A round-up of today's other stories in brief...
NCT firm makes €970,000 pre-tax profit
THE COMPANY that operates the National Car Test for the Road Safety Authority (RSA) has reported a pre-tax profit of €970,000 for 2010, its first year in the Irish market.
Applus Car Testing Service Ltd is probing fraud allegations after TV footage was shown of testing staff allegedly accepting money in return for passing an unroadworthy vehicle.
Three staff from the Fonthill test centre in Dublin have been dismissed as part of the investigation.
The annual report, dated December 31st, 2010, said the directors can see “no significant risks” which could impact on expected results over the remaining nine years of its contract.
It says the service had performed well with no “performance penalties anticipated”. But earlier this year the RSA imposed a fine and penalties totalling around €1 million on Applus after it missed performance targets.
Applus said productivity rose 25 per cent last year while wage costs remained unchanged.
Applus reported revenues of €43.2 million for car testing and inspecting vehicles for VRT. This was almost identical to the €43.4 million reported by Vicuna Ltd (formerly National Car Testing Service Ltd) in 2009, the final year it held the testing contract.
Peugot's new 208 due in spring
Peugeot is putting the finishing touches to its replacement of the 207. The new 208 (pictured, under covers) is due in spring of next year.
The new car is expected to end the run of larger superminis from the brand and will be slightly smaller than the 207, restoring the gap between the supermini and its hatchback equivalent, the 308.
The car will get an all-new, three-cylinder engine which may come in both naturally aspirated and supercharged variants. New BMW four-cylinder petrol engines could also power it.
Nissan put the boot down
Nissan executives say they want to raise the company’s share of the global auto market to 8 per cent within six years, promising a new vehicle once every six weeks on average to win consumers away from its rivals. Under its latest business plan, dubbed Nissan Power 88, the automaker also pledges a rise in the operating profit margin to 8 per cent by the year ending March 2017.
Last year, Nissan had a global market share of 5.8 per cent and an operating profit margin of 6.1 per cent. Chief executive Carlos Ghosn says he wants the Renault-Nissan alliance to join the ranks of the top three motor firms by sales – Toyota, General Motors and Volkswagen – to achieve the scale he believes is necessary for success as governments tighten emissions and fuel economy standards, requiring more spending on R&D.