Gain a split personality and follow the example of mega corporations to avoid being answerable for your actions
Let us postulate a scenario that could happen to anyone of us sometime in our adult lives. Or as one of my lecturers was wont to say, “let us hypothise this proposition”...
You get a job, start working and earn a regular monthly salary. You scrimp and save and as some years go by you find that you have built a little nest egg that... Read more... |
| Of fast cars and quick thinking | Automan was launched with a simple idea, let’s talk cars with the people who seem to love cars the most – the Omani car buyer! And from there, till today, we’ve been making history in our own way
One of the questions I get asked on my travels is “how many car magazines are published in Oman?” Good question considering the questioner knows that I edit this magazine and would know something about competition. Well, for most of my time with the... Read more... |
| Great cars. So why worry? | General Motors is filing for bankruptcy protection as we go to press. Ironic indeed for they are now making some of their best products ever...
(This blog appeared in our June 2009 issue as the last page Chicane)
You don’t even begin to understand how important a good product is until you live in a country where having the licence to produce something effectively gave you a market. India through the past half century had this unique business environment and consumers, if you... Read more... |
There is an image that appears quite frequently in popular literature, of a driver on his way to a destination with his wife and children in the car and the kids chanting “Are we there yet?” You’ve no doubt seen the cartoons and felt the same when your children do it. In a sense, the reason we touch on this is because at Automan, we are almost there. No, not at a destination but a landmark – and that’s of our... Read more... |
Everyone! And our intrepid editor now comes up with his personal business plan to get over the financial crisis
I have been called a cynic far too often for it to register as more than a light pinprick anymore. If I run into a stranger who has an overly enthusiastic welcome, I ask myself, “what does he want?” If perchance it’s a friend or acquaintance who puts on a similar show of effusiveness, the question changes to “how much does he want?”
So... Read more... |
In these times of deferred travel plans and airlines trying to woo business travellers, we came across one that puts passengers last
You would think that with the financial crisis impacting travel, especially the sort of travel that generates business revenue for both the airline concerned and ultimately for the company that is paying for the passage, airlines in general would be going that extra mile to ensure that they put their best foot forward in order to get their travelling public to... Read more... |
In our March 2009 issue, the principle theme we have running through the pages of Automan is one of power. The Sequoia on the cover brings Toyota’s 5.7-litre V8 to centre stage in the big SUV market and the ferocious 6.2-litre with its supercharged enhancement takes a relatively good-mannered CTS luxury sedan to the realms of supercarland with its 6.2-litre unit. And of course, we can’t forget the brilliant RS6 in all this. You know that people have to be seeking... Read more... |
Will we see prices of cars fall? And will the current market turn into a buyer’s one?
One question I regularly ask in car showrooms around Muscat is, “why are your prices so high?” Now I know there are many factors that influence the price of a car and with specific reference to the open market for cars that we have in Oman you can throw in prices set by manufacturers around the world, shipment costs to Muscat, the 5% import... Read more... |
| Part of the global village | The US presidential elections happen once in four years, but perhaps for the first time in its more than two century existence as a nation, the entire race to the job of the most powerful man in the world was an issue that impacted and concerned people from around the world. Whether it was hockey-mom in the US, citizens of Kenya or most of the people we meet here as part of our day to day life, everyone wanted to know... Read more... |
As the year 2008 comes to an end, you could be forgiven for cheering the year out and wishing for a brand new one, filled with hope and promise and the expectation of change. For 2008 was by all means one of the bleakest years on record, not just for the sheer number of tragedies, wars, deaths and the like that we have seen around the world, but more particularly for it hosting the largest meltdown of the automotive industry.
In any... Read more... |
The global meltdown has started and surprisingly it isn’t the environment that was at the centre of this – this meltdown is financial in nature, brought about because of a couple of the most basic urges in human beings. Urges? You may ask and we will clarify.At the heart of this crisis is the first urge – our need for shelter and the amount of importance that we (or rather the American homebuyer) puts in buying a house. This bit is... Read more... |
The price of a barrel of crude oil is hovering around the 130 dollar mark and people in the industry are already warning of 200-dollar barrels. Even three-years ago such figures would have seemed impossible – just as impossible in fact as the average American driver paying almost four dollars for a gallon of gasoline! These nightmare scenarios have been played out before and many authors have made millions from predicting doomsday scenarios. But is the high price of crude really... Read more... |
If you look out on the roads nowadays, you would surely have noted the changes. Of course we aren’t telling you about the obvious ones – like you, we too hate the construction activity around every corner that slows us down and forces us to visit the car wash everyday – but once the building is over, just maybe we will have a smooth and traffic jam free drive.In some cases the results are obvious - like the interchange as we... Read more... |
| Shifting away from a gas economy | The past month has been a particularly trying time for executives at many American corporations, including car manufacturers. On the back of a general economic slowdown and housing slump has come the season of announcing half-yearly numbers. We won’t get into the details, which are only too well-known from the general media. But the multi-billion dollar losses announced seem to have sounded the death-knell of the big American truck, with both Ford and General Motors announcing the shift to smaller, lighter... Read more... |
| The implications of going green | The planet is overheating, we are responsible, we need to act now. Are these just catchphrases or do they mean a lot more? To you as an individual and to your smallest collective - your family? Whether you agree or not, the concept of being responsible for your impact on your environment and taking the onus for the long term effects is now being touted as the next revolution for mankind.
|
| The month of August witnessed the passing away of Sheikh Saud Bahwan. Known to the whole of Oman’s car industry as an industry pioneer and leader, Sheikh Saud built up his group of companies from very humble beginnings as a trader along Muscat’s waterfront to the corporate powerhouse it has become. Along the way, he made sure that the international brands he sold became household names in Oman.
|
|