William Maley

William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com August 7, 2012 New legislation introduced into the House and Senate this week aims to end rental car companies renting or selling vehicles that are under recall. The legislation, co-sponsored by U.S. Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) want to prohibit the rental of vehicles under a safety recall. The bill was introduced after two people were killed in 2004 when their unrepaired recalled Chrysler PT Cruiser,rented from Enterprise, caught fire and crashed. Rental car companies have been under immense pressure for some time to make these rules standard. Earlier this year, Boxer sent a letter out to several rental car firms urging them to stop renting recalled vehicles. Only Hertz agreed to stop. Enterprise, Avis and Dollar Thrifty say they repair their vehicles whenever it is practical to do so and park vehicles when a manufacturer recommends it. They argue some recalls are for only minor issues and with vehicles parked, it would disrupt their business. General Motors and Chrysler have told the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that only about 30% of cars sold to rental companies were repaired within 90 days of a recall and more than 50% were repaired within a year. Source: The Detroit News William Maley is a staff writer for Cheers & Gears. He can be reached at [email protected] or you can follow him on twitter at @realmudmonster. View full article

Hmm... That is very good idea

I had the same thought as reg after reading this.. But after giving it a quick thought, I'm all for it

William Maley Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com August 6, 2012 Former Saab owner Spyker has filled a $3 billion lawsuit against General Motors for its actions of blocking the sale of Saab to Chinese automotive firm, Youngman Automotive. "This lawsuit seeks redress for the unlawful actions GM took to avoid competition with Saab Automobile in the Chinese market," Spyker said in a statement. "GM's actions had the direct and intended objective of driving Saab Automobile into bankruptcy, a result of GM's tortiously interfering with a transaction between Saab Automobile, Spyker and Chinese investor Youngman that would have permitted Saab Automobile to restructure and remain a solvent, going concern." "It is hard to believe. We have no comment until we see the lawsuit," GM Spokesman James Cain told Reuters. GM might not have seen the lawsuit, but we have. The suit filled in U.S. District Court for the eastern district of Michigan alleges that GM prevented the reorganization of Saab even after agreements were put in place that no GM technology went to Saab's Chinese partners. Saab's Phoenix platform, which was developed separately from GM, was going to be sold to China. The lawsuit further alleges that GM even torpedoed an 11th hour agreement that would have prevented any near term participation of Youngman until after Saab's use of GM technology had passed. Source: Reuters Spyker's Statement and Filing is on Page 2 William Maley is a staff writer for Cheers & Gears. He can be reached at [email protected] or you can follow him on twitter at @realmudmonster. SPYKER FILES A THREE BILLION DOLLAR LAWSUIT AGAINST GENERAL MOTORS Zeewolde, the Netherlands, 6 August 2012 -- Spyker N.V. ("Spyker") announced that it has filed a complaint against General Motors Company ("GM") in the United States District Court of the Eastern District of Michigan today at 08.00 AM EST. Spyker filed the complaint in its own right and on behalf of its 100 percent subsidiary Saab Automobile A.B., which was declared bankrupt on December 19, 2011. This lawsuit seeks redress for the unlawful actions GM took to avoid competition with Saab Automobile in the Chinese market. GM's actions had the direct and intended objective of driving Saab Automobile into bankruptcy, a result of GM's tortiously interfering with a transaction between Saab Automobile, Spyker and Chinese investor Youngman that would have permitted Saab Automobile to restructure and remain a solvent, going concern. The monetary value of the claim amounts to US$ 3 billion (three billion US dollars). Since Saab Automobile is in receivership and hence incapable to contribute to the costs of litigation, Spyker and Saab Automobile have entered into an agreement pursuant to which Spyker will bear the costs of such litigation in exchange for a very substantial share of Saab Automobile's award when the proceedings are successful. Spyker has secured the financial backing required to see the lawsuit through to the end from a third party investor. Victor R. Muller, Spyker's Chief Executive Officer said: "Ever since we were forced to file for Saab Automobile's bankruptcy in December of last year, we have worked relentlessly on the preparation for this lawsuit which seeks to compensate Spyker and Saab for the massive damages we have incurred as a result of GM's unlawful actions. We owe it to our stakeholders and ourselves that justice is done and we will pursue this lawsuit with the same tenacity and perseverance that we had when we tirelessly worked to save Saab Automobile, until GM destroyed those efforts and deliberately drove Saab Automobile into bankruptcy." The Complaint, as filed this morning at 08.00 EST, is attached to this Press Release. View full article