Thursday February 26 2009

Resources

HDMA Announces Publication of Industry Leading Global Commercial Vehicle Report

Release Date: March 01, 2009

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. – The Heavy Duty Manufacturers Association has announced the March 1, 2009 publication of the new HDMA 2009 Global Commercial Vehicle Report on CD.

Vehicle Report includes the latest HDMA biennial Heavy Duty Truck Maintenance in the USA survey/study and additional vital supplier marketing information such as the 2009 HDMA HD Distributor Survey. Newly added data includes information from emerging global commercial vehicle markets in India, Brazil, Russia and China. Other expanded sections include an environment and energy related section, global vehicle and highway transportation reports and important data detailing global truck exports.

Dan Ustian of Navistar: Keynote at HDMA Breakfast & Briefing at MATS!

It is hard to believe, but the 19th Annual Breakfast & Briefing on Friday, March 20th at the Mid-American Trucking Show is only a few short weeks away! This year, our 2009 keynote speaker is Dan Ustian, Chairman, President and CEO of Navistar Internation Corporation.

Ustian has led Navistar on a steady path to become a $15 billion company by delivering great products, competitive cost structures and profitable growth. Mr. Ustian will provide insight during breakfast on Navistar’s plans for the future in the North American truck and engine market as well as on the forward looking strategy for the nation’s largest truck manufacturer and the fifth largest globally. It is again promising to be the one of the most popular events at MATS.

British Government Denies Funds; LDV's Russian Parent Firm Expected to Provide Funds

Lord Mandelson, the business secretary, was warned yesterday that loss-making British vanmaker LDV will collapse within days after the government rejected calls to sanction a loan from taxpayers to keep the firm afloat.

Senior executives at Birmingham-based LDV are trying to engineer a management buyout and have been seeking a loan guarantee for a maximum of six months until the European Union sanctions a grant. But the government said yesterday LDV's parent firm, the Russian firm Gaz, should provide the necessary funding, valued at between pounds 20m and pounds 30m.

PACCAR’s DAF to Cut 873 Jobs at Westerlo, Belgium Plant

Paccar's European subsidiary DAF Trucks is reported by the Belgian paper L'Echo to be cutting 800 production jobs and 73 white collar jobs at its Westerlo plant, where output has been in decline since October 2008. Some 900 workers there are expected to keep their jobs – less than half the 2,300 people the plant employed before the current economic downturn. DAF itself has not formally confirmed the cutbacks.

Weichai Power Acquired Assets of French Moteurs Baudouin

WEIFANG, February 24, SinoCast -- Chinese diesel engines maker Weichai Power Co., Ltd. (SZSE: 000338; SEHK: 2338) lately announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Weichai Power (Hong Kong) International Development Co., Ltd., had spent EUR 2.99 million buying some assets of Moteurs Baudouin of France.

Total book value of these assets stand at EUR 13.8177 million. Presently, both parties have not entered into the formal assets transfer agreement, and they are waiting for the administration approval.

Volvo Truck Deliveries Dived in January

Swedish truck maker Volvo AB said its truck deliveries fell by more than half in January and added it was hard to gauge when conditions would improve.

"Given customers' continuing hesitancy to purchase new equipment in the face of widespread economic uncertainty, low freight volumes and tight credit, it remains difficult to predict exactly when conditions will improve," Volvo said.

Defending Your Price in a Tough Economy

In spite of the difficult environment, there are steps that suppliers can take to hold the line on pricing and defend their positions. Please join us for a unique sales workshop, designed specifically for commercial vehicle parts suppliers. HDMA members receive a special rate at $150 savings off the regular workshop price. I encourage you to register now to take advantage of this discounted rate.

Defending one's price requires a team effort.

MEMA/HDMA Announce the Completion of Legislative and Regulatory Issue Book

Our MEMA/HDMA Washington office has completed its annual “Legislative and Regulatory Issue Book”, a compilation of open dialogue among association members, a member survey, input from HDMA, MEMA and other market segment association boards, and the MEMA Government Affairs committee.

French Govt. Strategic Fund Buys Valeo Stake

PARIS -- The French government's strategic investment fund (FSI) said Wednesday that it has taken a minority stake in automotive supplier Valeo. FSI said that Valeo's sector position is "strategic" and the automobile industry will face "significant evolutions" in the months and years to come.

Valeo has been hit by slumping sales as carmakers have been forced to slow or stop production as the credit crunch hits car sales. Earlier this month, the supplier posted a bigger-than-expected full-year net loss and a 9 percent drop in sales, and scrapped its dividend for last year.

MAN AG to Make More Cost Cuts After Profit Plunges

MAN AG, Europe’s third-largest truckmaker, said it will cut costs further and extend reductions in employees’ work hours after the recession and declining sales caused fourth-quarter profit to plunge by almost half.

Net income declined to 177 million Euros ($224.3 million) from 331 million Euros a year earlier, the Munich-based company said today in a statement. MAN will trim costs in production and management by 500 million Euros, Chief Executive Officer Hakan Samuelsson said at a Munich news conference, adding that first- quarter business hasn’t improved on fourth-quarter figures.

Hybrid Powertrain Interest Intensifies in the Bus Sector

Vertical integration is a by-word in Volvo powertrain engineering. Its hybrid developments follow that doctrine as far as possible, though the vital integrated starter/alternator/motors (ISAMs) are being sourced, initially at least, from a little-known Canadian company, TM4 Transport of Boucherville, Quebec. Volvo has chosen a parallel rather than a series layout for its bus (and truck) hybrid drivelines, to a large extent for cost reasons. A normal mechanical drive between the engine and the rear axle is retained, which is to say that electric traction power cuts in as and when demanded to assist, or temporarily take over from, engine drive.

European Truck Sales Plunge 35 percent as Recession Deepens

European heavy-truck sales plunged 35 percent last month, more than double the drop in December, as the global recession ravaged the region’s main markets.

Manufacturers sold 20,068 trucks weighing 16 metric tons or more in January compared with 30,755 a year earlier, the Brussels-based European Automobile Manufacturers Association said in a statement today. The drop in December was 15 percent.

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