Kelley Blue Book releases the results of its 2006 Kelley Blue Book New-Vehicle Buyer Attitude Study on Vehicle Purchasing and Pricing. This year's study shows 37 percent of today's in-market car buyers find zero percent financing the most appealing incentive, up 11 points from last year. At the same time, the study showed that employee-pricing programs, popularized by domestic vehicle manufacturers in the summer of 2005, have become the least appealing offer with only 10 percent calling it the most attractive incentive.
Confronted with rising fuel prices; automotive consumers in the United States are increasingly opting for alternative means to reduce their overall fuel expenditure. Being almost twice as fuel efficient and half as polluting as the conventional gasoline vehicle, hybrid vehicles are drawing considerable interest and even have huge waitlists for their delivery. This growing demand for hybrid vehicles promises excellent opportunities for the U.S. motor manufacturers, provided they work closely from a very early stage, with cross-functional product teams within the automotive industry to deliver a quality product that adheres to the expectations of the automotive industry.
A recent survey conducted by CyberShift regarding priorities in the deployment of employees revealed significant workforce and expense management trends in North America. To gain visibility into both the U.S. and Canadian markets, CyberShift, provider of workforce and expense management software and services, administered the survey at the American Payroll Association's 24th Annual Congress as well as the Canadian Payroll Association's 24th Annual Conference and Trade Show. In both instances, more than 25 percent of survey respondents ranked labor cost reduction as their primary workforce concern, followed by increasing customer satisfaction and improving employee productivity.
Rapidly slowing appreciation and declining affordability contributed to a marked increase in the risk of home price declines in cities across the country, PMI Mortgage Insurance Co., the U.S. subsidiary of The PMI Group, Inc. reported today, but strong economic fundamentals continue to underpin many areas.
Prepaid calling cards have been available to North American consumers since 1986. This is currently a mature market with numerous contenders. Despite various challenges the industry faces, the prepaid calling cards market is growing. Additional features and benefits such as Internet accounts, digital information and entertainment services and debit and payroll cards are now getting included in calling cards, which further enhance the overall value to consumers.
It is no secret that mobile phones are attractive to advertisers and marketers. BusinessWeek and visiongain projected in March 2006 that US mobile advertising and marketing spending will increase rapidly from 2005, reaching $602.3 million in 2009.
Ford Motor Company's (Ford) announcement of an accelerated restructuring plan was incorporated in Fitch Ratings' Aug. 18 downgrade of Ford and Ford Motor Credit Company (FMCC), and no additional rating action will be taken at this time. Fitch currently rates both Ford and FMCC's Issuer Default Rating (IDR) 'B' with a Negative Outlook.
Government regulations, if not properly set, could reduce the flow of capital to commercial real estate and weaken a robust commercial real estate market, according to testimony submitted yesterday by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) to a House panel.
Non-voice wireless services will give cell phone providers an edge in a competitive market saturated with voice services. Mobile phones have achieved mass adoption. eMarketer projects that by 2010, over 95% of the US population will have mobile phones.
Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) today reported financial results for its third quarter ended September 1, 2006. The Company's Q3 results reflect the acquisition of Macromedia in December, 2005, and are compared to pre-acquisition results of prior fiscal periods as applicable.
