Dubai plans to host olympics

Dubai does nothing half-heartedly. Fifteen years ago, Dubai was just another city in the Gulf, there was nothing particularly special about it, apart from the fact that, for western workers, it was an attractive location because of the lack of income tax, but this it had in common with many other GCC cities.

Today, Dubai is a major international player in travel, commerce and politics, and its ambitions have never been modest. It built the world’s most luxurious hotel, the world’s tallest building, the Gulf’s first mall-hotel resort and huge islands off the coast reclaimed from the ocean.

“We have to be number one at anything we do. It is hard to get there but even harder to stay there,” Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, ruler of Dubai, recently told the media.

It was not with skepticism then, that Dubai news media received the recent hints by Sheik Mohammed that the emirate may look into hosting the 2020 Olympics. His hints were recently made more direct when he told Dubai news outlets at a press conference that the city was considering a bid to host the Olympics.

“That is very good news, that people talk about (a possible Dubai bid),” Sheik Mohammed told reporters at a sports conference recently. “But we first have to study what we can offer. I am not going to say it (2020) is too early. But we have to do our studies first.”

His cautious tone is a sign of the times for Dubai, the city has been brought back to earth, like all major cities around the world, since the onset of the recession, but the confirmation of a possible bid is also a sign that Dubai has not lost its ambitious nature. If the emirate’s bid were to win, it would be a massive coup for Dubai.

Hosting the most prestigious and well-known event in the sports calendar may, in fact, be the spark needed to jettison Dubai out of the economic doldrums it currently finds itself in. When South African won the bid to host the FIFA World Cup it created a foundation for massive investment and economic growth, such would be the case for Dubai.

Dubai is already well-placed as a possible location for the Olympics, its iconic airline, Emirates Air, is based at Dubai International Airport and has quickly become one of the world’s leading airlines with routes to all major cities across the world.

In addition, Dubai has in recent years begun heavily investing in public transport. The crowning feature of this investment has been the Dubai Metro, which has now opened all stations along its first line, The Red Line, with another line, the Green Line, slated for completion in 2011. The metro already carries 35 million passengers each year, based on 2010 figures released to Dubai news media by the Road and Transport Authority (RTA).

The city’s major residential and facility development, Sports City, would be the obvious best choice of primary locations for the hosting of the Olympics. This $4 billion development has not been put on hold like many other developments in the wake of the financial crash, which is perhaps an important indication of the seriousness with which Dubai’s leadership are considering an Olympic bid.

Sports City is 4,600 square kilometers in size and, in addition to residential apartment blocks, will feature a massive 60,000 seat multi-purpose stadium, which could be used for everything from long-jump to rugby. There will also be a 25,000 seat cricket stadium, a 10,000 seat indoor arena as well as various sports training academies.

Dubai has already established itself as a major sporting event host city with its holding of golf’s Dubai Desert Classic, the WTA and ATP tennis tournaments and the Dubai World Cup horse racing events. It faces major challenges, however, in particular Mother Nature.

Doha, the capital of Qatar, is the only other city in the Gulf to have made a bid to host the Olympics in 2016 and although it was highly praised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), it failed even to make the shortlist. The major factor highlighted by the IOC was the city’s lack of a clear plan to mitigate the effects that the Middle East’s extreme summer heat would have on athletes.

Doha had instead suggested the Olympics be held in October instead of August, which the IOC felt would be problematic for the international sports calendar.

The effects of Dubai’s summer heat are a significant factor, so much so that Sheik Mohammed addressed the problem directly at a recent press conference where he was joined by his wife, Jordan’s Princess Haya.

“We are concerned about the climate. On the other hand, nothing will stop us. But still, priority is the athlete,” he told Dubai news media from a hotel on Palm Island.

Princess Haya later followed up on the ruler’s remarks.

“All of us want to see the Olympics in our part of the world. But we have to be honest about the hot weather and climate. Until we show Sheikh Mohammed that we are able to answer that question, there will be no bid,” said the princess, who is also a member of the IOC and President of the International Equestrian Federation.

For Dubai residents it is not unusual for the city to take on something as powerful as Mother Nature, in fact, it is something of a status quo, the city has long had ambitions that critics said were fanciful, such as Palm Island, and others that never came to fruition, such as glass domed cities in the desert.

The point seems to be that the emirate continues to look ahead despite current gloomy conditions in the economy.

“There’s a strong can-do culture here,” Sheik Mohammed said in comments released recently to Dubai news media by his press office.

Time will tell is that culture is enough to bring Dubai the feather it needs for its recession hit cap.

BMW

After World War I, BMW (and Germany) were forced to cease aircraft (engine) production by the terms of the Versailles Armistice Treaty.[2] The company consequently shifted to motorcycle production in 1923 once the restrictions of the treaty started to be lifted[3], followed by automobiles in 1928.[citation needed]
The circular blue and white BMW logo or roundel is often alleged to portray the movement of an airplane propeller, an interpretation that BMW adopted for convenience in 1929, which was actually twelve years after the roundel was created.[4][5] In fact, the emblem evolved from the circular Rapp Motorenwerke company logo, from which the BMW company grew. The Rapp logo was combined with the blue and white colors of the flag of Bavaria to produce the BMW roundel so familiar today. The early success of the outstanding BMW IIIa inline-six aviation engine, from 1917-18 in World War I, with the Luftstreitkräfte in a limited number of Fokker D.VII fighters, as well as a number of prototype "inline-six" fighters from various manufacturers, might have actually influenced the BMW logo's design.
BMW's first significant aircraft was the BMW IIIa inline-six liquid-cooled engine of 1918, much preferred for its high-altitude performance.[citation needed] With German rearmament in the 1930s, the company again began producing aircraft engines for the Luftwaffe. Among its successful WWII engine designs were the BMW 132 and BMW 801 air-cooled radial engines, and the pioneering BMW 003 axial-flow turbojet, which powered the tiny, 1944-45-era jet-powered "emergency fighter", the Heinkel He 162 Spatz, and was tested in the A-1b version of the world's first jet fighter, the Messerschmitt Me 262.[citation needed]
By 1959 the automotive division of BMW was in financial difficulties and a shareholders meeting was held to decide whether to go into liquidation or find a way of carrying on. It was decided to carry on and to try to cash in on the current economy car boom enjoyed so successfully by some of Germany's ex-aircraft manufacturers such as Messerschmitt and Heinkel. Therefore the rights to manufacture the tiny Italian Iso Isetta were bought using a modified form of BMW's own motorcycle engine. This was moderately successful and helped the company get back on its feet. The dominating shareholder of the BMW Aktiengesellschaft since 1959 is the Quandt family. Stefan Quandt, Johanna Quandt and Susanne Klatten (born Quandt) together own about 46% of the stocks. The rest is in public float.
BMW AG bought the British Rover Group[6] (which at the time consisted of the Rover, Land Rover and MG brands as well as the rights to defunct brands including Austin and Morris) in 1994 and owned it for six years. By 2000, Rover was making huge losses and BMW decided to sell the combine. The MG and Rover brands were sold to the Phoenix Consortium to form MG Rover, while Land Rover was taken over by Ford. BMW, meanwhile, retained the rights to build the new MINI, which was launched in 2001.
BMW began building motorcycle engines and then motorcycles after World War I. Its motorcycle division is now known as BMW Motorrad. Their first successful motorcycle, after the failed Helios and Flink, was the "R32" in 1923. This had a "Boxer" twin engine, in which an ICCE cylinder protrudes into the air-flow from each side of the machine. Apart from their singles (basically to the same pattern), all their motorcycles had used this distinctive layout until the early 1980s. Many BMWs are still produced to this pattern, which is designated the R Series.

VW

Volkswagen Passenger Cars is a German manufacturer of automobiles, based in Wolfsburg, Germany. It forms the major component (in volume of sales) of the much larger Volkswagen Group, which as of July 30, 2007 is the world's third largest car producer after Toyota and General Motors respectively.
Origins in 1930s Germany
Adolf Hitler had a keen interest in cars even though he did not drive. In 1933, shortly after taking over as leader of Germany, he asked Ferdinand Porsche to make changes to his original 1931 design to make it more suited for the working man. Hans Ledwinka discussed his ideas with Ferdinand Porsche, who used many Tatra design features in the 1938 "KdF-Wagen", later known as the VW Käfer - or Volkswagen Beetle. On 22 June 1934, Dr. Ferdinand Porsche agreed to create the "People's Car" for Hitler.
Changes included better fuel efficiency, reliability, ease-of-use, and economically efficient repairs and parts.

While Volkswagen's range of cars soon became similar to that of other large European automakers, the Golf has been the mainstay of the Volkswagen lineup since its introduction, and the mechanical basis for several other cars of the company. There have been five generations of the Volkswagen Golf, the first of which was produced from the summer of 1974 until the end of 1983 (sold as the Rabbit in the United States and Canada and as the Caribe in Latin America). Its chassis also spawned the Volkswagen Scirocco sport coupe, Volkswagen Jetta saloon/sedan, Volkswagen Golf Cabriolet convertible, and Volkswagen Caddy pickup. North American production of the Rabbit commenced at a factory in New Stanton, Pennsylvania in 1978. It would be produced in the United States as the Rabbit until the spring of 1984. The second-generation Golf hatchback/Jetta sedan ran from late 1983 to late 1991, and a North American version produced in Pennsylvania went on sale at the start of the 1985 model year. The production numbers of the first-generation Golf has continued to grow annually in South Africa as the Citi Golf, with only minor modifications to the interior, engine and chassis, using tooling relocated from the New Stanton plant in Westmoreland Pennsylvania when that site began to build the Second Generation car.
In the 1980's, Volkswagen's sales in the United States and Canada fell dramatically, despite the success of models like the Golf elsewhere. The problems had stemmed from the Rabbit, which had developed a reputation for bad electrical systems and oil burning.[citation needed] The Japanese and the Americans were able to compete with similar products at lower prices. Sales in the United States were 293,595 in 1980, but by 1984 they were down to 177,709. The introduction of the second-generation Golf, GTI and Jetta models helped Volkswagen briefly in North America. Motor Trend named the GTI its Car of the Year for 1985, and Volkswagen rose in the J.D. Power buyer satisfaction ratings to eighth place in 1985, up from 22nd a year earlier. VW's American sales broke 200,000 in 1985 and 1986 before resuming the downward trend from earlier in the decade. Chairman Carl Hahn decided to expand the company elsewhere, and the New Stanton, Pennsylvania factory closed on 14 July 1988. Meanwhile, Hahn expanded the company by purchasing a greater share of the Spanish car maker SEAT, which VW bought outright in 1990; the Czech car maker Škoda Auto was acquired the following year.
Volkswagen had entered the supermini market in 1976 with the Volkswagen Polo, a stylish and spacious three-door hatchback designed by Bertone. It was a strong seller in West Germany and most of the rest of Western Europe, being one of the first foreign small cars to prove popular in Britain. The second generation model, launched in 1981 and sold as a hatchback and "coupe" (with the hatchback resembling a small estate car and the coupe being similar to a conventional hatchback), was an even greater success for Volkswagen. It was facelifted in 1990 and was still selling well after 13 years, when it was replaced by the third generation Polo in 1994.
In 1991, Volkswagen launched the third-generation Golf, which was European Car of the Year for 1992 (the previous two generations were nominated but lost to the Citroën CX in 1975 and the Fiat Uno in 1984). The Golf Mk3 and Jetta arrived in North America just before the start of 1994 model year, first appearing in southern California in the late spring of 1993. The sedan version of the Golf was badged Vento in Europe (but remained Jetta in the USA, where its popularity eventually outstripped the Golf).
The late 1990s saw a gradual change in perception of the company's products - with Audi having elevated itself into same league as BMW and Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen moved upmarket to fill the void left by Audi; with SEAT and Škoda now occupying what was once VW's core market. The first tangible evidence of this was the fifth-generation Passat in 1996 with its high-quality interior trim and standards of build quality which were demonstrably a cut above the run-of-the-mill Ford Mondeo, Opel/Vauxhall/Holden/Chevrolet Vectra and Peugeot 406.
This move upmarket was continued with the Golf Mk4, introduced at the end of 1997 (and in North America in 1999), its chassis spawned a host of other cars within the Volkswagen group — the Volkswagen Bora (the sedan, still called Jetta in the USA), New Beetle, SEAT Toledo, SEAT León, Audi A3, Audi TT and Škoda Octavia. However, it was beaten into third place for the 1998 European Car of the Year award by the winning Alfa Romeo 156 and runner-up Audi A6.
The other main models have been the Polo, a smaller car than the Golf, and the larger Passat for the segment above the Golf. The Scirocco and the later Corrado were both Golf-based coupés.
By the early 1990s, Volkswagen's annual sales in the United States were below 100,000, and many car buyers found the company's products to be lacking in value. Some automotive journalists believed that Volkswagen would have to quit the North American market altogether. VW eventually realized that the Beetle was the heart and soul of the brand in North America, and the firm quickly set about creating a new Beetle for American and Canadian showrooms.

The Volkswagen New Beetle proved to be a popular concept, especially in North America.
In 1994, Volkswagen unveiled the J Mays-designed Concept One, a "retro"-themed car with a resemblance to the original Beetle but based on the Polo platform. Its genesis was secret and in opposition to VW management, who felt it was too backward-looking. Management could not deny the positive public response to the concept car and gave the green-light to its development as the New Beetle. The production car would be based on the Golf rather than the Polo, because the Polo frame was too small for the car to pass crash test standards in the U.S. It has been quite popular in the North America and is now gaining in the EU.
Volkswagen's fortunes in North America improved once the third-generation Golf and Jetta models became available there. Sharp advertising and savvy promotional stunts, like including Trek bicycles, and accompanying bike racks with a limited edition of the 1996 Jetta sedan, were credited for the firm's recovery in the U.S. and Canada, but the introductions of the New Beetle and the fifth-generation Passat were a major boost to the brand.
In the UK, Volkswagen's market share grew throughout the 1990s. In 1990, the Golf was Britain's 12th most popular car with nearly 50,000 units sold. The Mk3 Polo achieved similar success in the mid 1990s, but in 1999 the Mk4 Golf was Volkswagen's first-ever entrant in Britain's top 10 list of most popular new cars. Its success continued into the 2000s, while the Polo and Passat were never far outside the top 10. Bad news for Volkswagen during this era was a dip in customer satisfaction. A brand which had built its reputation on reliability was now being overtaken by marques whose reputations had been damaged by quality problems. This bad press took several years to eradicate.

Relationship with Porsche, and the "Volkswagen Law"
Volkswagen has always had a close relationship with Porsche, the Zuffenhausen-based sports car manufacturer founded in 1931 by Ferdinand Porsche, the original Volkswagen designer. The first Porsche car, the Porsche 64 of 1938, used many components from the Volkswagen Beetle. The 1948 Porsche 356, continued using many Volkswagen components, including a tuned engine, gearbox and suspension.
The two companies continued their collaboration in 1969 to make the VW-Porsche 914 and 914-6, whereby the 914-6 had a 6-cylinder Porsche engine, and the standard 914 had a 4-cylinder Volkswagen engine, and in 1976 with the Porsche 912E (USA only), and the Porsche 924, which used many Audi components and was built at an Audi Neckarsulm factory. Most 944s also were built there, although they used far fewer VW components.
The Porsche Cayenne, introduced in 2002, shares its entire chassis with VW Touareg and Audi Q7, which are built at the Volkswagen factory in Bratislava.
In September 2005, Porsche announced it would increase its 5% stake in Volkswagen to 20% at a cost of €3 billion, with the intention that the combined stakes of Porsche and the government of Lower Saxony would ensure that any hostile takeover by foreign investors would be impossible. Speculated suitors included DaimlerChrysler, BMW, and Renault. In July 2006, Porsche increased their ownership again to 25.1%.
On February 13, 2007 Advocate General Damaso Ruiz-Jarabo ruled that a German law preventing any shareholder in Volkswagen from executing more than 20% of the total voting rights in the firm was illegally restricting the flow of capital in Europe. This again opened the possibility of a hostile takeover of VW and so on 26 March of the same year Porsche took its holding of Volkswagen shares to 30.9%. Porsche formally announced in a press statement that it did not intend to take over Volkswagen, but intended the move to avoid a competitor taking a large stake and to stop hedge funds from dismantling VW. As expected, on October 22, 2007 the European Court of Justice ruled in agreement with Ruiz-Jarabo and the law was struck down.
On October 26, 2008, Porsche finally revealed its plan to assume control of VW. As of that day, it held 42.6 percent of Volkswagen's ordinary shares and stock options on another 31.5 percent. Combined with the state of Lower Saxony's 20.1% stake, this left only 5.8% of shares on the market most of which were held by index funds who could not legally sell. Hedge Funds desperate to cover their short positions forced Volkswagen stock above one thousand euros per share, briefly making it the world's largest company by market capitalization on October 28th, 2008