| Automative speciality equipment is what the market demands | | Posted Thursday, February 09, 2006 10:27:09 AM by Rose Martins | News in the automotive industry magazine reported that there was a 3.65% increase in market demand for automotive specialty equipment.  The news report by the Automotive Specialty Equipment Market Association, stated that the total expenditure on automotive specialty equipment totalled $26.84 billion.
The news report listed automotive appearance accessories, suspension and handling equipment, and racing and performance items as the make up of automotive speciality equipment sold. Automotive appearance products constituted the bulk of this market, with automotive performance and racing products following in second and automotive handling equipment in third.
Automotive manufacturing news reported that a Henkel have launched a new technology in low-pressure moulding solutions for convenient packaging. The technology called Macromelt[R ... | |
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| | | MAN Trucks to Be Assembled in Jeddah | | Posted Sunday, November 12, 2006 3:04:21 PM by Blog57 Team | | RIYADH, 12 November 2006 -- A major Saudi automotive dealer will assemble MAN trucks of Germany at its facility in Jeddah, making the Kingdom the production base for three different types of trucks after Mercedes-Benz and GMC trucks. The announcement was made at a meeting presided over by Minister of Transportation Jabara Al-Seraisry yesterday. Deputy Minister of Transport Dr. Abdulaziz Al-Ohaly, Anton Weinmann, chairman, MAN Nutzfahrzeuge AG, one of the world's biggest manufacturers of trucks, and Ali H. Alireza, director and general manager, Haji Husein Alireza & Co. Ltd., were among those present. The event also marked the 100th anniversary of Haji Husein Alireza & Co. Ltd. this year. Speaking after the meeting, Dr. Al-Ohaly welcomed MAN's decision to assemble trucks in Jeddah in collaboration with Haji Husein Alireza & Co., which is currently the agent for MAN trucks in the Kingdom.... | |
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| | | Valeo Raytheon Blind Spot Detection System Selected as "2007 Automotive News PACE Award" Finalist | | Posted Friday, November 03, 2006 7:35:51 AM by Blog57 Team | | PARIS, France, October 26 -- Valeo Raytheon Systems today announced that its Blind Spot Detection system has been selected as a finalist for the 2007 Automotive News PACE Awards in the Product Innovation category. The system is expected to contribute to reducing collisions with unseen vehicles during lane change manoeuvres. Vehicles equipped with this system will be available in North America and Europe during 2007. "We are honored to have our blind spot technology recognized by the prestigious PACE Awards," said Thierry Morin, Valeo Chairman & Chief Executive Officer. "In the near future, most vehicles will be equipped with new driving assistance systems such as this one making driving safer." Valeo Raytheon Systems draws on the short-range radar and automotive expertise of Valeo and the in-depth knowledge of radar systems from Raytheon.... | |
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| | | Preh Celebrates Finalist Status in 2007 Automotive News PACE Award Competition | | Posted Tuesday, October 24, 2006 3:04:58 PM by Blog57 Team | | NOVI, Mich., Oct. 23, 2006 -- Preh is a finalist in the prestigious 2007 Automotive News PACE Award competition. The 13th annual PACE (Premier Automotive Suppliers' Contribution to Excellence) Award is presented by Microsoft, SAP, Transportation Research Center Inc. (TRC Inc.) and Automotive News. Preh was recognized for its Preh-PVD (PVD = Physical Vapor Deposition) technology. This plastic finishing technology for backlighting applications is entirely new to the automotive marketplace, allowing Preh to produce a wide variety of interior controls -- knobs, buttons and panels -- that have the look and feel of metal parts. Not only do they have a high-quality appearance, but they are produced by a process which allows designers more flexibility in choosing colors and creating more stylish designs for their backlit control panels and systems.... | |
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| | | TI Processors Drive Integrated Automotive Displays | | Posted Wednesday, October 18, 2006 1:08:23 PM by Blog57 Team | | Addressing automotive instrument cluster systems' growing performance requirements, Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) expanded its 32-bit TMS470 microcontroller (MCU) platform, offering new devices for instrument cluster host controller applications. As the amount of information displayed in vehicles increases — from enhanced vehicle diagnostics and driver assistance features such as rear park assist cameras, to digital media and full real-time navigation systems — drivers demand higher performance graphics and more highly integrated displays. To meet the challenge, new TMS470PLFx MCUs are targeted for systems with up to six stepper motors and are tightly coupled with TI's OMAP33x and DaVinci TMS320DM64x based graphics controller to drive high resolution liquid crystal display (LCD) and Thin-Film Transistor (TFT) displays.... | |
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| | | Tejas Securities Group, Inc. Releases a Research Report on Dura Automotive Systems, Inc. | | Posted Monday, October 16, 2006 3:05:19 AM by Blog57 Team | | Tejas Securities Group, Inc. released a fixed income research report today on Dura Automotive Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: DRRA - News). Tejas Securities Group, Inc., a Texas Corporation ("Tejas Securities"), is a wholly owned subsidiary and a primary business operating unit of Tejas Incorporated (OTC Bulletin Board: TEJS - News), a publicly traded holding company. Tejas Securities is a full service brokerage and investment banking firm that focuses on the following: (i) proprietary research on distressed debt, special situation securities and emerging growth equities (ii) trading and other brokerage services to value-based institutional and retail investors active in fixed income and equity instruments, and (iii) corporate finance and strategic advisory services to middle-market companies within our target industries.... | |
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| | | Advance Auto saves through refinancing | | Posted Saturday, October 07, 2006 3:04:34 AM by Blog57 Team | | Advance Auto Parts has refinanced its secured credit facility, a move that will save the Roanoke-based retailer of automotive parts more than $2.5 million annually on pretax interest expenses, according to a news release. The refinancing resulted in a new $750 million unsecured five-year revolving credit facility, with approximately $434 million drawn against it. With this refinancing, Advance will record an approximately $1.9 million deferred financing charge associated with its prior credit facility. But the company will record about $2.9 million in income from previous gains on interest-rate swaps. These amounts will result in a net pretax gain of $1 million for Advance's third quarter, the company said. The company's lenders include Bank of America, SunTrust Bank and BB&T.... | |
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| | | Portal S.A. Launches VRUM, AdStar-Powered Brazilian Automotive Classified Advertising Site | | Posted Thursday, September 28, 2006 7:03:53 PM by Blog57 Team | | AdStar, Inc., the leading provider of e-commerce transaction software and services for the advertising and publishing industries, and Portal S.A., a subsidiary of the Associados Group, have launched an online classifieds ads portal focused on the electronic trade of vehicles in Brazil, which represented more than 52 percent of all retail sales in Brazil in 2005. The site, VRUM, was launched by Associados Group newspapers Estado de Minas and Correio Braziliense in partnership with two other Brazilian newspapers, Folha de Londrina in Parana and A Gazeta in Espirito Santo. Additional Brazilian newspapers are expected to join the portal in coming months. Portal S.A. has invested more than $35 million BRL ($16 million USD) to develop three vertical classified ad portals. In addition to VRUM, Portal S.A.... | |
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| | | Ford Motor Co., General Motors Have Discussed Merger or Alliance, Automotive News reports | | Posted Tuesday, September 19, 2006 11:14:54 AM by Blog57 Team | | Executives from Ford Motor Co. and General Motors have discussed a possible merger or alliance, Automotive News reports in its Monday, Aug. 18, edition. The negotiations began in July after Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. and Renault SA CEO Carlos Ghosn broached the possibility of an alliance among Renault, Nissan and GM, according to several sources familiar with the talks, Automotive News reports. It is not clear who launched the talks. One source says GM CEO Rick Wagoner contacted Ford Motor the day after Ghosn disclosed his plan. A second source disputes that. In August, GM CFO Fritz Henderson discussed the proposed alliance with Ford CFO Don Leclair, said a source familiar with the talks. But it is not at all clear whether the negotiations will bear fruit. As of now, the two companies are not holding talks, and one source says there is a slim chance that anything will come of it.... | |
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| | | Epicor Updates Automotive Software | | Posted Saturday, September 09, 2006 5:18:08 PM by Blog57 Team | | Sept. 8, 2006 -- With information technology spending in the automotive market at $1.6 billion this year alone according to Garnter Inc., Epcior Software Corp. is making sure it addresses this sector's needs. In its new offering, Epicor for Automotive, its service-oriented architecture (SOA) product, Epicor Vantage has added new features and functionally. .... | |
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| | | HUGIN NEWS/RHJ International announces the acquisition of Metaldyne by Asahi Tec Corporation | | Posted Saturday, September 02, 2006 3:07:27 AM by Blog57 Team | | Brussels, September 1, 2006 - RHJ International (EURONEXT: RHJI) announced today that Asahi Tec Corporation ("Asahi Tec"), one of its Japanese consolidated businesses involved in the automotive components industry, has entered into an agreement to acquire US-based Metaldyne, a leading global supplier of aluminum and ductile castings for the automotive industry. The total transaction consideration, including the refinancing of Metaldyne's existing interest-bearing debt, is expected to be approximately $1.2 billion. Under the terms of the agreement the transaction will be effected through a cash-out merger in which Metaldyne will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Asahi Tec. Metaldyne's common stock holders will receive at least $2.18 for each share of Metaldyne's common stock (total of $ 117 million).... | |
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