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Talk of the day: New Jag purrs down runway in sales pitch

By Times Staff Writer
Published September 12, 2007

Ford Motor Co. introduced its newest Jaguar, the 2009 XF, Tuesday at the Frankfurt Motor Show. The new model, the first Ford has brought to market since it announced plans to sell the U.K. brand, comes as it prepares to close the bidding for money-losing Jaguar after 18 years of ownership. Any attention the XF, which goes on sale next year, draws may bolster the value of Jaguar by signaling the car's ability to lure buyers from such rivals as Toyota Motors Corp.'s Lexus, DaimlerChrysler AG's Mercedes-Benz and Bayerische Motoren Werke's BMW. "It's the kind of car that Jaguar has needed for about a decade and a half," said Jim Hall, a Southfield, Mich., auto analyst for AutoPacific Inc.

Hasbro to bring arcade into home

Hasbro Inc., the world's second-largest toymaker, signed a licensing accord with Skee-Ball Inc. to create games based on the arcade classic. The first Skee-Ball games will be on store shelves by early 2009, the companies said Tuesday. Hasbro has looked for new games and toys to license since the release of the most recent Star Wars movie in 2005. Skee-Ball, which involves rolling wooden balls up a ramp into holes of various sizes to score points, was invented in 1909 by Jonathan D. Estes of Philadelphia.

Win a whopper for fast-food servers

A judge struck down a New York City rule Tuesday that required fast-food restaurants to post calorie counts on their menus. U.S. District Judge Richard J. Holwell said he determined the rule conflicted with federal law. Businesses had claimed that their First Amendment rights were violated by the rule, described as the first of its kind in the nation, but Howell said he reached his decision without needing to address those claims. The city had targeted national fast-food chains, applying the law only to those that served standardized portion sizes and were already making calorie information available voluntarily as of March 1. The New York State Restaurant Association had challenged it. On the other side, the National League of Cities, the National Association of County & City Health Officials, the International Municipal Lawyers Association and the League of California Cities supported the city, saying the new rule was necessary to fight obesity.

McD's in a froth to battle Starbucks

When coffee lovers have a yen for a white-chocolate latte, more are going to a McCafe located in a McDonald's Corp. restaurant and paying 26 percent less for the morning pick-me-up than they would at Starbucks. McDonald's has added the frothy drinks at two-thirds of its 13,794 U.S. stores since introducing a stronger brew in 2006. The price savings can be significant. For example, it costs $3.31 for a 20-ounce cup of latte at the McDonald's in Oak Ridge, N.C., compared with $4.48 for the same size at Starbucks. At the McCafe counter, coffee drinkers can relax on brown, green and burgundy cushioned benches, stools and tables near a flat-screen television. Brownies and blueberry muffins sell for $1.50 and chicken Caesar hummus wraps are $4.35.

[Last modified September 12, 2007, 00:45:50]