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Truck,В HUMMER HX Concept, Rumormill, GM,В Off-Road

As a brand, Hummer has been in limbo since General Motors announced it was selling the downtrodden marque to China. For now, everything is on hold, though Tengzhong and new Hummer CEO Jim Taylor are apparently still working hard to plan Hummer’s future.

First on theВ list is to arrest the free-fall of Hummer sales. Right now, sales are down 64% on the year to about 8,500 units, but Hummer is looking for 25,000 sales in 2010. That will be a tough nut to crack, but Automotive News reports that the companyВ good plans to get things done in part with some aggressive marketing. Ultimately, however, new product will be needed to get dealershipsВ with customers again. In the meantime, Hummer’s 154 U.S. dealers need more inventory in the showrooms to help move metal.
The last piece of the Hummer reclamation project is adding those new models. When Tengzhong gets the management to the Hummer kingdom, it will also receive engineering plans for the H4, a new smaller model that is reportedly based on the HX Concept from the 2008В Auto Show.В  Also possible is an even smaller Hummer H5, which would help the SUV automaker to meet future CAFE requirements. Taylor even goes as far as to say that the smaller H4 and H5 could one day replace the brand’s heavier and thirstier H2 and H3 mainstays.В GM will reportedly cease building Hummer models as early as the end of 2010.

In up to date economic conditions all more and more companies aim to optimize and minimize expenses on the fixed assets (machines, technique and equipment). Also for optimization of expenses an important factor there is renting of office workers with the hardwares of which they hire.

By an important criterion in this area for two sides (companies and drivers) there is a correct and clear conduct of account of expenses depending on the real terms of working hours, as for example place residence, job, how many miles of not utilize for business and many other factors which substantially influence on the cost of services. On the other part important also to take into account interests of drivers, such as actual costs on a car, insurance payments, current costs (breakages, fuels and lubricants, wheels etc.)

Optimal to decide this task a company CRS will help. This corporation offers Car allowance for optimization of motor-car sector of services.

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• Administrative Costs
• Personal Use Expense
• Maintenance Costs
• Idle Vehicle/Disposal Costs
• Capital Expense

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• Fair and Accurate
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Basic services which are offered by service followings:

Personalized Driver Reimbursement Schedules – CRS will conduct an analysis for each driver to determine rates.
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Driver Safety Training – CRS provides guidance train “high-risk” drivers to operate their vehicles more safely
Employee Mobility Consulting Services – CRS implementing and administering a car program for corporate objectives
Online Business Mileage Logs – CRC do offer an efficient web-based tool for monitoring your drivers reports

This post sponsored of the CRS corporation

Performance, SUV, Geneva Motor Show, Spyker

It’s been two-and-a-half years since the Spyker D12 Peking-to-Paris SSUV debuted at the Geneva Motor Show, and although the recent spate of spy shots indicate work is well underway, Spyker won’t make its self-imposed release date this year.

Instead, the high-speed luxo-’ute will likely appear at next year’s Geneva expo and when it does, it will like drop its “D12″ moniker for “D8″ thanks to the supercharged V8 lying under its sculpted hood.

Coinciding with earlier reports, Spyker plans to utilize an American-sourced V8 to power the D8 SSUV, and if Autoblog.nl’s sleuthing abilities are to be believed, it’s none other than General Motor’s supercharged 6.2-liter LSA – the mill that powers the Cadillac CTS-V.

The Dutch site caught the same Land Rover mule we saw earlier this year, and after investigating the prototype’s license plate, discovered the engine met the same specifications as the LSA. That would mean at least 550 hp and 550 lb-ft of torque, which should allow the SSUV to hit 60 mph in around five seconds and max out around 174 mph. If all goes according to plan, we’ll see the production version in Geneva this March with sales beginning later in 2010.

В 

Although news of the A-BAT’s imminent arrival was circulating as early as February, Toyota’s decision to put the project on hold doesn’t come as a surprise. With auto sales down overall – and pick-ups being hit particularly hard in the last year – the business case for a compact, hybrid truck would be hard to justify.

Originally, it was assumed the A-BAT would be sold as a Scion, but with the “youth” brand’s renewed focus on smaller vehicles (ala the Scion iQ concept that debuted at the New York Auto Show), a pick-up would be in stark contrast to the rest of the line-up.

“The market has changed dramatically over the last 12 months.” Carter told Pickuptrucks.com, “We always keep reprioritizing – under good economic or recessionary times – what our planning is. [For now, the A-BAT is] on the shelf.”

Concept Cars, Geneva Motor Show, Euro, Tech, Crossovers/CUVs, Rumormill

Initially shown at the Geneva Motor Show earlier this month, word from Autocar now suggests that a production version of the showcar is on the way. According to the UK publication, the Duster will hit the ground running at next year’s Geneva show, and it will launch with a choice of four-cylinder gas and diesel engines, as well as available all-wheel drive.

Interestingly, Autocar suggests that the production crossover will likely retain the concept’s trick reconfigurable seats, including a passenger seat that can slide under the driver’s seat for extra room. Check out the jump a video that shows the Dacia’s trick disappearing seat, as well as the high-res gallery below.
[Sources: Autocar; Dacia]