Spot ME 10: 6/22/08

Daimler to offer electric Mercedes in 2010

Fri Jun 20 19:19:41 UTC 2008

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Daimler <DAIGn.DE> plans to roll out a Mercedes-Benz model that runs on electricity in 2010, its chief executive said in a newspaper interview.

"We plan an electric Smart for 2010 and for the same year a Mercedes (electric) model as well," Dieter Zetsche told Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung in comments to be published in the Saturday edition.

Daimler currently has in London a fleet of 100 first-generation Smart cars that run on electricity.

Unlike General Motors Corp <GM.N>, which has promised to launch a Chevrolet Volt plug-in electric car in 2010 selling for about $30,000 (15,182 pounds), Zetsche said no decision has been made regarding the price for the electric models.

"That depends on whether we sell the batteries with the car or lease them. The willingness (on the part of consumers) to pay more is limited," he said, adding that the group is also considering whether to manufacture electric motors itself.

Daimler, which spends about half of its research and development budget on powertrains and CO2 reduction, is also in talks with ex-SAP <SAPG.DE> executive Shai Agassi regarding his plan to create a mass-market infrastructure for electric cars.

Zetsche also said he aimed to bring a small series of fuel cell cars to the market in 2010.

Earlier this week, Honda <7267.T> kicked off production of its FCX Clarity fuel cell sedan, which will be leased in the United States via a special dealership network starting in July and then in autumn in Japan.

Honda targets a volume of 200 cars in the first three years in the two countries combined.

Zetsche, who reaffirmed the Mercedes-Benz operating margin target of 10 percent, said Daimler so far had not been hurt by a drop in used car prices in North America that forced BMW <BMWG.DE> to raise its risk provisions by 236 million euros ($366.5 million) in April.

He also called the talks with BMW to cooperate on components for the next generation of compact models as "good and concrete."

(Reporting by Christiaan Hetzner; editing by John Wallace)

Monday, June 23, 2008

St. Louis ICON: Rose Man silenced by weekend violence

This The Blender Article
The Rose Man" Nixon, 64, brought smiles to the faces of many women with his wares, selling roses at countless St. Louis nightclubs for years, while decked out in his trademark red suit.

It ended violently early this morning. Nixon was selling roses at the Soft Touch Lounge in Washington Park, Il. around 3 a.m. when shots were fired into the club, hitting Nixon and another patron.

Nixon died at St. Louis University Hospital today; the injured patron is being treated.

In a 2005 interview with the Post-Dispatch, Nixon said he hadn't turned a profit in over 30 years of selling roses and teddy bears. "I just work. I do it for love, really."

Rest in peace, Rose Man

Youtube of the Day

Sidenote:
"The basketball shoe market is down from the $4.5 billion the market was at when Nike signed LeBron. Powell says this year basketball shoes will gross in the $2.5 billion range. Then consider how dominant Nike is. Adding up Nike, Converse and the Jordan business, Nike has a 93 percent share of the basketball shoe market, the largest take of any shoe business by one company. And finally, consider this. Michael Jordan is still Nike's best endorser by a mile. Powell says sales of the Jordan brand make up a larger percentage of the overall shoe business than they ever have. For every three pairs bought in this country, two of them (67 percent) are the Jordan brand. Nike has a 24 percent share, adidas has a 4 percent share and Converse has a 2.5 percent share. Given these numbers, you can imagine what it would take for Nike to fork over big bucks when they already have a basic monopoly on the business. And you can imagine how marketable a certain player would have to be in order for adidas to jump at him. Five years ago, the power was in the hands of the players and the agents."

US Olympic Basketball 2008

And the roster is....

G - Chris Paul - Guaranteed 10/assists per game with this lineup. Can he be consistent from outside?
G - Michael Redd - Sharpshooter, hope he is on, if not defensive liability.
G - Deron Williams - Physical guard, can he be consistent from outside?
G - Kobe Bryant - MVP, best (only) on ball defender on team. Does he have Finals hangover?
G - Dwyane Wade - Is he going to hurt his chances of competing in the Regular season by playing this summer?
G - Jason Kidd - Floor general. Should make Paul/Williams more effective as change of pace.
F - LeBron James - Can play 1-5 vs international big men, but will he settle for too many jumpers?
F - Carmelo Anthony - Best International Style - No defense, fierce scorer and guaranteed 20pts on 55-60% fg.
F - Tayshaun Prince - Defensive MVP. Will guard all positions and hit the key corner jumpers after Redd is benched for poor defense.
F/C - Carlos Boozer - Will see a lot of him and Williams on the court at the same time.
F/C - Chris Bosh - He already plays on a Int'l team, Toronto Raptors, should fit right in.
C - Dwight Howard - I can smell hack-a-shaq tactics already.

The team has talent...but more like Silver talent if they run into a hot shooting Argentina (without Manu).

Spot ME 10

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Summer Movie Fest

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Youtube of the Day

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

NCAA Football 09 - Three More Weeks

Kobe: Tell me how my Azz Taste

Daimler to offer electric Mercedes in 2010

Monday, June 23, 2008

St. Louis ICON: Rose Man silenced by weekend violence

Youtube of the Day

US Olympic Basketball 2008