Talk Money with Tony Field – July 31, 2015

Rocket Lab's Electron rocket (Rocket Lab)
Rocket Lab's Electron rocket (Rocket Lab)

Rocket Lab has secured another important deal.

It's signed an agreement with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), that will allow it to use its resources (including personnel, facilities and equipment) for launch and re-entry efforts.

Rocket Lab says it is considering using NASA's launch complexes to complement Rocket Lab's primary launch range in New Zealand.

Chief executive Peter Beck says: "Rocket Lab is pleased to have the opportunity to utilise NASA facilities for those customers that may require lower inclination orbits.

"While launches from New Zealand can reach inclinations that are generally ideal for small satellites, the addition of a United States launch site will allow customers to have the choice of a wider spectrum of orbital inclinations."

A lower inclination orbit is an orbit close to the equator, allowing a different area of coverage over the earth.

Lower inclination orbits allow a better boost-off the Earth from locations in the United States because it is closer to the equator.

"This agreement with NASA is another step in building out our launch ranges globally," says Mr Beck.

Rocket Lab has also recently been granted the consents it needs to build a launch facility on the Canterbury coastline.

The announcement that Top Gear's former presenters are moving to Amazon shows how important original content is to the streaming websites.

Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May's new show will be made available through Amazon's Prime Video service next year.

The deal is another sign of how much the streaming services are encroaching on what was once the domain of the traditional broadcasters.

Clarkson changed his Twitter bio to say: "I am a presenter on an Amazon motoring show." He added: "I feel like I've climbed out of a bi-plane and into a spaceship."

Prime Video is currently available in the UK, Germany and the US.

So is the new motoring show going to be released through Amazon in New Zealand, or through another content provider?

Amazon told 3 News: "This is a global deal and we aim to bring this show to the trio's hundreds of millions of worldwide fans." But Amazon said it could not share more details yet.

The deal neatly gets the former Top Gear trio around a clause that prevented them hosting a new show for a UK broadcaster for two years.

Because it is on a streaming service the show will not be regulated in the same way that broadcast shows are.

Clarkson generated a lot of controversy when he was at the BBC and he left Top Gear after an altercation with a member of the production team.

The deal will also ramps up the competition between Amazon and Netflix. Amazon has already successfully launched shows like Transparent and Bosch. Transparent won two Emmy awards (Best TV Series - Comedy or Musical, and Jeffrey Tambor for Best Actor in a TV Series). Bosch stars Titus Welliver and is based on Michael Connelly's series of novels about Detective Harry Bosch.

Netflix has a growing list of hits with programs like House of Cards and Daredevil. Daredevil is the first of what will be a series of Marvel shows, with a new one released every six months.

Top Gear's former executive producer, Andy Wilman is also joining the Amazon show, but The Stig will remain with the BBC's Top Gear program.

TV and radio presenter Chris Evans is the new host of Top Gear.

Volkswagen has replaced Toyota as the world's biggest-selling car maker. But here in New Zealand Toyota remains the number one car company.

Volkswagen sold 5.04 million vehicles in the first six months of the year globally, compared to Toyota's 5.02 million.

Detroit-based General Motors finished third, selling 4.86 million cars.

It's the first time that Volkswagen has been at number one.

General Motors was the world's top selling carmaker for decades until being overtaken by Toyota in 2008.

GM regained the number one spot in 2011, when Toyota's production was disrupted by the quake and tsunami in northeastern Japan.

But Toyota returned to number one from 2012 through to the end of last year.

Nissan-Renault and Hyundai-Kia rounded out the top five.

Part of Volkswagen's success is that it owns a range of brands, including Audi, Porsche, Bentley, Lamborghini and Skoda.

Skoda has been transformed from the company that used to attract jokes into one that now regularly wins awards for reliability and customer satisfaction.

The Motor Industry Association says Toyota remains the number one car company in New Zealand for both passenger and commercial vehicles.

It had 18 percent of the market for the first six months of the year, selling 11,700 vehicles.

Holden was second, with 6946 sales.

Ford was third, followed by Mazda, Hyundai, Mitsubishi, and Nissan.

Volkswagen was eighth, with Suzuki and Honda rounding out the top ten.

The top five selling companies in the passenger category were Toyota, Holden, Mazda, Hyundai and Mitsubishi.

The top five commercial sellers were Toyota, Ford, Holden, Nissan and Mitsubishi.

The top selling models are the Ford Ranger (3,035 vehicles sold) followed by the Toyota Hilux (2,581 vehicles) and the Toyota Corolla (2,399 vehicles).

Rounding out the top five were the Nissan Navara (1,884 vehicles) and the Holden Colorado (1,806 vehicles).

Sports utility vehicles dominate the New Zealand market, with 37 percent market share for the month of June and 33 percent for the year to June.

The pick-up/chassis cab segment continues to increase its market share with 21 percent market share for the year so far.

The small passenger vehicle segment remains the third biggest segment, with 14 percent market share for the six months to the end of June.

This compares to 18 percent market share for the 2014 year. 

The Motor Industry Association says that sales of new vehicles remain strong despite other economic indicators showing the economy may be flattening out. It expects that if this trend continues annual new vehicle registrations could break the 130,000 barrier for the first time.

The US dollar has gained ground in the past 24 hours, including against the New Zealand dollar.

The Kiwi is trading at 66.04 US cents, over half a cent down from yesterday morning (66.72 cents).

The US dollar is gaining ground because the US Federal Reserve is expected to start raising rates soon. It could happen in September or it might happen in December. But the markets are certain it will happen.

The Fed is one of the few central banks that is going to be lifting rates.

The European Central Bank and the Bank of Japan look certain to keep their rates low and New Zealand's Reserve Bank is cutting rates.

The kiwi is trading at 90.56 Australian cents, almost unchanged from yesterday.

3 News