Watercooler Stories

FORD FIRES NEXT SHOT IN AUTO WAR

Just days after General Motors announced five-year, no-interest loans on some cars, Ford has fought back with a $5 per day lease plan.

The Detroit Free Press says the company's latest promotional gimmick, on two models, has a "historic twist" to it. This is the automaker's centennial year and it was Henry Ford who first paid his workers $5 per day, enough for them to buy their own vehicle.

Of the Big Three automakers, Ford has suffered the most in recent weeks because of the downturn in "big ticket" purchases. The publication says sales are down 7.8 percent this year at Ford; 6.5 percent at DailmerChrysler and 6.8 percent at GM.

On the other hand, many Japanese carmakers actually had a better March than they did last year, mainly because of regional advertising campaigns. Sales of Hondas were up more than 16 percent last month in the wake of a promotion offering loans with interest rates as low as 1.9 percent.

PROPOSED SMOKE TAX FAILS IN TENNESSEE

A bill that would triple cigarette taxes in Tennessee has failed to generate enough support in the state Senate.

Support dwindled after remarks made by the head of a key committee that the state had promised not to raise taxes. The sponsor of the bill, Sen. Rosalind Kurita, called the remarks "cowardly."

The Nashville Tennessean says the measure would have raised taxes on cigarettes from 20 cents per pack to 60 cents.

Anti-smoking advocates reminded legislators the national average cigarette tax is a little over 67 cents a pack. One tax expert estimates tripling the tax would generate more than $198 million revenue.

KMART EMPLOYEES ON SLOW PHASE-OUT

Employees at many soon-to-be-eliminated Kmart locations are keeping what can best be described as "a death watch." The Denver Post, in focusing on the phase-out of many non-profitable locations, says that some former employees claim that they are happy to be out from under the "thumb of Kmart management."

More than 300 stores have been closed in recent weeks, six of them in Colorado. Amid all of this, more than 34,000 former employees are, in the words of the publication, "flooding the job market" at a time when things are tight already.

Some long-term employees are awaiting job transfers to still-open locations. Among the workers who tell the publication they hope to find other Kmart jobs are two who have been with the company so long they have memories of helping open their location.

COMPANY TOUTS DOG TRANSLATION MACHINE

A Tokyo toymaker says it's invented a machine that will let pet owners know what their dogs are thinking.

According to published reports, growls, barks and other pet sounds are now translatable into human thought patterns.

Takara Co. says it's sold about one-third million of the machines in just the past few months. The English-language version of the device is due out in the fall. The company says it wants to cash-in on the $30 billion American pet market.

There is no word as to whether the English version will be a translation of the existing Japanese language version. If that is the case, some owners may find themselves in the same "language limbo" that can be found in the directions for some Japanese-made electronic equipment.