Nissan to unveil concept car with Xbox 360 game system
Nissan Motor Co. plans to unveil a concept sports car equipped with Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox 360 video-game system, as the automaker looks for ways to attract young buyers.
The Urge has a flip-down 7-inch monitor so parked motorists can play “Project Gotham Racing 3,” an Xbox car-racing game, the two companies said Wednesday. The Urge’s steering wheel, gasoline pedal and brake pedal can control the game’s virtual cars, based on models such as Ferraris and Lamborghinis.
The system doesn’t operate unless the car is parked, said Fred Standish, a spokesman for Tokyo-based Nissan, in an interview.
The automaker built the concept car after surveying 2,000 young adults about features they want, said Bruce Campbell, vice president of design for Nissan’s North American unit.
“Xbox 360 offered the latest in technology and was already a favorite among this audience,” he said in the statement.
Nissan, Japan’s second-largest automaker, will introduce the three-seat Urge on Jan. 9 at the Detroit auto show, where automakers typically release new designs that are experimental and may never be sold to consumers.
ATLANTA
UPS pilots lose bid to end contract talks
United Parcel Service Inc., the world’s largest package shipper, said U.S. mediators rejected a request from its pilots union for release from their 3-year-old contract talks.
The National Mediation Board “notified both parties that the Independent Pilots Association’s request has been denied,” Atlanta-based UPS said in an e-mailed statement Wednesday. The mediation board announced an indefinite recess last week after four days of unsuccessful talks.
NEW YORK
Last-minute shopping cheers the malls
U.S. retail sales rose 3.9 percent in the week before Christmas as last-minute shoppers stepped up purchases. Sales at malls surged 26 percent.
The week ended Dec. 24 was the best of the season so far with comparable sales rising 2.8 percent from the previous week, the International Council of Shopping Centers said Wednesday. The group reaffirmed its forecast of a 3 percent to 3.5 percent gain for the season.
SAN JOSE, Calif.
Suit settlement sends Covad shares up 40%
Shares of Covad Communications Group Inc. jumped more than 40 percent Wednesday after the high-speed Internet-access company announced it had resolved an antitrust lawsuit and other disputes with Verizon Communications Inc.
As part of the deal, Covad expanded an existing agreement with Verizon, allowing it to offer its Digital Subscriber Line services over lines sold by Verizon voice resellers. It also announced a line-sharing agreement with MCI, which is being acquired by Verizon.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala.
HealthSouth says Scrushy due nothing
In court papers filed Wednesday, HealthSouth Corp. accused ousted chief executive Richard Scrushy of trying to “pillage” the company of more than $100 million and said Scrushy isn’t due anything for his firing.
Responding to a state court suit filed this month by Scrushy, the Birmingham-based rehabilitation chain said in a counterclaim that Scrushy was directly responsible for a massive earnings overstatement that nearly drove it to ruin. A jury acquitted Scrushy of criminal charges this year.
HARRISBURG, Pa.
Hershey settles suit over biography jacket
The Hershey Co. has settled a trademark-violation lawsuit against Simon & Schuster Inc. over a new book with a dust jacket that includes the familiar image of a Hershey chocolate bar.
The New York-based publisher agreed to add an image in the upper left corner of the dust jacket’s front cover stating that the book – “Hershey: Milton S. Hershey’s Extraordinary Life of Wealth, Empire and Utopian Dreams” – is “neither authorized nor sponsored by the Hershey Company.”
AKRON, Ohio
Goodyear completes sale of farm-tire plant
Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. on Wednesday said it completed the sale of its farm-tire business to Titan Tire Corp.
The sale includes Goodyear’s farm-tire manufacturing plant in Freeport, Ill., the tiremaker said. Property, equipment and inventory are included, as well as a licensing agreement with Titan Tire, a division of Titan International Inc., to sell the farm tires it makes under the Goodyear brand.
INDIANAPOLIS
Guidant backs offer by Johnson & Johnson
Guidant Corp. recommended that shareholders approve a $21.5 billion takeover offer by Johnson & Johnson at a Jan. 31 meeting while it continues reviewing a higher offer from Boston Scientific Corp.
Guidant may still agree to Boston Scientific’s $25 billion bid, according to proxy materials filed Wednesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission. U.S. regulators also said the Indianapolis-based maker of heart- rhythm devices reported 18 additional failures by defibrillator models it recalled in June.
SALT LAKE CITY
SkyWest execs sell after shares hit high
A cluster of top executives and directors at SkyWest Inc. sold nearly 187,000 shares after the airline company’s stock reached a record high in November, following a four-month frenzy when the stock price almost doubled.
The sales took place as the stock price began to retreat from its all-time high of $32.84 on Nov. 11, with most of the activity happening between Dec. 9 and Dec. 15, according to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
NEW YORK
Continental to pull ExpressJet planes
ExpressJet Holdings Inc. shares fell sharply Wednesday after Continental Airlines Inc. said it would take back 69 regional jets that ExpressJet had operated exclusively for the carrier.
Continental said it will begin to withdraw the aircraft from ExpressJet starting in 2007 because the operator’s rates are too high.
WASHINGTON
Federal airwave move to cost $936 million
Moving the Defense Department and 11 other agencies to new wireless frequencies will free airwaves but will cost almost $936 million, the government said Wednesday.
Previous estimates had reached into the billions of dollars. The airwaves to be relinquished by the agencies will be auctioned by the Federal Communications Commission as early as June.
