappeared into his motorhome and didn’t appear for the rest of the afternoon and Juan Pablo Montoya broke down in tears, gutted at not being able to race in an event close to his heart (he won the Indianapolis 500 in 2000.)  Other drivers like Felipe Massa didn’t hang around and headed straight for the airport, probably contemplating the following morning’s dismal media headlines.  It was a disappointing and shameful conclusion to events.  As soon as the Michelin teams headed for the pits, I myself turned off my TV and went off to do some exam revision.  Being a massive F1 fan myself, I was devastated, angry, hurt and ashamed to even be associated with a sport where political rows could overtake a sporting spectacle.  It took the majority of the rest of the 2005 season for me to forgive Formula One and its higher forces for this shoddy debacle. 

      For the record, Schumacher went onto win his only race of that season, and all six cars finished.  Tiago Montiero became the first Portuguese driver to finish on the podium for Jordan.  Many fans didn’t stay around to watch, leaving the circuit in disgust and throwing beer bottles and other pieces of litter onto the circuit.  Those actions shouldn’t happen, but their frustration could be shared by millions across the world.   

      Michelin accepted responsibility and agreed to refund all fans who attended the 2005 United States Grand Prix.  They also purchased 15,000 free tickets to give away for the following year’s event.  However, their credibility was shattered and they left F1 at the end of the 2006 season.  F1’s reputation in America suffered too.  The sport returned to Indianapolis for two more seasons, but poor attendances led to its demise from the calendar at the end of its contract in 2007.  It will return to a new circuit in Texas next summer.

      Formula One has had many scarred days in its past.  Few will forget the tragic events of Imola 1994, nor the team orders scandal in Austria 2002, but Indianapolis 2005 will stand out as the day politics and bickering beat sport, in a biggest tyre debacle of the decade. 

      Let’s hope the sport doesn’t go to Bahrain this October, otherwise we could be set for another dark day in its history.

Remembering Roland

FOR the families of Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger, it doesn’t matter how long it has been since their tragic deaths.  It could have been one, ten or seventeen years.  However, as the 17^th anniversary approaches on their deaths – I felt I would take the opportunity to remember the forgotten man of that ghastly weekend at Imola.

     The 1994 San Marino Grand Prix will go down as the most horrific weekend in the 61-year history of Formula One racing.  Two drivers and a race spectator were killed, four pitlane mechanics were injured by a loose wheel, other fans were struck by flying debris from a startline accident and Rubens Barrichello was lucky to cheat death in a spectacular crash during Friday’s official qualifying session.  Whilst everyone understandably remembers the accident of Ayrton Senna and his legacy on the sport, it is difficult not to forget the impact Ratzenberger had on the sport – even though it was a very brief Grand Prix career.

     Roland Ratzenberger was born in Salzburg, Austria on July 4, 1960.  Although the official records show this was his date of birth, Roland claimed that he was born in 1962 – in an attempt to help further his opportunities into motorsport.  He began racing in 1983 in the German Formula Ford series and finished second in the 1985 Formula Ford festival at Brands Hatch.  A year later, his presence on the car racing scene first came to serious attention as he returned to Brands Hatch, to win the prestigious festival.  It was clear that although he never looked like one of those racing drivers who would take your breath away, Ratzenberger had some quality and it is no accident for anyone to win these kinds of junior events.  

STALLED: Roland's British F3 career halted his momentum

    Two campaigns in the British Formula 3 Championship followed, but they bought little reward.  12^th placed finishes in both championship years meant the Austrian’s career had suddenly got bogged down.  He spent time racing for BMW in the World Touring Car Championship and the British Touring Car Championship – but as the 90s dawned, Roland Ratzenberger’s dream of reaching his ultimate goal – Formula One, were all but over.

     Although it wasn’t quite what he was hoping for, Roland was still determined to continue on his quest to join the Grand Prix paddock.  He was a very popular guy in any championship he contested and was friendly with most drivers, developing close friendships with JJ Lehto and Heinz-Harald Frentzen in his junior days.  Ratzenberger seemed to have settled on a successful career in sportscar racing.  He had five cracks at the famous Le Mans 24 Hours race, finishing fifth for Toyota in 1993.  Toyota had also resigned him for the 1994 assault on the event, but sadly, he would never make that destination.  Ratzenberger also worked out a successful career in Japanese F3000, racing against the likes of Eddie Irvine and former Indy 500 winner Jacques Villeneuve.  Again, Roland’s results were mixed, but that also was down to some of the equipment he had, rather than lack of driver skill.  A victory in the Suzuka round of the series in 1992 certainly caught the eye of some on the European circuit, especially as he still insisted that Austrian journalists should cover events that didn’t appeal to them.

BIG BREAK: Roland's pursuit of his F1 dream came true in 1994

     In 1994, Roland Ratzenberger’s dream of racing in Formula One finally came to fruition.  He held off competition from the experienced veteran Andrea de Cesaris to become the second driver at Nick Wirth’s newly set-up Simtek Racing Team.  Ratzenberger was initially signed on a five-race deal, as the team were always going to be looking for sources of financing, despite a powerful sponsorship with MTV.  He would join the Australian David Brabham, who had one season of F1 experience and was son of three-time world champion in the 50s and 60s, Sir Jack Brabham.

     It didn’t get off to a rosy start, as perhaps struggling through nerves and an old-spec Ford engine; he failed to qualify for the season opener in Brazil.  Three weeks later, he went to the TI Aida circuit in Japan, which would stage the Pacific Grand Prix.  Ratzenberger was the only driver to have raced on the circuit before, a real help with his Formula Nippon experience.  Although he qualified slowest, he made it onto the grid and also finished the race, albeit in 11^th place and five laps adrift of the race winner, Michael Schumacher.

     At Imola, the third race of the season, he looked set to qualify again, especially as Barrichello was out of the event after his crash and Paul Belmondo being absolutely inadequate in a Pacific Ilmor.  It even actually looked like he might be edging closer to his team-mate Brabham on genuine pace.  On Saturday 30 April 1994, Roland Ratzenberger went off the road at the Acque Minerali chicane.  Rather than choose the safer option of pitting to get the front wings checked, Ratzenberger went immediately for another qualifying attempt.  As he flew through the flat-out Tamburello kink, the aerodynamic forces weakened the front wing and it broke on the approach to the flat-out Villeneuve curve.  With no brakes and no front downforce, he had no chance.  Ratzenberger ploughed into the concrete wall flat-out at nearly 200mph.  The wreck of his Simtek Ford halted in the middle of the Tosa hairpin and from the lack of flailing movement in the cockpit; Ratzenberger was clearly in big trouble.  The Italian marshals crowded around his car instantly, which highlighted the general, concern, especially when the wreckage was surveyed.  Roland was taken to the Maggiore Hospital in Bologna, but was pronounced deal on arrival at the hospital.  His death was the first fatality in the sport since Elio de Angelis was killed in testing at Paul Ricard in 1986 and the first demise at the meeting for twelve years; Riccardo Paletti the last unlucky man in Canada 1982. 

     Formula One was sent into shock.  Ratzenberger’s death bought about the reformation of the GDPA (Grand Prix Drivers Association).  Brabham and the Simtek team bravely decided to continue.  Ratzenberger’s good friend Irvine took his place in the Toyota squad at Le Mans that summer, and finished in second place.    

ROLAND RATZENBERGER (July 4 1960 - April 30 1994)

     For many, it will be the death of Ayrton Senna that is remembered and rightly so, for his impact and genius on the sport.  However, Roland Ratzenberger is the forgotten man on F1’s nightmare weekend of all-time.  He was full of determination, humour and desire to achieve his dream.  At least he got the chance to make the grid and race before his tragic accident.  His death was a grave loss to Formula One, Austria and of course, his loving family. 

Seventeen years on, he will never be forgotten!  RIP Roland.

ROLAND RATZENBERGER (July 4 1960 – April 30 1994)

Honda Recalls Cars Over Brake Faults

JAPANESE car company Honda has continued the worrying trend of worldwide recalls over bugging technical faults.

Their announcement last Friday of a braking fault on some of the models came just 24 hours after bitter rivals Toyota announced a similar problem and had to recall over one million vehicles worldwide.  Luckily, Honda’s issue seems to have only affected cars in the US, so UK owners shouldn’t have to worry too much.

472,000 cars have been recalled, with the inflicted cars being Honda Acura RL saloons and Honda Odyssey minivans that were built and designed between 2005 and 2007.  A Honda spokeswoman confirmed that Honda’s issue is exactly the same as Toyota’s, as the braking parts were built by the same company, an independent make, Advics.

Honda says that no injuries or accidents have been reported over this incident, and they will pray that it will stay that way too.  They have advised all customers with these models to double-check their braking capacity; otherwise it could lead to a far more serious issue.  Although that it is sound advice for the consumer, you can’t help but feel that Honda is already attempting to shift the blame onto the driver, should a terrifying incident occur.  Honda’s advice is that a leak is possible if the system is not checked, and if a spongy feel can be felt by the driver, there could be a dramatic decrease in braking performance.

So, that is Japan’s second highest-selling car manufacturer in trouble then, and the fourth this month who have had to recall models alone, following the trend of Toyota, BMW and Mercedes-Benz.  Lexus and Ferrari have also had to recall motors this year for fears over safety of mechanical parts.  I doubt whether this will be the last incident either this calendar year.

As the leaves get browner and the nights draw in, the short-term future of the car manufacturing industry continues to be called into question, especially if more of this occurs.

More Woe For Toyota

TOYOTA’S worldwide reputation, already having been completely battered in 2010, took another significant smashing on Wednesday.  The company announced the recall of over 1.5million cars worldwide to fix a brake fluid leak which was seriously harming the braking capabilities of some of its models.

Most of the cars affected are believed to have been in Japan and the US and the move is also said to be a precautionary one.  The Japanese company has confirmed that GS300 models built between September 2004 and February 2006 were the affected models.  It is thought that around 2,000 Lexus models, built underneath the Toyota name have also been recalled from the UK.  IS and RX models built between February 2003 and November 2005 could also have a smaller braking issue, caused by the brake master cylinder. 

Like BMW at the start of the month, Toyota has said that it is working closely with the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency to contact owners to tell them how to get their cars repaired.  No accidents have been reported by the glitches so far.  It is positive news that action is being taken instantly, but for how long Toyota can continue with these problems is another matter.

Braking Problems Put BMW On The Backfoot

German car giant BMW has announced a worldwide recall of 345,000 of its cars due to a braking problem.  Some Rolls-Royce cars, which are also made by the company, have also been recalled, though it is thought to be more on a precautionary basis.

A BMW spokesman has insisted that there have been no customer complaints and no injuries had been reported.  They have taken this step to ensure that there is no disastrous repeat of the problems that Toyota suffered with its faulty accelerators at the start of the year.  BMW, who pulled out of Formula 1 racing at the end of the 2009 season and are currently mulling over returns to both sportscar racing and touring cars in Germany are recalling nearly 200,000 cars in the US and 10,522 models in the UK.

The models affected involve the BMW 5, 6 & 7 Series vehicles from 2002-2010 models.  The diagnosis with the brakes is that a leak has been spotted in the power braking system.  As news came through of the recall on Friday afternoon, shares in BMW dropped by nearly 3% on the stock exchange, though that doesn’t come to great surprise. 

Any BMW owner who is worried about their car should call the BMW customer service number on 0800 325600.

Let’s hope that BMW’s quick action will prevent other manufacturers from running into similar issues in the future.

Fallen Car Giant Recalls More Models Over Engine Concerns

Despite a recent upturn in fortunes, Japanese fallen car giant Toyota is facing more pressing concerns from customers in the United States, after over 1 million Toyota Corolla models were recalled, amid fears of engine issues.

Although this latest recall is not thought to affect those, who own the Corolla from the UK, it will drive fear into many Toyota drivers, following the plague of issues they suffered in February this year, which battered their reputation significantly.  Reports in the US suggest that there have been at least three accidents with the Corolla, due to the engine fault detected.  However, these have not been confirmed by the under-pressure Japanese company.

The models affected are thought to have built before 2008.  The latest batch of recalls take Toyota above the 11 million mark for this year, which is absolutely staggering figure for a company that previously was well trusted for its safety and security of its established model.  The recalls have been previously prompted through braking fluid issues and sticky accelerators that were leading to shocking stories of accidents and more tragically, deaths.  Some will argue that the quick recall could be seen as the company pressing into immediate action, but others will say that they shouldn’t be in the sorry mess that they have been engulfed with in 2010, so there is little sympathy towards Toyota’s plight.

Models made in Canada have also been recalled for safety issues, though it is widely believed that these models have been recalled on a precautionary basis.  Toyota has said that the engine fault can cause the engine to stop whilst the car was being driven, or for it to not fire-up properly on start-up.  For the earlier problems this year, Toyota was fined £10.6million pounds and despite a record increase in profits worldwide in the spring, these issues don’t seem to be going away.  Toyota are going to have to produce a lot of convincing with people to ensure their cars won’t cause any issues, and that is certainly not going to be an easy job.

BP Finally Plug The Gulfing Oil Leak

There was massive relief for the under-fire petrol company BP last Wednesday, when they managed to finally plug the ruptured oil well off the Gulf of Mexico.  News quickly filtered through that most of the oil spill has now been cleaned up or been broken down by natural forces.

The White House claim that the majority of the remaining oil off the Gulf has now evaporated, been collected or has burnt off.  Even the fiercest critic of all, US president Barack Obama has hailed the fact the operation and the ordeal was coming to an end. 

Five million barrels of oil have spewed into the ocean since the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon rig on April 20^th, killing 11 oil rig workers.  Local businesses and wildlife have been seriously affected by this environmental crisis, in the worst oil disaster since the Exxon Valdez oil spill off Alaska in 1989.  BP have taken some significant hits in the markets, both in the UK and in the United States, with their chief executive stepping down at the beginning of October.  Their handling of the spill has given the worldwide company some very troubled and distressing times.  However, it now appears that like Toyota, who have recorded handsome profits since their disastrous worldwide recall in February, BP may be about to turn the corner.

Volvo Taken Over By The Chinese - Has China Got The Car Industry Back On Track?

   

Last weekend, manufacturer giant Ford took the decision to sell the Swedish carmaker, Volvo to the Chinese car manufacturer Zhejiang Geely Holding.  The deal, signed in Gothenburg, Sweden is worth an estimated £1.2billion making Zhejiang Geely Holding the largest private carmaker in China. 

It is the biggest signature of a Chinese company from a foreign carmaker and it only comes weeks after China overtook the USA as the top dog in the car market.  The deal was originally arranged in December, in light of the uncertainty over the growing recession and it should save 19,000 jobs worldwide at Volvo.  Largely, Volvo’s car sales have slumped massively, like many rivals since the credit crunch.  Fortunately, their situation isn’t as dire as that of Saab, which has needed rescuing to stay afloat and the well-documented problems with the Japanese figurehead, Toyota.

Ford paid £4.3billion for Volvo in 1999, and that figure shows how much the car industry has suffered in recent years, really feeling the bite of the economic issues in the world.  Zhejiang Geely Holding started looking into buying out Volvo over three years ago.  Last weekend, it was announced that Volvo would retain its Swedish backbone and it would still be run from its main headquarters base in Sweden.  Unlike Kraft’s broken promises when it bought out Cadbury’s in January, it will not move all production over to its main base in China.  The Volvo plant in Belgium will not be affected either, after fears had recently increased about job losses.  However, there are already plans for a new Volvo plant to be built in China, which will be capable of building 300,000 vehicles a year.  Geely are confident that Volvo could sell 200,000 extra cars a year in China, should they get the go-ahead to build the new plant.

Ford said it wanted to go through with the deal very quickly, so it could ‘sharpen the Ford brand across the world.’  Having disposed of the likes of Aston Martin and Jaguar since 2007, it might concern some though about Ford’s desperation to sell for a financial benefit.  During a traditional handover period, Ford will continue to supply Volvo with automotive parts and supplies.  Volvo sold 324,000 cars in 2009, which was 10% down on its 2008 figures.  However, Volvo sales have soared at the start of 2010, going up 40% in the USA in the first two months of this year.

The takeover is expected to be formerly completed in the summer.  The Chinese have recently agreed to take over parts of the failing Saab business and recently pulled out of a takeover deal of General Motors, following the failing to gain government approval in China.  This confirms the belief that China is now the country where the car-making machine is.  After months of trauma, the car industry is starting to recover, at least in some areas of Asia.  Can it recover soon enough elsewhere around the world….only time will tell.

Toyota - A Damaged and Ruined Reputation

This blog was first published on February 5th at http://happydude88.livejournal.com/

Japanese car manufacturer is facing a crisis that could finish them off as a car manufacturer. In recent days, many would have heard the news stories regarding the accelerator problems which have led to several popular models being recalled. With a damaged and dented reputation from this latest problem to hit the car industry business, has Toyota lost all creditability to operate successfully on the global market?

The company has been engulfed with complaints from many concerned drivers, but has told its many worried consumers to keep driving on without the fear. How can you though, when you hear what has been going on? It was revealed that 180,865 Toyota models will be recalled in Britain and 8 million worldwide by The Times newspaper on Wednesday. The accelerator issue has been freshened today by further reports of dodgy brakes on other models that haven't yet been asked for intensive looks.

Okay, it has admitted its faults, but in America, many people Stateside are furious that Toyota knew about this problem ages ago, yet decided against investigating it. Well now, the naive Japanese are paying the penalty in the biggest possible way. It isn't a simple fix of the fault; this is now a problem that has left the company on the back foot in the worst possible fashion. They won't be in the driving seat for car production sales for a good while now.

Toyota have had a very tough and trying 18 months. Car production sales have slumped worldwide, largely down to the recession and the scrappage scheme promoted by the government has produced dismal results. Couple with that is the failure to compete in motorsport, with Toyota announcing their departure from the FIA Formula 1 World Championship in November. This was little surprise following nine years of spectacular underachievement on such a large budget. Now with this to deal with, the reputation of a company that has been at the forefront of worldwide manufacturing for nearly three decades is under severe scrutiny.

The seven models being called back are the Corolla, Aygo, Avensis, Yaris, iQ, Aygo, Auris and Verso models. Toyota has complained about getting terrible press, but frankly they deserve it. There have been 26 incidents in Europe alone and at least 18 people have been killed in America, thanks to the accelerating fault. So, how can the media ignore this blatant mechanical problem? It’s impossible to hide away from such press coverage. It must be said the French manufacturer PSA, who own Peugeot and Citroen have recalled over 6,000 models with a similar problem, though these were also being dealt with at a Toyota plant in the Czech Republic. Therefore, PSA isn't so entirely to blame.

The square of the blame must lie with the production workers, but largely at the Toyota management, for dismissing something that has been going on for months, then only acting when they realised of such a problem was hurting their name. Sadly, it has taken deaths and near-misses to highlight this course of action, which in honesty, bonkers. The advice from the company is keep driving if you haven't experienced a problem. My advice is entirely opposite. If I was a Toyota driver, hand your car in, life is more important than a flashy model. Toyota is now a damaged brand and its global reputation ruined. Can they come back from this, I severely doubt it. We could be saying farewell to the recession's biggest casualty very soon on a technicality.