fast cars in The World: Top 10 List 2012-2013

Volvo trademark for all its bearing products.

Volvo means "I roll" in Latin, conjugated from "volvere", in relation to ball bearing. The name Volvo was originally registered in May 1911 as a separate company within SKF AB and as a registered trademark with the intention to be used for a special series of ball bearing, but this idea was only used for a short period of time and SKF decided to use "SKF" as the trademark for all its bearing products.

Opel-auto plant on brink of closure

The US car maker General Motors (GM) has responded to losses in its European business with massive job cuts and the closure of its Opel plant in Bochum, Germany. A press release from the company announced: “Following the discontinuation of the current Zafira Tourer (2016) and subject to further consultations, no new product is planned for manufacture at the Opel plant in Bochum”. This seals the fate of some 3,200 Opel employees and many thousands of workers at other companies whose survival directly depends on the plant in Bochum. The IG Metall trade union and works councils have been involved in intensive negotiations with management since last spring. They knew GM was resolutely pushing for closure of the Bochum plant. But they continually tried to appease the bosses and reassure the workforce. Under no circumstances were they prepared to lead a serious struggle to defend jobs. Instead, they offered increasingly lavish concessions. At the start of negotiations, for example, the union agreed to postpone a paltry pay increase of 4.3 percent.

Honda-was the first Japanese automobile

Honda was the first Japanese automobile manufacturer to release a dedicated luxury brand, Acura, in 1986. Aside from their core automobile and motorcycle businesses, Honda also manufactures garden equipment, marine engines, personal watercraft and power generators, amongst others. Since 1986, Honda has been involved with artificial intelligence/robotics research and released their ASIMO robot in 2000. They have also ventured into aerospace with the establishment of GE Honda Aero Engines in 2004 and the Honda HA-420 HondaJet, scheduled to be released in 2012. Honda invests about 5% of its revenues in research and development.