Word: germanization
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Ratan Tata merely draws a salary from Tata Sons. And while hardly poor, he takes personal modesty seriously. Tall, guarded and retaining the outsider's accent he picked up in an earlier life as a trainee architect in the U.S., he is famously private. He lives with his two German shepherds, Tito and Tango, in the same second-floor apartment in Bombay that he has kept for 20 years. He is one floor below his stepmother, and neighbors say they have never known him to throw a party. His one indulgence, apart from his dogs - he is frequently spotted muddying...
Perhaps most distressing for a German brand is VW's dismal reputation for quality. VWs still handle crisply and feature the sharpest interiors in their price category, but owners complain about everything from puny cup holders to noisy brakes. Consumer Reports does not recommend any VWs, while J.D. Power ranks VW 35th out of 37 nameplates in its latest survey of initial vehicle quality. VW representatives point out that the company's scores are improving, which is true. But so are almost everyone else's. "Shame on us that we haven't moved up the rankings," says Hallmark...
What no one in Wolfsburg wants to admit is that VW may have a broken business model in the U.S. Unlike BMW or Mercedes-Benz, VW can't charge the rich prices necessary to offset the cost of exporting from Germany. And unlike its German rivals, VW doesn't make cars in the U.S.--its one American plant shut in 1988--a problem given the dollar's slump versus the euro...
...also powerful, recently agreed to extend the workweek--to 35 hours for factory workers, up from 28.8 hours. In return VW promised to keep production of the next-generation Golf in Germany. "Such deals rob VW of the flexibility you need in this business," says Ferdinand Dudenhöffer, a German auto-industry expert...
...opposite of dating agencies--wannabe ex-boyfriends and ex-girlfriends can tell their partner it's over without having to say it themselves. You can have it done on TV: on her Oxygen show Breaking Up, Shannen Doherty ends relationships that have gone sour. A lower-profile agent is German entrepreneur Bernd Dressler, nicknamed "the Terminator." He will dump your significant other by phone (the "Let's Stay Friends" call and the more insistent "Stay Away" cost $25 each) or in person ($63). Then there's a less human option: DumpMonkey.com For $24.95, the dumpee gets a 16-in. stuffed...