car ins

Zipcar plans to accelerate expansion

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — After nearly seven years of getting strangers to rent cars for a few hours at a time, Zipcar Inc. said it believes it has the know-how to leap beyond its customer base of tech-savvy 20- and 30-somethings in big U.S. cities.

The car-sharing service announced Tuesday that it's revamping its reservation and fleet management systems — moves Zipcar is taking to support expansion into Europe and other new markets beyond the 13 states and Canadian provinces where it now operates.

.

car repairs

Infringement action to be taken over used car tax

Brussels is expected to initiate infringement procedures against Malta over its discriminatory registration tax on used cars, MaltaToday can reveal.
Malta’s higher registration tax on second-hand cars is currently being investigated by the European Commission’s directorate for taxation and customs, and is likely to culminate in the first stage of infringement procedures to be launched against Malta this month.
In response to a complaint from a Maltese citizen, an official from the Commission’s directorate said an infringement of EU law could arise if the tax on second-hand imports was higher than that imposed on new car imports.
Head of unit Micole Wiebke said an investigation is under way into the reduction of registration tax in order to comply with EU law, which prohibits member states from imposing any tax on EU products in excess of that imposed on similar domestic products, or so as to afford indirect protection to other products.

refinancing

ATW Daily News

Air Arabia reported a 2006 full-year profit of AED101 million ($27.5 million), more than three times the AED31.3 million earned in 2005. Revenue soared 82% to AED749.2 million and passenger numbers grew 54% to 1.8 million. Load factor was 81.2%. The airline has submitted its application to United Arab Emirates authorities to launch an IPO this quarter.

Separately, Air Arabia launched thrice-weekly Sharjah-Karachi service and twice-weekly Sharjah-Peshawar flights. Each service adds one frequency from April 3.

British Airways announced an expansion of its operation at London City, which it retained as part of its deal to sell BA Connect to Flybe (ATWOnline, March 6). BA's new CityFlyer subsidiary will operate 250 weekly flights from LCY, a more than 73.6% increase from its current program of 144, to six UK and European destinations beginning March 26 aboard 10 RJ100s.

home equity mortgages loans

Home Equity: The Party May Be Over For Consumers

Will the housing collapse deal a major blow to consumer spending? The moment of truth is fast approaching. Weak home sales, stagnating or falling house prices, and tighter lending standards are limiting the amount of cash households can obtain by tapping into their home equity. Some economists believe this cash strongly supported spending in recent years. .