National home builders Pulte, Centex to merge

Two huge home builders announced plans to merge, creating the nation's largest residential developer and shifting a large portion of the Charleston market to a company with a tiny local footprint.

Pulte Homes Inc. will combine in a $1.3 billion deal with Dallas-based Centex Corp., a long-established builder in the three-county region with 21 neighborhoods in nine communities.

Pulte, by contrast, entered the Charleston market just two years ago with its Del Webb at Cane Bay neighborhood, which targets empty nesters who are at least 55 years old. The merged company will take Pulte's name and home base in Pulte's hometown of Bloomfield Hills, Mich. Company officials said the deal will help both builders, battered by the housing downturn, get through the recession. Job cuts are expected, but they could be minimal in Charleston because of Pulte's relatively small foothold in the region. The two builders have a combined 82 local employees.

Luxury buy

Baker Motor Co. bought the local Jaguar franchise from Palmetto Jaguar and had moved all the cars from 1634 Savannah Hwy. to 1511 Savannah Hwy. The latest addition to Tommy Baker's luxury automobile stable is called West Ashley Jaguar.

Manly Eubank, chairman of the company that sold Palmetto Jaguar, said it made sense to pair Jaguar with Baker's Land Rover business. The two brands are owned by the same company, Tata Motors Limited of India.

The Jaguar addition gives Baker Motor Co. many of the luxury car brands in Charleston, including Mercedes-Benz, Infiniti, Maserati, Porsche, Land Rover and Smart Car.

Vacant lot

Two months after Johnny Dangerfield idled his two local Suzuki car dealerships, his Johnny's Subaru has been shuttered. A sign on the door at the former Savannah Highway car store said it closed. Customers were directed to other dealerships in Conway, Columbia and Savannah.

The closure leaves the Charleston market without a Subaru franchise, but the automaker is seeking a new franchisee. Dangerfield, who was known for his weekend TV informercials, could not be reached for comment.

Horse talk

An animal rights group said it wants Charleston to ban horse-drawn carriage tours. In a letter to city officials, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals pointed to what it called six carriage "incidents" in little more than a year.

Mayor Joe Riley issued a polite but pointed response. He called the tours "a very safe and delightful way to see the sights of our historic city of Charleston."

Horse-drawn tours began in Charleston about 60 years ago, and the five local companies carry nearly 35,000 people each year.

On maneuvers

Ladson-based Force Protection Inc. said it was finalizing a nine-figure deal to upgrade the suspension systems on as many as 1,500 combat vehicles being redeployed from Iraq to even rougher terrain in Afghanistan.

The company said Thursday a modified federal contract calls for it to install new independent suspension kits on Cougar armored trucks that have sold to the armed forces through the U.S. Marine Corps Systems Command.

The total of cost of upgrades cannot exceed $158 million, Force Protection said.

The new suspension kits are designed to decrease the turning radius of the Cougar and increase maneuverability.

Separately, Force Protection announced a $122.6 million order for 97 vehicles from the U.K. Ministry of Defence and a sales of three Cougars for $1.3 million to the Hungarian Ministry of Defence.