Debt is taking a serious shape in the face of the global recession. A
large number of people have incurred insurmountable amount of debts
after the recent financial collapse in the US. If your financial
situation does not seem to be rosy then you should take a wise
decision to eliminate your financial woes. Generally, people take out
a secured business loan and they are required to use collateral
against the borrowed amount. If you do not want your assets to be
repossessed then you can consolidate bills with your credit card. 

 Consolidation is a type of refinancing where your
multiple loans are replaced with a new loan. It will be beneficial to
consolidate your secured debt with unsecured loan as the chance will
be low to lose you assets. Your assets will be secured if you
refinance with your credit card although your monthly payment might
increase.

1. Make sure that you prepare a list of the business debts that you owe
to the creditors. When you prepare a list of the debts ensure that
you incorporate the interest rate on each debt along with the monthly
payment. You should also estimate the total personal and business
assets you put up as collateral for the debt.

2. You should apply for a secured credit card with a limit of least 125%
of the business debt. If you have $30,000 as credit card debt then
your credit limit should not be less than the multiplication of
$30,000 x 1.25. Make sure that you apply for a credit card with
significantly low interest rate to make your payment affordable for
you.

3. You can check your new repayment plan after you refinance your
business debt with credit card. You can negotiate with the creditors
to lower the interest rate so that it will be easier for you to repay
after refinancing. You can use the lower introductory offers on the
credit cards while transferring the balance. When you can consolidate
your bills in to a low interest credit card then it will help to
lower your monthly payment.   

4. Evaluate your business budget so that you can manage the monthly
payment. Calculate your total monthly business bills and transfer it
to the new credit card payment, now you check the difference whether
you can afford to pay back. You can shop for low interest rate credit
then it will be affordable for you to pay off the owed amount.

Therefore, it is possible to refinance your business debt with credit card and
secure your valuable property from repossession.

Torrence, CA, United States (AHN) – Japanese automaker Honda has expanded its previously announced recall of vehicles with dangerous air bags to include almost 900,000 vehicles.

The recall affects only vehicles sold in the United States and includes model years 2001 to 2003 of the affected cars.

The recalled vehicles now include certain 2001 and 2002 Accord, 2001 to 2003 Civic, 2001 to 2003 Odyssey, 2002 and 2003 CR-V, 2003 Pilot, 2002 and 2003 Acura 3.2 TL and 2003 Acura 3.2 CL models, Honda officials said in a statement.

Honda first said the driver’s airbag inflator needed to be replaced because it had a risk of deploying with too much pressure and could rupture, which might result in injuries or death.

The company will begin sending out official notices to owners. However, owners can find more information online and also take an affected vehicle to their dealer for inspection and repairs.

“When Honda identifies concerns of this nature, nothing is more important to the company than fulfilling our obligation and responsibility to alert our customers,” Honda officials said in a statement posted on the company website. “To this end, in addition to contacting customers by mail, in late December, owners of these vehicles will be able to determine if their vehicles require repair by going on-line or calling. Honda owners can go to www.recalls.honda.com or call (800) 999-1009 and select option 4; Acura owners can go to www.recalls.acura.com or call (800) 382-2238 and select option 4.”

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New York, NY, United States (AHN) – General Motors reported better than expected earnings in the third quarter on Wednesday, but CEO Dan Akerson said the quarter “isn’t good enough,” a signal that more cost cutting lies ahead.

GM, the U.S.’s largest automaker, earned $1.7 billion, or $1.03 a share in the third quarter, down from $2 billion earned in the last full period before its initial public offering.

While better than analysts’ estimates of 96 cents a share, Akerson said in the company’s earning statement Wednesday “Solid isn’t good enough, even in a tough global economy.”

The company did not give specific guidance on net income in the fourth quarter or lay out any specific measures to improve margins.

The lack of fourth quarter guidance, and the sinking Dow, helped send shares of GM down almost 8 percent shortly before noon.

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Stockholm, Sweden (AHN) – Struggling automotive icon Saab will change hands again in a proposed deal to save it from bankruptcy by selling it to two Chinese companies.

Swedish Automotive will sell its Saab unit to Chinese distributor Pang Da Automobile Trade and auto manufacturer Zhejiang Youngman Lotus Automobile. The two will pay a mere $142 million for the 62-year old auto manufacturer.

General Motors sold Saab to Swedish Automotive only 2 years ago as part of GM’s restructuring to avoid bankruptcy itself.

Since that sale, Saab has had extreme economic woes that it has not manufactured a car since April and it has been in court trying to avoid bankruptcy.

China has become the world’s largest market for automobiles.

Chinese automakers bought another iconic struggling automaker last year, Volvo.

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Tokyo, Japan (AHN) – Suzuki Motor Corp. on Friday accused Volkswagen of breaching a contract to make energy-efficient cars.

The Japanese automaker demanded that VW “remed[y] numerous breaches” of the two companies’ 2009 Framework Agreement by returning Suzuki stock.

“This capital alliance was intended to facilitate Suzuki’s access to VW’s core technologies,” Suzuki’s chairman and chief executive Osamu Suzuki said in a statement. “I remain disappointed that we have not received what we were promised. If Volkswagen will not allow access it must return Suzuki’s shares.”

VW spokesman Michael Brendel responded in a statement to Bloomberg, “The accusations are completely unfounded. Volkswagen has from the start done all it could to safeguard the partnership.”

The partnership involved the two auto manufacturers working jointly using each company’s strengths to meet global demand for environment-friendly vehicles. Under the agreement, VW bought 19.9 percent of Suzuki, which was to receive technology from the German automaker for developing hybrids and other green cars.

VW, Europe’s largest car manufacturer and the owner of Audi, Bentley, Lamborghini and truckmaker Scania, had sought to gain a foothold in the Asian market, specifically India, as well as know-how in the mini-car segment.

But the alliance became a source of dissatisfaction from both companies. After nearly two years of discussions, VW last month served Suzuki with a notice of infringement, citing the Japanese carmaker’s purchase of diesel engines from Fiat.

Suzuki, Japan’s fourth largest carmaker, countered it had sent notification that it would not use diesel engines made by VW. It added that comparing the German manufacturer’s engines with those from Fiat as a remedial action was “unreasonable.” It subsequently dissolved its partnership with VW.

Announcing the dissolution, Suzuki explained, “It is difficult to attain its primary aim for the partnership and also there is concern that the partnership would cause negative impact on Suzuki’s autonomous decision-making in its operating policy.”

The concern about independence stemmed from VW’s statement in its annual report that Suzuki is a “company over which Volkswagen AG has significant influence on financial and operating policy decisions.”

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Auburn Hills, MI, United States (AHN) – Chrysler’s sales rose 27 percent in September, marking the automaker’s best September performance in four years. The jump in sales was fueled by broad gains across all its brands.

Chrysler has posted year-over-year gains for 18 consecutive months. Retail sales soared 50 percent from the same period last year.

The big jump in sales from Chrysler, which sells more trucks than cars, came mostly from sales of mid- and full-size sedans, and well as several of its larger vehicles. Sales of Ram trucks soared 42 percent; Jeep sales increased 24 percent and Dodge sales were up 10 percent. Total sales were 127,334 for September, up from 100,077 in 2010.

Chrysler succumbed to bankruptcy in 2009. Its steady gains show its measures to improve performance have paid off.

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Tokyo, Japan (AHN) – Japanese automaker Honda Motor Co. is set to voluntarily recall close to a million car models to repair troubles with power windows and computer equipment.

The global recall will be done in two categories. Some 936,000 units of the Fit subcompact, CR-V crossover and Fit Aria in North America, Asia, Europe and Africa are part of the first category. The Fit is called Jazz in some overseas markets, while the Fit Aria is also known as City.

The second category, meanwhile, will involve 26,000 CR-Z compact hybrid models in Japan, the United States, Canada and other markets.

Both overseas recalls will cost the Japanese carmaker $16.8 million.

In a statement, Honda said the recalls are necessary to fix programming problems with the engine control unit, as well as in the driver’s-side power window switch units, which the carmaker said could potentially melt and catch fire.

Honda Motor Co. is Japan’s third-biggest car maker by volume.

The company had recalled more than 2.3 million vehicles in early August, citing problems with automatic transmissions.

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Detroit, MI, United States (AHN) – General Motors announced on Wednesday that it will manufacture a plug-in hybrid Cadillac. The new environment-friendly model would use technology similar to GM’s Chevrolet Volt, which the company rolled out in 2010.

Reports said that the ELR’s tag price would be lower than Tesla Motor’s Model S’s $57,400. GM’s 2012 Volt has a $39,995 price tag, which includes shipping.

The model would run 25 miles or more between recharges, but would also have a backup gas motor for longer travels.

It will feature a T-shaped lithium ion battery, electric motors and four-cylinder engine generator.

Ed Welburn, GM design chief, said the plug-in Cadillac will have the name ELR, which indicates the vehicle’s electric propulsion technology and to keep with the brand’s three-letter international model naming convention.

GM did not provide more details on the price and roll out date of the ELR, but said it would be manufactured in the same Detroit facility where the automaker will produce 16,000 Volts this year and another 60,000 next year.

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Detroit, MI, United States (AHN) – General Motors saw its second quarter earnings surge by 92 percent compared to the same period a year earlier.

It earned $2.5 billion compared to the $1.3 billion GM earned a year earlier.

The nation’s No. 1 automaker had revenue of $39.4 billion, up by 19 percent on improved average pricing and numbers of vehicles sold.

Only two years out of a federal bailout, most of GM’s growth came from U.S. sales, which increased by 11 percent to 669,000 vehicles sold while company-wide growth increased by 7 percent overall to 2.3 million vehicles sold worldwide.

For the first time in years, GM made money in each of its four regions.

GM (GM, Fortune 500) posted a profit of $2.5 billion, or $1.54 per share, compared with $1.3 billion, or 85 cents per share a year earlier.

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Wolfsburg, Germany (AHN) – Volkswagen on Monday postponed its appointment of executives to truckmaker MAN’s supervisory board following advise from the European Union.

The Wolfsburg-based company said it is in “constructive discussions” with the EU Commission after the panel said the appointments should be made after anti-trust clearance of the merger with MAN.

VW held off nominating chief executive Martin Winterkorn, chief financial officer Hans Dieter Poetsch, and the automaker’s chief for commercial vehicles, Jochem Heizmann, to MAN’s supervisory board.

Instead, the company named executives Ulf Berkenhagen and Thomas Kremer, who are current members of the board, consistent with VW’s 29.9 percent share in MAN. A third executive, Matthias Bruse, was also appointed as placeholder.

VW said it will “continue to prepare the merger control application in close cooperation with the authority.” The company, which originally planned its mandatory offer to MAN to be completed by June 29, added that it is “confident [it will] be able to submit the formal application in the coming weeks.”

MAN chief executive Georg Pachta-Reyhofen said the same day during his company’s annual general meeting in Munich that the board “remains convinced that closer cooperation between MAN, Scania and Volkswagen will still enable substantial synergies in purchasing, development and production to be leveraged.”

VW made a mandatory offer to MAN shareholders last month as required under German law, following its decision to raise its stake of ordinary shares of MAN from 29.9 percent to 30.47 percent, or past the 30 percent threshold.

VW offered 95 euros (US$136.73) for each ordinary share and about 60 euros for each preference share, both bids lower than the closing price the week before the mandatory offer was made.

Europe’s largest car manufacturer, VW wants to merge MAN with its heavy trucks unit and with Swedish truck manufacturer Scania to establish the biggest commercial vehicle manufacturer in the continent.

The company, which owns Audi, Bentley and Lamborghini, and is in the process of acquiring Porsche, holds a 71.8 percent stake in Scania.

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