2011 Mazda MAZDA3 Overview
Posted on | February 12, 2012 | No Comments
2011 Mazda MAZDA3 Overview. A 5-speed manual transmission with overdrive is standard, and a 5-speed automatic transmission with overdrive is optional. Equipped with a standard 2.0-liter, I4, 148-horsepower engine that achieves 25-mpg in the city and 33-mpg on the highway. The 2011 MAZDA3 is a carryover from 2010. The 2011 MAZDA3 is a 4-door, 5-passenger family sedan, or wagon, available in 7 trims, ranging from the i SV 4-Door to the s Grand Touring 5-Door.
Upon introduction, the i SV 4-Door is equipped with a standard 2.0-liter, I4, 148-horsepower engine that achieves 25-mpg in the city and 33-mpg on the highway. A 5-speed manual transmission with overdrive is standard, and a 5-speed automatic transmission with overdrive is optional. The s Grand Touring 5-Door is equipped with a standard 2.5-liter, I4, 167-horsepower engine that achieves 20-mpg in the city and 28-mpg on the highway. A 6-speed manual transmission with overdrive is standard. A 5-speed automatic transmission with overdrive is optional.
How Long Can Dior Thrive Without A Couturier?
Posted on | February 12, 2012 | No Comments
Ten months after John Galliano was sacked over a racist outburst, Dior has yet to name a new chief designer — but sales are booming. Which begs the question: how long can the French fashion house thrive without a couturier at the helm?
At Paris Fashion Week in September, Christian Dior’s chief executive Sidney Toledano batted away questions about Galliano’s succession, saying the fashion house would take the time it needs to find the right fit.
The following month Dior — a crown jewel of Bernard Arnault’s luxury empire — posted a turnover of 705 million euros ($890 million) for the first three quarters of 2011, up 21 percent on the period in 2010. Retail sales were up by 27 percent.
Buoyant sales suggest Dior has managed to limit fallout from the Galliano scandal, sacking him as soon a video emerged of him hurling anti-Semitic slurs at patrons in a Paris bar, and strongly condemning his outburst.
Since then, the British designer’s former right-hand man Bill Gaytten has overseen its collections, sticking to house “codes” from Dior red to the classic nipped-waist bar suit.
For the historian of fashion Lydia Kamitsis, Galliano may no longer be there, but Dior can still draw on “all that he brought it in terms of product, of image or general artistic direction.”
That said, experts warn the house cannot carry on forever without artistic direction, especially when it comes to haute couture.
– ‘The brand has an engine’ –
Looking back a few decades, Chanel carried on selling suits at a brisk pace after Coco Chanel’s death in 1971 — but in creative terms the house was at a standstill until the arrival of Karl Lagerfeld 12 years later.
“You can manage without a designer for a season or two,” argued Serge Carreira, a luxury sector expert and teacher at Sciences Po university in Paris. “But there is a limit, a brand must be regularly refreshed, renewed.”
For the time being, he says Dior is reaping “the rewards of a considerable repositioning undertaken since the mid-2000s,” building on the brand’s identity and developing internationally, especially in China.
“A dynamic that was set in motion well before Galliano’s departure,” he stresses.
The success of the Lady Dior bag and the perfume J’adore — one of the world’s top-selling fragrances — shows that “the brand has an engine”.
Patricia Romatet of the French Institute of Fashion sees Dior’s variety as a key strength, as exemplified by the very different actresses who embody the “face” of the brand in its ad campaigns.
Nicki Minaj, Foo Fighters To Perform At Grammys
Posted on | February 12, 2012 | No Comments
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Rapper Nicki Minaj will make her debut Grammy performance next month, joining Foo Fighters, Bruno Mars and country singer Jason Aldean on the list of artists who will take to the stage on the recording industry’s biggest night.
Grammy organizers said on Thursday that Minaj, who has four Grammy nominations, will perform at the February 12 awards show, as well as country sensation Taylor Swift, and Kelly Clarkson.
But there was no official word on Thursday on whether Britain’s Adele, whose album “21″ was the biggest seller of 2011, will be singing at the Grammys following surgery on her vocal cords in November.
Adele, who has been on doctor-ordered vocal rest since November, was not among the first list of Grammy performers. But the 23 year-old “Someone Like You” singer was listed on Thursday as being down to sing at the BRIT music awards ceremony in London on February 21.
Rapper Kanye West, who leads this year’s Grammys with seven nominations, is also yet to be confirmed as a performer at the live awards show in Los Angeles.
Organizers said additional performers and presenters will be announced in the coming weeks.