Diesel Progress Magazine
Paccar held a groundbreaking ceremony for its new DAF assembly plant in Ponta Grossa, Brasil on January 9, 2012. The ceremony was led by Mark Pigott, Paccar chairman and chief executive officer, and Paraná Governor Beto Richa.
The facility will assemble DAF XF, CF and LF vehicles as well as the Paccar MX diesel engine. It will produce DAF trucks for Brasil and the entire Latin American market. The DAF trucks will be distributed through a network of independent DAF dealers.
THE ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT
Europe's financial crisis will continue to weigh on the global economy in 2012, and still has the potential to cause disaster. There is little change this month to the Economist Intelligence Unit's forecast for aggregate global GDP growth. We sharply lowered our euro zone forecast last month, and have not materially changed our view since then. In contrast, we think growth prospects in other regions—and their ability to withstand the effects of recession in Europe—have changed in significant respects. Most notably, we have raised our forecast for US growth but have cut our forecasts for some emerging markets.
We expect world GDP to grow by 3.1 percent at purchasing-power parity in 2012. This marks a considerable slowdown from 2010 and 2011, and by some definitions would put the global economy perilously close to another recession. However, we reckon that growth would need to weaken to about 2 percent to qualify as a recession. While trading conditions have clearly become more challenging in many countries, the world is still quite some way from that bleak outcome. This assumes that implosion is prevented in Europe; a break-up of the euro zone remains a very real threat, and if that were to occur the global economy would suffer a recession much worse than the one recorded during the post-Lehman financial crisis of 2008-09.
Diesel Progress Magazine
Deutz AG and Shandong Changlin Machinery Group Co., Ltd., the Chinese manufacturer of agricultural machinery and construction equipment, have signed an agreement to set up a joint venture for the production of engines.
The joint venture, which will trade under the name of Deutz (Shandong) Engine Co., Ltd. and whose day-to-day management will be performed by Deutz, will manufacture the Deutz 2011 series of diesel engines beginning in 2013. The engines are designed for use in agricultural and construction equipment, as well as industrial applications.
AftermarketNews
Dorman Products has just announced the launch of its HD Solutions brand of "New to the Heavy-Duty Aftermarket" Parts. This new product offering provides coverage for Class 4-8 heavy vehicles in a variety of areas including (but not limited to) coolant tubes, door handles, fluid reservoirs, lighting, hood components, window regulators, wiper transmissions and many others.
This new product offering provides coverage for Class 4-8 heavy vehicles in a variety of areas including (but not limited to) coolant tubes, door handles, fluid reservoirs, lighting, hood components, window regulators, wiper transmissions and many others.
AASA, HDMA, MERA and OESA members should not miss the chance to come to Washington and let lawmakers know what is important to your companies and what is needed to keep manufacturers competitive in the global economy.
The 2012 Legislative Summit offers the opportunity to state your views on regulatory overreach (particularly within the NLRB), taxes, technology development, energy policy and other issues vital to the supplier industry. Now is the time to frame these issues for lawmakers in this Congress and to help shape the legislative agenda that will be before the new Congress in 2013.