plus 4, Seattle falls in small business vitality ranking - Seattle Business Journal

Seattle falls in small business vitality ranking - Seattle Business Journal
Fisker Automotive raises $115.3 million - Los Angeles Times
Analysts puzzled by December retail dip - Reporter
Penske Automotive Acquires Two Dealerships in Southern California - Stockhouse
Ark. Crain Automotive Group seeks mediation with Chrysler - Today's THV

Seattle falls in small business vitality ranking - Seattle Business Journal

Posted: 18 Jan 2010 01:41 PM PST

Seattle fell seven spots in a national ranking of best places to launch a new business, according to a new Portfolio.com/bizjournals study.

Seattle fell to No. 10 nationally from No. 3 in 2009.

Rankings were calculated through a formula that took account of population, employment and small-business growth. Austin, Texas, topped the list, followed by Baton Rouge, La.; Raleigh, N.C.; Charleston, S.C.; and Portland, Maine.

The most promising region for entrepreneurs is the South, which is home to 12 of the 20 best metros for small businesses.

The 100 metros in the Portfolio.com/bizjournals study group had a combined population of 199.1 million as of mid-2008, accounting for 65.5 percent of the national population of 304.1 million. Those same metros contained 4.99 million small businesses.

Last place in the small-business vitality rankings again belongs to Detroit, which continues to pay the price for the decline of the domestic automotive industry. The Detroit area lost 298,000 jobs during the past five years — an employment decline of 16.3 percent, easily the worst in any metro. It also experienced short-term drops in population and the number of small businesses.

Click here to see the complete rankings.

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Fisker Automotive raises $115.3 million - Los Angeles Times

Posted: 18 Jan 2010 03:28 PM PST

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Analysts puzzled by December retail dip - Reporter

Posted: 16 Jan 2010 03:13 AM PST

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It's a bit of a puzzle," said Scott Hoyt, senior director of consumer economics at ... because fewer luxury cars were sold and automakers offered more incentives for buyers, said Jeff Schuster, executive director of automotive forecasting for J.

Penske Automotive Acquires Two Dealerships in Southern California - Stockhouse

Posted: 15 Jan 2010 10:38 AM PST

BLOOMFIELD HILLS, Mich., Jan 15, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) --

Penske Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:PAG), today announced the acquisition of Audi and Volkswagen dealerships located in Santa Ana, California.

Operating in the heart of Orange County, Commonwealth Audi and Commonwealth Volkswagen are co-located in the Santa Ana Auto Mall and will complement the company's existing dealership footprint in southern California. Combined, these dealerships are expected to generate approximately $80 million in revenue on an annualized basis. With the completion of this acquisition, Penske Automotive Group now operates nine Audi and two Volkswagen dealerships in the United States.

George Brochick, Executive Vice President for Penske Automotive Group's Western Region said, "We are pleased to increase our presence in the southern California market with these outstanding brands, and we welcome the employees to the PAG team. These dealerships offer outstanding product portfolios in the volume and luxury segments and represent a tremendous opportunity for Penske Automotive Group to grow its business in this key geographic market."

Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

About Penske Automotive

Penske Automotive Group, Inc., headquartered in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, operates 310 retail automotive franchises, representing 40 different brands and 25 collision repair centers. Penske Automotive, which sells new and previously owned vehicles, finance and insurance products and replacement parts, and offers maintenance and repair services on all brands it represents, has 160 franchises in 17 states and Puerto Rico and 150 franchises located outside the United States, primarily in the United Kingdom.

Penske Automotive, through its wholly-owned subsidiary smart USA Distributor LLC, is the exclusive distributor of the smart fortwo vehicle and related parts in the United States. smart USA supports 77 smart retail centers in the United States. Penske Automotive is a member of the Fortune 500 and Russell 1000 and has approximately 14,000 employees. smart and fortwo are registered trademarks of Daimler AG.

SOURCE: Penske Automotive Group, Inc.

Inquiries should contact: Bob O'Shaughnessy Executive Vice President - Finance Penske Automotive Group 248-648-2800 boshaughnessy@penskeautomotive.com or Anthony R. Pordon Senior Vice President Penske Automotive Group, Inc. 248-648-2540 tpordon@penskeautomotive.com

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Ark. Crain Automotive Group seeks mediation with Chrysler - Today's THV

Posted: 15 Jan 2010 10:17 AM PST

Crain Automotive Group's request is in a filing with the American Arbitration Association released Thursday.

Crain is one of 789 Chrysler dealerships nationwide that lost its Chrysler Dodge Jeep franchise as part of Chrysler's bankruptcy. Cook Jeep Chrysler Dodge in Little Rock also lost its franchise.

Chrysler has awarded the Little Rock franchise to Steve Landers.

The filing with the Arbitration Association says a law passed by Congress in December allows dealerships that lost their franchises to seek reinstatement.

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