Ford Motor Co. (Dearborn, MI) announced that it would cut 35,000 jobs worldwide, closing five plants and eliminating four vehicles. The job cuts include 22,000 in North America. "We strayed from what got us to the top of the mountain, and it cost us greatly," stated William Clay Ford Jr. from company headquarters.
Takara Co. Ltd. (Tokyo) announced that it was considering producing and selling a one-seat electric vehicle through a new company, Choro Q Motors. A regular and convertible model, priced between 990,000 yen ($7,437) to 1.28 million yen will be offered, with 1,000 units of the vehicle being produced in the first year. The projected battery-charged […]
IXYS Corp. (Santa Clara, CA) announced that it has acquired, for approximately $9,000,000 in cash, 100 percent of the equity of Westcode Semiconductors Ltd. (Chippenham, England). IXYS expects the transaction to be accretive to earnings per share. Westcode, an ISO 9001 qualified company, manufacturers and sells a portfolio of high-power semiconductor products that will supplement […]
Fairchild Semiconductor International (South Portland, ME) reported results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 30, 2001. Fourth-quarter trade sales, which exclude foundry revenues, were $313.2 million, up three percent from the third quarter. Total revenues for the fourth quarter were $324.6 million, down 31 percent from fourth-quarter 2000, and at the high […]
The 2002 Tour de Sol: The Great American Green Transportation Festival, sponsored by the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association (NESEA, Greenfield, MA), will be held May 12 through May 18, 2002, during National Transportation Week in Washington, DC; Philadelphia; Trenton; New York City; and Annapolis. Six free festivals will be held in the Northeast that feature […]
The US government has agreed to a program with major automakers General Motors Corp. (Detroit, MI), Ford Motor Co. (Dearborn, MI) and DaimlerChrysler AG (Auburn Hills, MI) to promote the development of hydrogen as an alternate fuel for cars and trucks, as part of efforts to reduce American dependence on foreign oil. Under the "Freedom […]
Catalytica Energy Systems Inc. (Mountain View, CA) announced the appointment of Pete Cartwright, chairman, president and CEO of Calpine Corp., and Susan Tierney, senior vice president of Lexecon Inc., to its board of directors. The two appointments increase the company's total board membership to nine. "We are extremely pleased to have Pete Cartwright and Susan […]
Tyco International Ltd. (Pembroke, Bermuda) stated that its quarterly earnings will fall below the Wall Street consensus estimate. The warning came after an earnings report that showed net income for the first quarter ended December 31, 2001, quadrupling over the year-earlier period, which was hurt by a change in accounting. The company said it expects […]
Pulse Engineering (San Diego, CA) introduced an expanded series of gate-drive transformers in surface-mount, toroidal packages, offering designers a compact alternative that meets basic insulation requirements. The new components minimize electromagnetic interference radiation in dc/dc brick or discrete power supplies in a broad range of distributed power systems. Applications include telecom and datacom networks, industrial […]
IXYS Corp. (Santa Clara, CA) announced that it has made an offer to acquire for cash 100 percent of the equity of Westcode Semiconductors Ltd. (UK). The IXYS offer is contingent upon the satisfactory completion of due diligence by IXYS, approval of the proposed transaction by the IXYS board of directors and the execution of […]
H Power Corp. (Clifton, NJ) announced that it has formed a joint development agreement with PSA Peugeot Citroen (Paris) to develop low-power fuel cells that will be used in light-duty vans. The 7kW fuel cells will be employed as "range extenders," an on-board device that increases the current range of an electric power car through […]
Donaldson Co. Inc. (Minneapolis, MN) announced a major development contract with a leading Japanese automobile manufacturer to apply fuel cell filtration science to fuel-cell-powered automobiles, helping accelerate their commercialization. "Fuel cell developers, including automobile manufacturers, are recognizing the need for intake-air (or cathode-side) filtration to ensure fuel cell reliability and performance," said Richard Canepa, director […]
Tyco Electronics Power Components/Raychem Circuit Protection Division (Menlo Park, CA) announced that its nanoSMDM Series of PolySwitch resettable devices is now available...
Eaton Corp. (Detroit, MI) announced that it has developed a practical method to recover energy normally lost during vehicle braking, and convert it into hydraulic power that can be used for vehicle acceleration. The breakthrough could result in vehicle fuel savings of 25 to 35 percent in some key applications. The technology, called hydraulic launch […]
DaimlerChrysler Corp. (Auburn Hills, MI) introduced the Natrium minivan during the Electric Transportation Industry Conference in Sacramento, CA, December 12, 2001. The...