Anthony Kodack
Filed in: KTM | auction

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Wings for Life, the research foundation started by Heinz Kinigadner and Dietrich Mateschitz is to receive a massive boost from an eBay online auction in which Cyril Despres’ Dakar winnning KTM 690 Rally bike is up for grabs.

Kinigadner, former MX world champion and KTM’s Offroad Motor Sports Consultant was prompted to create Wings for Life following a tragic motorcycle competition accident in which his own son was left paralyzed. The Wings for Life Spinal Cord Research Foundation is a privately funded non-profit organization that promotes worldwide research directed at finding a putative cure for Spinal Cord Injury (SCI).

“When we started to ask for a few unusual items we soon came to realise that these people were more than willing to give us some of their personal memorabilia and trophies,” Kinigadner said speaking of his efforts to raise items for the auction. .

The auction, to be held on the eBay internet platform from March 13-30, offers a unique opportunity for bidders to acquire more than 40 premium articles. They include memorabilia from the world of action sports, pieces of art and the opportunity to purchase a range of once-in-a-lifetime experiences.

Cyril Despres’ Dakar bike to go to highest bidder

Cyril Despres

Leading the list is David Coulthard’s F1 racing car used in the Silverstone GP in Britain but one of the most sought after items will be the second item in the auction catalogue, the KTM 690 Rally bike ridden by KTM factory rider Cyril Despres. The machine, tested in the extreme conditions of the world’s toughest rally, features a single cylinder, 4-stroke motor, 654 cc displacement and weighs 162 kg. The French rider, a member of the KTM Rally Factory Team, won the Dakar Rally in 2005 and 2007 and is ranked among the absolute elite in rally sport. The bike is expected to attract enthusiastic bidding and raise a significant sum for the Wings for Life auction.

Other premier KTM items

For bidders with a more modest budget but who have a passion to acquire some outstanding motorcycle gear, Article 22 on the auction list, the personally autographed leather jacket of KTM factory rider Marc Coma, is also being offered. Coma and Despres not only share their factory rider status with KTM but are the closest of rivals in the world of top class motorcycle rallying. Coma was all set to use the jacket in the ill-fated Dakar 2008 when it was cancelled 24-hours from the start because of terrorist threats.

Kallio’s Helmet

In the world of international 250cc road racing, the number 36 is that of a very prominent Red Bull KTM factory rider, Mika Kallio of Finland. 125cc Rookie of the Year in 2002 and vice world champion in 125cc in 2005 and 2006, Kallio started to make his mark on the 250 cc class in 2007. He rides into the 2008 season as a title favourite and his racing helmet is among the auction attractions listed as Article 32.

MX treasures

Motocross enthusiasts will also be able to bid for two unique MX items – the racing helmet of multi-world MX champion Stefan Everts, who now leads the KTM Red Bull MX Factory Team, which is listed at number 34 in the auction catalogue and the Motocross racing shirt of Spanish MX1 KTM factory rider Jonathan Barragan, listed at item number 23. Barragan of Spain goes into the 2008 racing season as leading MX1 rider in the Italian-based, KTM-supported Team Silver Action, naturally onboard his KTM machine.

The Wings for Life Charity Auction not only creates an exceptional opportunity to acquire unique sports and art memorabilia but also to support a worthy cause directly related to sports injuries - and one that is enthusiastically supported by KTM. Heinz Kinigadner underlined that funds raised from auctioning this unique collection of items will be used to make further progress in the field of spinal cord research through the Wings for Life Foundation.

Wings for Life Charity Auction @ eBay March 13-30, 2008.
URL: www.wingsforlife.com/ebay

Source:KTM

Source: Dakar winning KTM 690 up for grabs at Wings for Life auction

"Managing expectations." It's a term near and dear to the hearts of the people who pull our politicians' strings. Increasingly, it's the rhetorical weapon of choice for executives seeking to maintain their grip on America's large corporations. While there's nothing wrong with casting your company's efforts in a positive light, the danger is both simple and lethal. When a company's culture becomes based on hype, it loses its ability to react to reality– both good and bad. It becomes lost in the fog of war. One such company is GM.

Last Tuesday, GM CFO Fritz Henderson did something his boss, CEO Rick Wagoner, has refused to do throughout his entire tenure at the top. Fritz set a deadline for GM NA's return to profitability. Well, not a deadline, exactly. More like an estimate. Actually, make that a prediction– with caveats. Anyway, in the now-familiar post-bloodbath (a.k.a. financial results) conference call with industry analysts, Fritz said General Motors' North American operations should be solidly profitable by 2010. Or 2011.

Now that's saying something. GM North America is currently in complete turmoil, verging on chaos, heading towards meltdown. It's losing market share, production capacity, skilled workers, profitability (incentives are up) and, most of all, cash money. If you exclude the mother of all tax credit write-downs (which placed GM's '07 losses at $38.7b), NorAm dropped $1.5b last year. Not bad? Lest we forget, that number was propped-up by the sale of the Allison Transmission unit for $4.3b.

Speaking of fire sales and clever accounting, Fritz claims GM has $27b in cash and "cash equivalents" in the kitty. Take away $10b for life-sustaining cash flow, and GM is only $17b away from empty.

GM's cash conflagration continues unabated. Despite dramatic downsizing, the American automaker still has enormous overheads: advertising ($2.6b per year), research and development, factory modernization, pensions, health care, administration, servicing its massive debt ($2.9b per year) and, of course, executive compensation.

If we presume that these costs are holding steady– at least until the new labor agreement yields significant reductions– GM's $6.8b '07 loss (with Allison removed from the equation) indicates that they've got two-and-a-half years to turn the ship around– or go down. In other words, if Fritz isn't right, if GM isn't "solidly profitable" by 2011, they will be bankrupt.

Of course, this also assumes there won't be any "exceptional" calls on GM's cash pile. Heading into a major industry downturn, that's about as safe as assuming that the IRS will forget that you're legally obliged to file a tax return.

For one thing, bankrupt parts supplier Delphi, is looking for a billion dollar plus cash infusion. If GM's former division doesn't find the financing, well… Chrysler's unresolved Plastech debacle shows how vulnerable GM's assembly lines are to a parts disruption (a.k.a. renegotiation/extortion). A quarter of Detroit's main parts suppliers are teetering on the brink of bankruptcy. Even if GM's suppliers simply ask for their money up front, The General's liquidity would take a massive hit.

And then there's GMAC. Since GM sold 51 percent of the lender to Cerberus, The General's former cash cow has cratered. GMAC just posted a $724m fourth-quarter loss; the ResCap mortgage-lending unit bled $921m worth of red ink. If ResCap collapses, creditors may pierce the veil and sink GMAC. Meanwhile, cheap GMAC loans to high risk debtors are a thing of the past, which pulls the rug from under one of GM's main weapons in its war on excess inventory.

And that brings us to the income side of the ledger. While GM boosters view the new Cadillac CTS, Chevrolet Malibu and GMC Acadia as evidence that the automaker has got its NorAm product-related shit together, it most decidedly does not.

As nice as they are, these vehicles are not class-leading import conquerers. Sure, GM's finally woken-up to the fact that they have too many brands  (eight), products (49) and dealers (6750). But their "throw the losers (Buick, Saturn, Pontiac, Saab) into a gulag and starve ‘em to death strategy" is a long-term play that will make things worse– before they get worse. No matter how you slice it, GM needs LOTS of turnover the keep the lights on.

Post corporate fire-sale, you could consider GM's brands its only remaining asset. If so, the company is already dead. Aside from Hummer, none of GM's brands has a clear remit or a coherent product line. There is overlap, cannibalization, confusion and chaos. Fleet sales aside, you can't sell products in a highly competitive environment without proper branding.

So, Fritz, how IS GM going to become solidly profitable by 2011? "We need to step on the gas on how we are performing in the market." At the moment, in terms of market share, branding and overall product desirability, GM is going backwards. Stepping on the gas will simply accelerate that process. Right until they hit something. That's the only realistic expectation.

Source: GM Death Watch 163: What doth it profit a man?

Sam Abuelsamid
Filed under: MPG, Porsche, Volvo

The autos section at business magazine Forbes has compiled a top ten list of most fuel efficient luxury cars. While some of the vehicles on the list seem obvious - the Mercedes-Benz E320 BlueTec diesel and the hybrid Lexus GS450h - there were some surprises. Giving Porsche's complaints about European Union plans to impose limits on carbon dioxide emissions, finding the Boxster sports car on the list might come as a shock. However, driven tamely, it can achieve pretty decent mileage. Of course like many sports cars, it thrives on being driven quickly and doing so can easily drive the mileage into the single digits. On the other end of the spectrum most might not consider the Volvo C30 a luxury car. The little hatchback is based on the same platform as the European Ford Focus and, although well appointed, calling this a luxury car might be a stretch. Also, the 19/27mpg rating for such a small car is hardly exceptional and barely matches the 19/28 of the Porsche.

[Source: Forbes]

Source: Picking out the most fuel efficient luxury cars