Newspapers / The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, … / Jan. 12, 2006, edition 1 / Page 23
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7C BUSINESS/O:^ ctarlsttt $st Thursday, January 12, 2006 U.S. automakers push growing crossover segment Continued from page 8C fuel-conscious consumers with miles per gallon in the mid-208 for hi^way driving. Mark Fields, Ford’s presi dent of the Americas, said the Edge would arrive in show rooms next fall. With a panoramic glass roof and three-bar grille, the vehicle also offers an opportunity to attract consumers who may have been less-than-satisfied with the stjiing of past offer ings. “If you look at the CUV right now, it’s populated by a lot of vehicles, that, quite honest, are somewhat nonde script," Fields said. On Monday, the Ford divi sion that produces the Lincoln Tbwn Car and the Navigator unveiled the Lincoln MKX luxury crossover. The letters stand for and are pronounced Mark X. The vdiicle is slated to go on sale in late 2006. Hyundai Motor Co. show cased its all-new Santa Fe, an update of the sport utility vehicle model first introduced in 2000. The automaker said it took cues fix)m luxury crossovers such as the Lexus RX, Acura MDX and Volvo XC90. “We call it SUV, maybe even call it kind of a crossover. It still has that family function ality but also for people that don't have children to be able to fit their active lifestyle,* said Bob Cosmai, Hyundai’s president and chief executive officer. Mazda Motor Corp. unveiled its CX-7 crossover, developed specifically for the North American market. Chief Executive Hisakazu Tmald said the vehicle would be launched within four months. Other automakers were unfurling crossover designs this week, including the Jeep Compass. While no one is writing the obituary of the SUV, the crossovers are emeiging as consumers grow accustomed to more than $2 per gallon (3.8 liters) gas prices and con tinue to express a desire for more interior space and the ability to navigate rough ter rain. Large SUV sales dropped following Hurricane Katrina and a bump in gas prices. Both General Motors Corp. and Ford saw their SUV sales fall. Rebecca Lindland, an ana lyst with Massachusetts- based Global Insight, said for crossovers, the "timing is perfect because people are so sensitive to gas prices but they don’t want to give up the utility" ‘We don’t see Americans - Americans specifically - going back to small cars," Lindland said. Through the first 11 months of 2005, the Ford Escape led the way in crossover sales, with 153,000 veliicles sold. It was followed by the Honda CR-V, Tbyota Highlander, Honda Pilot and Chevrolet Equinox. Associated Press writer Sarah Karush contributed to this report. On the Net: North American International Auto Show: wwwjutiasjL'om Magazine publisher passes torch to son as CEO Continued from page 8C Since joining Black Enterprise in 1988, Butch Graves has helped transform the company fix)m a single magazine publisher to a mul timedia company Under his guidance, circulation grew from 200,000 to more than 500,000, due in part to an intense editorial focus on wealth building and home- ownership. He led the compa ny into broadcast media with the launch of “The Black Enterprise Report,” a nation ally syndicated television show, and Black Enterprise Magazine’s Keys to a Better Life report fof radio, a joint v^ture with Cilear (Channel Communications. Additionally Graves initiat ed the development of black- enterprise.com, a Website that enables users to access information and make finan cial and business transac tions. He created the compa ny’s private equity firm. Black Enterprise/Greenwich Street Corporate Growth Partners, which primarily invests in established, minor ity-owned businesses, and championed development of BE’s signature business and lifestjde events. Only in America: Promoter’s nemesis joins the boxing game Continued from page 8C stiffed him on a contract that guaranteed Byrd $2.5 million for each titie defense. Burstein said Byrd was supposed to pay him a flat fee of $250,000 (euro206,730) and 25 percent of any amount over $1 million (euro827,790). \\fithin a day, Burstein said King agreed to pay the but Byrd refused to pay some of Burstein’s fee on the grounds that it had been earned too quickly Last month, Burstein sued Byrd on King’s behalf, claim ing the 35-year-old boxer owes King at least $4 million for disrupting his plan to unify four mqjor heavywei^t titles when he refused to partici pate in a toiamament King sought to promote. On Friday, Byrd’s new lawyer, Patrick English, wrote to a federal judge in Newark, New Jersey, arguing that King’s company, Don King Productions Inc., had used “strong-arm” tactics against his client with the of direct participation Burstein. He said Burstein had promised when he joined King not to work directly on litigation involving Byrd but instead worked to sabotage Byrd’s case. ‘Tut bluntly, Chris Byrd was sandbagged by the Burstdn firm,” he wrote. Burstein said his work on the case was within legal bounds. "1 don’t think, under the law. I’m disqualified,” he said. Ronald Minkoff, a lawyer, is president of the Association of Professional Responsibility Lawyers, a nationwide orga nization of about 300 lawyers who specialize in the legal profession. He said it was well established that a lawyer cannot sue a former client on the same or a sub stantially same matter. “Is it common that people turn around and sue their former clients? No. That’s why we have this rule. People know the rule and follow this rule,” Minkoff said. Bruce Green, a professor specializing in legal ethics at Fordham Law School, said it was not common for attor neys to sue form^ clients but that it occurs often enough that states have rules to pro tect adversaries in such situ ations. Burstein said King’s cases made up about 10 percent of his firm’s business last year. He added that he has turned down a large amount of box ing-related business because it would require him to take positions contrary to King. “He’s taken me out of the mix,” he said. “Having me has made people less likely to liti gate against him.” Bui’stein was philosophical about what he has learned about the boxing profession. “This is a business where nobody’s going to win awards for conduct,” he said. ‘It is a world where loyalty is almost a four-letter word.” He added, ‘It’s a sport I love, but it’s a cesspool.” N.C. Banking Commission shuts down payday lenders Continued from page 8C Advance America is the largest payday lender in the U.S., operating more than 2,600 lending stores across 37 states with sales exceed ing $570 million. There are approximately 114 Advance America stores in North Carolina with annual rev enues exceeding $30million. Check ‘N Go operates dose to 60 stores in the state and reports a profit of $14 mil lion. Check into Cash has more than 40 stores in the state and also reports rev enues of $14 million. Patsy Alston, senior direc tor of public affairs for Advance America in Spartanburg, S.C., said, ‘'While we knew the ruling was forthcoming, we were disappointed- We believe we have conducted business in North Caiohna in good faith and abided by the law. This ruling will eliminate the only short term [loan] option to North Carolina consumers. A notice of aj^al will be filed as soon as possible with the state banking commis sion” According to statistics pro vided by the nonprofit “financial watchdog” group, Center for Responsible Lending, based in Durham “Elimination of predatory payday lending will save North Carolina consumers $93.5 million in abusive lending fees a year.” This amounts to a savings of $800 per borrower. Nationwide, the payday industry costs American families $5.5 bil lion per year in interest fees. CRL stats also indicate that the average Advance Arnica customer has nine loans per year with an aver age principal of $325 plus a fee of $52. If a loan is renewed eight times, the borrower pays back $800. Alston, on behalf of Advance America, said, “ Cur average [loans per cus tomer] shows eig^it per year. A payday loan is a two week loan, so it’s not fair to attach an annual interest rate.” Center for Responsible Lending Senior Vice President Keith Corbett said, “Payday lending is on its way out of North Carolina. It is gainst the North Carolina Small Consumer Finance Act to make loans in this state at an interest rate hi^er than 36 percent.” State Rep. Earl Jones, who previously characterized payday lending as “fiiendly family financing” is hum ming a modified tune. He said that State Attorney General Roy Cooper is to be com mended for making sure that no one circumvents or violates the law in North Carolina The elimination of “small loans of $200 to $300, that lower middledass work ing people use in emergen cies, will create a void in this state. We need regulation in a manner that is not exploitive to borrowers because there continues to be a need whether they [pay day lenders] are here or not. My position has always been that payday lading should be regulated because there is a need and that need must be met.” A Carolina Peacemaker investigative report titled, “Jones fiiend of lenders” published in July reported he supported the industry’s lending practices and believed “regulations should be reasonable for a company to make a profit.” Jones also denied at the time, being affiliated or hav ing received money fi*om individuals associated with the payday lending industry Campaign finance records filed with the North Carolina Board of Elections revealed that Jones acxiepted campaign contributions fi^jm 2002 and 2004 fi:um at least four payday lending execu tives with Advance America, headquartered in Spartanburg, S.C., and three Check into Cash ®cecutives, headquartered in Cleveland, Tfenn. When asked whether he would accept political contri butions firom the payday lending industry for his 2006 campaign, Jones exploded and said, “You’re getting like the white press. I accept money fiom a diversity of interest groups. I get money fium the banking industry, payday lending, local dti- z«is and a host of others. There is nothing uniquely different about it. You act like I’m doing something ille gal or I’m the only one receiving legal contributions fix)m the payday indvistry Tb not accept wouldn’t be right to them.” Jones’ term as the state representative for district 60 will conclude in November. He may run for a third term in the N C. House. Keith Corbett said loans provided by payday lenders are not emergency loans. “If these were emergency loans, people would not get trapped in debt. Don’t throw me a brick when I need a life raft.” When asked what would be an ideal annual interest rate, Jones, a member of the State Legislature’s Finance Committee of the House 2 and the Financial Institutions Committee 1 said, “I don’t know. I met with the Self Help [Center for Responsible Lending] people two weeks ago for the sole purpose of seeing if such cxmsumer groups could meet with leaders in the banking industry to onne up with leg islation so working class peo ple can access loans.” Asked if he still referred to payday lending as “fiiendly family financing,” Jones said, “We need a financial policy in North Carolina that is fiiendly to families, recom mended by consumer groups and will meet the needs of workup cleiss poor people. I called it fiiendly family financing because that was the only group of financiers fiiendly to people who work, but weren’t members of cred it unions. The pressure should be on the banking industry” State Rep. Alma Adams said, “I’m glad that North Carolina is taking the lead on this issue. We need to get a handle on this and make provisions for folk who can’t get loans through x)nven- tional means, rather than take advantage of the work ing poor. North Carolina did a good thing by declaring payday lending illegal in this state.” “What Rep. Jones is miss ing is that there isn’t a law on the books that allows peo ple to charge 200 to 300 per cent interest,” Coihett said. American victims of foreign scams Continued from page 8C Such scams trick people out of more than $120 million a year, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service estimates. ‘Teople are fooled by these scams because promises of a big prize are sometimes hard to resist and the letters look legitimate,” CXirran said. ‘T'lhe con artists] flood the state with these letters, and if only two or three or four peo ple respond and you pick up $3,000 or $4,000 or $5,000, you have received a lot of money” In Scott’s case, she received a letter fix)m a make-believe firm called Emex Financial Inc., a lottery management and payment agency based in Calgary, Alberta, in Canada. othjCTS of its kind, the letter warned Scott that it was her final chance to secure her winnings of nearly $70,000. And, in a twist, a check was induded to pay for the taxes, though if Scott had cashed the check, the con artists would have gotten access to her accoimt as well. The scammers even provided a customer service telephone number and a fiiendly ‘’accx)imt manager” who laid out all the terms of the sup posed lottery But Scott said, “I ain’t no fooL While talking to him, I noticed the envelope was fix)m out of the country the check was fi*om another place, the phone number fixjm another place and the person I was supposed to send the money to was in yet another place. Then, in the midst of this, he told me don’t tell anybody” TUmblin said that about 60 to 100 checks were written on the account of their firm, Ea^e Drywall Inc., in this particular swindle. ‘’A woman called fix)m California and, thanks to her, we found out it was a scam,” Ttimblin said. ‘Tveryday we get one or two calls fixan peo ple saying they received a check” ■Say Yes To Success! “Dr. Arrington shows home-based business owners how to add 20-30 people per week, week in and week out without fail, to their businesses. Dr. Carl Arrington, Director of Market Expansion You Get What You Give! Have you ever met someone who always complains about how badly life seems to be treating them? They Talk about how much they hate their jobs, dislike the people they work with, do not like the neighborhood they live in, the car they drive, the man or woman they married, or how disappointed they are in their children. They point out that they have no friends. No one invites them to parties or to come over. No one calls on the phone except telemarketers. What could very well be at work in these persons’ lives is what is called the law of reciprocity. In other words, you get whaf you give. If you are in a situation and it seems that life is going badly, it may be time to take inventory. If you always look for the negative in your job that is what you will always see. If you expect the worst from your children, that most likely will be what you get. If all you ever look for are the flaws in your spouse or partner that is usually what you see. You will never ^ive an encouraging word or loving compliment. If you have no friends, perhaps it is because you have not shown yourself friendly. As the New Year begins, consider focusing on the good that Life offers. When we look for the good that is usually what we see and comes to us in return. When we look for the bad that is also most likely to come our way. Look for the best and the greatest and the best and greatest will find you. That is success. NEED HELP MAPPING OUT YOUR PATH TO SUCCESS! Contactor. Arrington for details 704-591-1988 * claCG'/maximufmuccess.com Maximum ^otentid, Inc... /Tapping into tfie Tower of Joul Namc_ City INFORMATION REQl.LST FOR MORE DCTAILS » FAX: 704-^68-^497 Street Address State ZipCode Itomc Ph(xie Wofk Phone E-mail Don’t Delay, Cali Today!
The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, N.C.)
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Jan. 12, 2006, edition 1
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