The A6 and A7 with the new engine sprint from 0 to 100kph in 5.1 and 5.3 seconds, respectively. Also, considering the performance, Audi has fitted a sound actuator in the exhaust system, for sporty exhaust notes.

The new engine is currently on sale only in the U.K., but will be made available globally soon. The latest variants of both A6 and A7 are available in India, and considering that this is a diesel engine, we won’t be surprise if these variants make it here in a short while. Oncars

Growth was “a relatively feeble” 3.7% during the year, down from 7.6% in 2010, the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) said.

Exports from the Philippines, one of the main drivers of growth, have fallen for seven consecutive months.

The government had set a growth target of between 4.5% to 5.5% for 2011.

The NSCB said growth was also hurt by “obstinate exogenous economic woes, the government underspending on infrastructure in the second and third quarters and the sustained decline in fishing.”

Policy easing?

The latest data showed that growth for the October to December quarter also stood at 3.7%, compared with 6.1% during the same period a year earlier.

When compared with the previous quarter, the economy grew by 0.9%.

Analysts said the numbers may put pressure on Philippines central bank to ease its monetary policy in a bid to boost growth.

“This is clearly below trend and way below the potential growth that the Philippines can deliver,” said Jun Neri of Bank of the Philippine Islands in Manila.

“It highlights the necessity of more aggressive spending and easier monetary policy.”

Mr Neri added since the eurozone debt crisis continued to remain a threat, the central bank may even cut its interest rate “earlier than expected.” BBC News

Prices also dropped through their 200-day floor – a bearish indicator not seen since 2008.  Adding to gold bugs’ fears was the dramatic fall-off in speculative interest, which came towards the end of last year and saw hedge funds’ long bets drop to a trough for recent months.

But as seen in equity markets, new years often bring renewed optimism to commodities, and according to one of the most respected surveys around, gold investors have stayed bullish and tipped the metal to hit $2,000 or more before the end of 2012.

The closely followed study by GFMS came to the conclusion that renewed investor interest and price strength was likely to emerge in 2012′s second half, and the consultancy expects the run to have enough force behind it to stay alive until 2013.

From the precious metal’s current $1,714 standpoint a leap to $2,000 doesn’t seem too unachievable, particularly if the America’s Federal Reserve rolls out another round of quantitative easing, as it hinted in Wednesday’s FOMC minutes, while keep interest rates on hold until 2014.

There are other catalysts for a near 17% surge in gold, however.  ETF Securities (ETFS) points out that central bank buying of the precious commodity is at its highest level since the 1970s, and that gold exchange traded product (ETP) holdings are showing some bullish signs.

‘Global gold ETP holdings hit a record high of 76.5 million [ounces] by the end of 2011, indicating long-term investors view the recent price decline excessive,’ ETFS senior analyst Daniel Wills explained, adding that as interest rates stay negative in real terms, currencies debase and euro risk refuses to fade, ETF gold buying should continue to rise, a trend that started to show in the opening weeks of 2012.

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS)’s Nick Moore, the bank’s head of commodities research, also believes that gold can still offer investors some upside. Scrap supply tailed off in 2011 and supply is expected to fall further this year.  Moore expects this to play out over the first half as jewellery owners – the key supplier of gold for recycling – hoard their trinkets in case of price spikes.

Moreover, Moore points out that the jump in comex shorts taken out in December may have been hedge funds anticipating the annual January price re-balancing, which is typically seen after a thrusting commodity bull run or a dramatic crash.

‘The fact gold was one of the strongest performers in 2011 suggested the price might suffer early in January…this has not been the case,’ Moore said, adding that similar to GFMS respondents RBS is bullish on the outlook for gold’s price in 2012.

Hurdles to gold’s jump

RBS’ bullishness on gold is not without a caution, however.  Moore argues that underlying indicators point toward lower prices further in the future, and said he would not be surprised if these eventually curbed a renewed bull run.

There are already some signals of weakness in gold’s price too, the commodities research head points out; while buying picked up again after the start of the year, exchange traded fund (ETF) holdings have risen by a sluggish three tonnes since the end of 2011 and speculative comex net longs have climbed by an equally moderate degree.

Even GFMS urged that gold’s fundamentals seem to call for lower prices in the future.  After hitting $2,000 or thereabouts, a fall would restore some balance to the market. By Sarah Miloudi, Citywire

Two British and French warships and the American aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln had entered the Gulf on Sunday to show Tehran they would not tolerate any interference with global shipping, Philip Hammond told reporters.

Iranian leaders have repeated long-standing threats to close off the Strait, which handles a fifth of the world’s oil, after the EU imposed the embargo Monday as part of sanctions to pressure Tehran into resuming talks on the country’s controversial nuclear program.

Iran summoned the Danish ambassador to Tehran on Tuesday over the EU’s oil embargo; Denmark is currently the head of the rotating EU presidency.

“Elements within the European Union, by pursuing the policies of the U.S. and adopting a hostile approach, are seeking to create tensions with the Islamic Republic of Iran,” the official IRNA news agency quoted Ali Asghar Khaji, a senior Foreign Ministry official, as saying. He called the EU decision “irrational” and “without logical justification.”

Other Iranian officials argued the sanctions would not work, or could even benefit Iran.

“The oil embargo will lead to higher prices. Europe will be the loser and Iran will earn more because of high prices,” Iran’s oil ministry spokesman Ali Reza Nikzad Rahbar told state TV.

During talks in London on Tuesday, Australia said it would also sign up to the embargo — though acknowledged it currently has negligible oil imports from Iran.

The three warships — which included Britain’s HMS Argyll frigate and France’s frigate La Motte Picquet — that entered the Gulf on Sunday had sent “a clear signal about the resolve of the international community to defend the right of free passage through international waters,” Hammond said.

“We also maintain mine-counter measures vessels in the Gulf, which are an important part of the overall allied presence there, and of course the U.K. has a contingent capability to reinforce that presence should at any time it be considered necessary to do so,” he said.

Britain’s defense ministry declined to offer specific detail on what assets and personnel are currently in the Persian Gulf, but said it had about 1,500 Navy personnel in the region east of Suez, which includes the Middle East and Indian Ocean.

Four anti-mine vessels are based out of Bahrain, while Britain also has two frigates — including HMS Argyll — three support ships, a survey vessel and one hunter-killer nuclear submarine in the region, the ministry said.

In Paris, French military spokesman Col. Thierry Burkhard said the French warship, which specializes in countering submarine attacks, has since separated from the British and American warships, but remains on a “presence mission” in the Persian Gulf.

France doesn’t have plans to deploy more forces to the zone, said Burkhard, noting that France has a small base in the United Arab Emirates, which currently houses six Rafale warplanes and about 650 troops, including an infantry battalion.

The United States and allies have already warned they would take swift action against any Iranian moves to choke off the 30-mile (50-kilometer) wide Strait of Hormuz.

At the center of the dispute is international concern over Iran’s nuclear program, which Tehran insists is aimed at providing civilian power. The U.S. and other nations accuse Iran of attempting to build nuclear weapons, and Tehran is now under several rounds of U.N. sanctions over its failures to be forthcoming about its work.

Hammond said recently that Iran was “working flat out” to produce a nuclear weapon.

Australia’s foreign minister Kevin Rudd, in London with Australian defense minister Stephen Smith for talks with British counterparts, said his country would join the EU’s oil embargo.

“We in Australia will undertake precisely the same parallel actions in Australia,” Rudd said. “The reason is very clear — the message needs to be delivered to the people of Iran, the wider political elites of Iran, as well as the government of Iran that their behavior is globally unacceptable.”

Iran responded angrily to the new EU sanctions Monday, with two lawmakers escalating threats that their country would close the Strait of Hormuz. Lawmaker Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh said Iran had the right to shutter Hormuz in retaliation and that the closure was increasingly probable, according to the semiofficial Mehr news agency.

“In case of threat, the closure of the Strait of Hormuz is one of Iran’s rights,” Falahatpisheh was quoted as saying. “So far, Iran has not used this privilege.”

Some commentators are declaring that Iran should cut the flow of crude even before the new measures go into effect in July, to punish Europe, while others say the embargo is a “gift” which will allow the country to diversity its economy.

“Ineffective Western sanctions are not a threat to us, but an opportunity that has brought a lot of benefits,” Moslehi said at a gathering in the central city of Isfahan late Monday.

The measures, approved in Brussels by the EU’s 27 foreign ministers, include an immediate embargo on new contracts for crude oil and petroleum products. Existing contracts with Iran will be allowed to run until July.

Iran’s Oil Ministry said the country can find new markets.

“Iran can easily find new customers for its oil,” Mohsen Qamsari, a senior ministry official, was quoted by the semiofficial Mehr news agency as saying.

Some 80 percent of Iran’s foreign revenue comes from oil exports, and analysts say that any sanctions affecting its ability to export oil would hit its economy hard. With about 4 million barrels per day, Iran is the second largest producer in OPEC. It exports about 2 million barrels a day and consumes the rest domestically.

The EU has been importing about 450,000 barrels of oil per day from Iran, making up 18 percent of Iran’s oil exports.

Some in Iran said the country should stop selling oil to Europe now, instead of July, to punish the bloc before it can find suppliers to replace Iranian crude oil in the midst of winter. CBS News

Obama announced the modest package of reforms at the Disney World theme park in Florida, a state whose economy is heavily dependent on the tourist industry.

The state, closely divided between Democrats and Republicans, will be a crucial battleground in November, when Obama faces a re-election vote that may hinge on Americans’ perceptions of his handling of the economy.

The American tourism industry and business groups have long advocated an easing of visa restrictions that were tightened in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, attacks.

Standing on “Main Street” in Disney’s Magic Kingdom with Cinderella’s castle in the background, Obama said he was making the visa changes to try to help spur American job growth.

“I want America to be the top tourist destination in the world,” Obama said. “The more folks who visit America, the more Americans we get back to work. It is that simple.”

He joked that the visit to Disney World was one of the rare instances that his daughters, Sasha and Malia, envied him.

“Maybe, for once, they will actually ask me at dinner how my day went,” Obama said.

The visa changes were the latest measures rolled out by Obama to show voters he is serious about boosting the still-sluggish labor market and will act on his own whenever possible in the face of election-year gridlock in Congress.

Obama said the new steps would help cut through red tape and make it easier for foreign tourists to come to the United States.

The White House estimated that more than 1 million U.S. jobs could be created in the next decade if the country increased its share of the international travel market.

Foreign visitors generated $134 billion in 2010, making it the largest U.S. service export industry, the Commerce Department said. The number of tourists from emerging economies with growing middle classes like China, Brazil and India is projected to grow sharply in coming years.

Among the steps announced on Thursday:

* An order for the government to increase non-immigrant visa processing capacity in China and Brazil by 40 percent in 2012, ensuring that 80 percent of applicants are interviewed within three weeks and expanding visa waiver programs.

* A pilot program to simplify and speed the visa process for applicants from China and Brazil, including the ability to waive interviews for low-risk applicants.

* Addition of Taiwan to the list of so-called visa-waiver countries.

* Creation of an interagency task force to develop recommendations for expanding international tourism. By Alister Bull, Yahoo Daily News

Gold drifted lower on Friday as fears about the health of the global economy abated after successful debt sales by Spain and Italy encouraged investors to put their money in riskier assets.

Spot gold fell as much as nearly 1% to an intra-day low of $1 634,34 an ounce, before paring some losses after the euro resumed a rally and the dollar weakened against a basket of currencies.

Despite the losses, bullion was still headed for a second straight week of gains on safe-haven buying as investors fretted about the euro zone debt crisis and tensions between Iran and the West, amid fresh fund inflow at the beginning of the year.

Strong demand from India, the world’s top gold consumer, also supported sentiment.

Analysts said gold was likely to retain its allure as the relief over Europe’s sovereign debt trouble after the successful sales of Spanish and Italian debt on Thursday may be temporary.

“The recent headlines from the euro zone and the United States have not offered signs of essential change on the fundamentals of those economies,” said Hou Xinqiang, an analyst at Jinrui Futures in Shenzhen.

“Before we see any substantial change, gold prices are likely rangebound with $1660 being the key resistance.”

After a spate of upbeat data in recent weeks, latest US data showed that retail sales rose at the weakest pace in seven months in December and jobless benefits rose last week, suggesting the economic recovery is shaky.

Spot gold slipped 0,1% to $1 648,04 an ounce by 0738 GMT, on course for a weekly gain of nearly 2%.

US gold rose 0,1% to $1 649,60.

Technical charts suggest spot gold could fall towards $1 600 during the day, said Reuters market analyst Wang Tao.

CONSOLIDATION PHASE

Gold may remain in a consolidation phase in the first quarter after hitting a record high above $1 920 in September, but prospects of further monetary easing in the world’s major economies offered hopes for further price gains later in the year, analysts said.

“The longer term is still positive for bullion,” said a Singapore-based trader.

“Risk of quantitative easing, Europe’s debt worries, central bank appetite and peak consumption season in India are likely to make for an upward market trend longer term, but we expect that upward trend to be very noisy.”

The Indian rupee rose to a five-week high on Friday, boosting the purchasing power of the world’s largest gold consumer, just as its wedding season restarts this weekend.

Other precious metals also came under pressure after sharp gains earlier in the week. Spot silver dropped 0,4% to $30,14 an ounce after four straight sessions of gains, and was on course for a weekly rise of nearly 5%.

Spot platinum edged down 0,2% to $1487,74, but still headed for a weekly rise of more than 6% on supply concerns sparked by power shortage in South Africa, the world’s top producer of the metal.  By Rujun Shen, Business Day

Even so, solid demand for foreign marques helped China keep its ranking as the world’s top market, with total car sales of 14.5 million, about 2 million more than in the United States last year.

The outlook for 2012 is expected to improve, thanks to still-robust automobile demand in lower tier cities, which are catching up with major metropolitan areas as major growth engines, industry observers say.

“Local car makers were hurt in the past year after the incentives were gone, but most overseas players remained in pretty good shape,” said Sheng Ye, associate research director at industry consultancy Ipsos’ Greater China region.

Beijing in 2009 introduced a stimulus package, including tax incentives for cars with engine sizes of 1.6 litres or smaller, a move that spurred car sales and propelled China to surpass the United States as the world’s largest auto market.

The incentives were scrapped in 2011, sending many who had intended to pick a Chery or Geely car to get the perks, to the showrooms of General Motors and Volkswagen.

Local government steps to tackle traffic gridlock, such as imposing quotas on new car registrations in Beijing, also crimped car sales. In the Chinese capital, new car deliveries plunged 56 percent to 403,500 in 2011, official data showed.

Collectively, local brands made up 29.1 percent of car sales in 2011, down 1.78 percentage point from a year ago, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM).

German and U.S. brands, however, have both gained ground, up by 1.91 and 0.77 percentage points, respectively.

While some industry insiders remain cautious on the 2012 outlook, many others, including Wang Fengying, president of top Chinese SUV maker Great Wall Motor, and Xu Changming, general director with the Information Resource unit of the State Information Center (SIC), are betting on a 10 percent gain on growth potential in smaller, inland cities.

CAAM forecast that car sales for 2012 would grow by 9.5 percent.

Statistics provided by the SIC showed tier 1 cities contributed 30.7 percent of car sales in 2010, down from 35.7 percent in 2007, while the ratio in tier 3 cities has climbed to 29.1 percent from 24.7 percent during the period.

Still, only about 30 out of 1,000 people own cars in the northwestern provinces such as Gansu and Qinghai now, a far cry from more than 200 in the Chinese capital city, according to Ipsos.

In December, passenger car sales rose 4.6 percent to 1.37 million in China. Overall vehicle sales for the full year, including trucks and buses, came to 18.51 million, up 2.5 percent, CAAM said.

In the United States, the 12.5 million light vehicle sales in 2011 represented a 10.3 percent year-on-year rise.

In Japan, however, car sales plunged 16.7 percent last year to a 43-year low due to production disruptions in the wake of the devastating earthquake and tsunami in March and recent flooding in Thailand.

LUXURY BRANDS, GM, VW SHINE

General Motors remained China’s top seller for the year, with a tally of 2.55 million vehicles, up 8.3 percent. Its mini-van venture in southern China accounts for around 47 percent of the total.

Volkswagen AG sold 2.25 million Volkswagen, Audi and Skoda cars in mainland China and Hong Kong, up 17.2 percent from a year earlier.

Nissan Motor followed suit with an annual tally of 1.25 million in China, up 21.9 percent.

German luxury carmakers are also patting themselves on the back thanks to China’s growing ranks of its moneyed class.

While BYD and other local nameplates had to resort to aggressive price cuts to drive sales, buyers of BMW , Audi and Mercedes-Benz brands are placing orders weeks or even months in advance for imported fancy sports cars or SUVs with price tags well over 1 million yuan (about $159,000).

Audi, the largest luxury brand in the country, sold 313,036 cars, up 37 percent. Smaller rival Volvo Car, owned by Geely, moved 47,140 cars, up 54.4 percent.

“The upscale segments were little affected by the overall market slowdown. There are so many rich people in China, not just in Beijing or Shanghai, but in smaller, inland cities as well,” said Jenny Gu, a manager at industry consultancy LMC Automotive Asia Pacific.

Honda Motor, Toyota Motor and Mazda Motor , battered by the devastating March earthquake and floods in Thailand, however, all ended the year with a decline in sales.

Geely Automotive Holdings also struggled, with annual deliveries at 421,385 cars, far short of its target of 480,000. Warren Buffett-backed BYD sold 448,484 cars in China, down 13.7 percent year on year.

Major state auto groups SAIC Motor and Dongfeng Motor Group Co both reported double-digit sales gains for the year, thanks to brisk sales of foreign cars made at their joint ventures.

SAIC operates car ventures with GM and VW, while Dongfeng counts Nissan among others as its partners. By Fang Yan and Ken Wills, The Guardian

Brazil has overtaken Britain as the world’s sixth largest economy, a London-based research group said Monday.

In its latest World Economic League Table, the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) said Asian countries were moving up while European countries were slipping down.

CEBR chief executive Douglas McWilliams told BBC radio that Brazil’s advance was part of a wider trend.

“I think it’s part of the big economic change, where not only are we seeing a shift from the west to the east, but we’re also seeing that countries that produce vital commodities — food and energy and things like that — are doing very well and they’re gradually climbing up the economic league table,” he said.

Brazil’s population of about 200 million is more than three times that of Britain.

The Brazilian economy grew 7.5 percent in 2010, but the government has cut its growth projections to 3.5 percent for this year after the economy slowed in the third quarter.

The CEBR also predicted that the British economy would overtake France — ranked fifth this year — by 2016 and it said India, the world’s 10th biggest economy in 2011, would move up to fifth place by 2020.

It says the US economy is the biggest, followed by China, Japan and Germany. France 24

Most markets will reopen Tuesday after the Christmas break. The U.K. market, which closed early on Friday, reopens on Wednesday.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index rose 0.9% to 241.83, its fourth gain of the week. The weekly boost of 3.5% was its first weekly increase in three weeks.

U.S. stocks also were firmer as investors cheered a break in the latest Congressional deadlock. In addition, a raft of economic data showed U.S. consumers spending a bit more amid small income gains and low prices.

Still, some pointed to the lack of rising incomes in the U.S. and said that could harm any budding recovery.

“The personal income and spending data weren’t that good, and it’s a big danger for next year,” said Koen De Leus, strategist at KBC Securities. “People say the macro data are in good shape [from the U.S.], but you really have to take care with these two components.”

Trading was thin across markets, making them more susceptible to exaggerated moves.

Italian government bond yields once again rose, despite a strong take-up of three-year loans by the European Central Bank. Analysts said banks could use some of that money to buy government debt.

But Italian 10-year government bond yields traded around 7% Friday, from 6.79% late Thursday, even as Italy’s Senate gave final approval to a $40 billion emergency austerity and growth package.. Analysts had said financing costs of above 7% aren’t sustainable over the longer term.

The FTSE Italy MIB index rose just 0.3% to 15073.99. Lenders UniCredit and Unione di Banche Italiane fell 3.4% and 2.7%, respectively, a day after banks across Europe had made strong gains.

Among other national benchmarks, the FTSE 100 index rose 1% to 5512.70, ending the week up 2.3%. The French CAC also added 1%, to 3102.09, and giving it a gain of 4.4% for the week. The German DAX 30 index added 0.5% to 5878.93 and rose 3.1% over the week.

Roche rose 1% after its ovarian-cancer drug Avastin won European Union clearance for treatment of women with a newly diagnosed advanced case of the disease.

Crude oil continued to edge nearer $100 a barrel, lifting energy stocks like BP and Total. Both rose 2.1%. Tullow Oil rose 3.1%.

Luxury goods group LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton rose 1.6% in Paris, building on Thursday’s gains,

Deutsche Börse shares fell 1.8% in choppy trade. U.S. regulators Thursday cleared the company’s planned merger with NYSE Euronext. However, analysts warned that the deal still faces hurdles in its European antitrust review.

Dutch financial services company ING Groep rose 2%. It will boost its capital ratios after netting €754 million from the €5.8 billion bond exchange offer launched earlier this month.

In the currency markets, the euro traded in a tight range against the dollar. It stood at $1.3044, barely down from $1.3050 late Thursday in New York. The dollar was at ¥78.08, from ¥78.17.

Gold for December delivery was off just 40 cents at $1,608.50 a troy ounce. February crude oil futures were up 40 cents at $99.93 a barrel. By Barbara Kollmeyer, Wall Street Journal