“Professional Car Care Products That Fit an Automotive Category of - MSN Money” plus 4 more

Professional Car Care Products That Fit an Automotive Category of - MSN Money
Professional Car Care Products That Fit an Automotive Category of ... - PR Inside
S. KOREA'S POSCO TO BUILD AUTOMOTIVE STEEL PLANT IN CHINA - TradingMarkets.com
TecDoc reinforces leading Scandinavian data provider - PR Inside
Australian car parts maker goes into administration - World Socialist Web Site

Professional Car Care Products That Fit an Automotive Category of - MSN Money

Posted: 07 Sep 2009 09:22 PM PDT

Falken Industries Ltd (OTCBB: FLKI) - "What a very bad time to come out with very good and innovative products" is the refrain one hears from our competitors in the industry, all betting, again, on the wrong end of FLKI successes" said Manuel Garcia Communications officer. The top end of the car care product ranges are down 40% this year - even worse than the overall automobile after-market which is off about 30%. Purveyors of Falken Product Concepts including global leader Clean Plus® are up 28% or more - this speaks volumes of FLKI strategies and operating processes.

FLKI a global leader in consumer, professional and industrial product conceptions, is coming ahead with additions to consumer and professional lines - in the latter line, much-anticipated super products targeting the business of two fortune 500 multi-nationals' offers to the body-shop and detailing centers and providing better performance at substantially lower cost.

These products, set to go on sale this fall, have been on the design and conception slab for some time, conceived well before the economy began careening off track. Falken, embracing the opinions of The Clean Plus® Product Group global distribution network which it polled for this release, is convinced that in this rare instance, timing is not everything. "Indeed, the products' unique, goose-bumping ease of application and unbeatable performance is certain to lure even reluctant buyers" said Garcia.

The "Brilliance" group of innovative products integrating the Clean Plus® "Pro" line are an unusual blend of true ease of performance, deluxe design and comfortable ease of application. The products fit in an automotive category of themselves amongst professional car care products.

Members of the international professional press present for the sneak preview confirmed a widespread anticipation for this next generation of Clean Plus® professional car care products.

About Falken Industries Ltd:

Falken Industries Ltd (OTCBB: FLKI) is a diversified industrial conglomerate that operates in Chemicals, Wet Wipe and Biodegradable Technology. Falken Industries Ltd is the concept behind more than 160 products distributed through a network of global platforms and the recipient of trade awards for innovations, biodegradability and environmental and health quality standards.

SAFE HARBOR STATEMENT: This news release contains "forward-looking statements" made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the 1995 Private Securities Litigation Reform Act. "Forward-looking statements" describe future expectations, plans, results, or strategies and are generally preceded by words such as "future," "plan" or "planned," "will" or "should," "expected," "anticipates," "draft," "eventually" or "projected." Such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause future circumstances, events, or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements, including the risks that our products may not achieve customer acceptance or perform as intended, that we may be unable to obtain necessary financing to continue operations and development, and other risks. You should consider these factors in evaluating the forward-looking statements included herein, and not place undue reliance on such statements.

Contacts: Falken Industries Ltd Manuel Garcia Communications Officer +1609 357 0316 Email: mgarciafaure@falkenltd.com

Back to News Home

MSN Money: Search MSN Money; Message Boards; Site Status

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Professional Car Care Products That Fit an Automotive Category of ... - PR Inside

Posted: 07 Sep 2009 09:22 PM PDT

2009-09-08 06:17:01 -

TRENTON, NEW JERSEY -- (Marketwire) -- 09/08/09 -- Falken Industries Ltd (OTCBB: FLKI) - "What a very bad time to come out with very good and innovative products" is the refrain one hears from our competitors in the industry, all betting, again, on the wrong end of FLKI successes" said Manuel Garcia Communications officer. The top end of the car care product ranges are down 40% this year - even worse than the overall automobile after-market which is off about 30%. Purveyors of Falken Product Concepts including global leader Clean Plus® are up 28% or more - this speaks volumes of FLKI strategies and operating processes.

Members of the international professional press present for the sneak preview confirmed a widespread anticipation for this next generation of Clean Plus® professional car care products.

About Falken Industries Ltd:

Contacts:
Falken Industries Ltd
Manuel Garcia
Communications Officer
+1609 357 0316
Email: mgarciafaure@falkenltd.com :

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

S. KOREA'S POSCO TO BUILD AUTOMOTIVE STEEL PLANT IN CHINA - TradingMarkets.com

Posted: 07 Sep 2009 06:09 PM PDT

Disclaimer:

The Connors Group, Inc. ("Company") is not an investment advisory service, nor a registered investment advisor or broker-dealer and does not purport to tell or suggest which securities or currencies customers should buy or sell for themselves. The analysts and employees or affiliates of Company may hold positions in the stocks, currencies or industries discussed here. You understand and acknowledge that there is a very high degree of risk involved in trading securities and/or currencies. The Company, the authors, the publisher, and all affiliates of Company assume no responsibility or liability for your trading and investment results. Factual statements on the Company's website, or in its publications, are made as of the date stated and are subject to change without notice.

It should not be assumed that the methods, techniques, or indicators presented in these products will be profitable or that they will not result in losses. Past results of any individual trader or trading system published by Company are not indicative of future returns by that trader or system, and are not indicative of future returns which be realized by you. In addition, the indicators, strategies, columns, articles and all other features of Company's products (collectively, the "Information") are provided for informational and educational purposes only and should not be construed as investment advice. Examples presented on Company's website are for educational purposes only. Such set-ups are not solicitations of any order to buy or sell. Accordingly, you should not rely solely on the Information in making any investment. Rather, you should use the Information only as a starting point for doing additional independent research in order to allow you to form your own opinion regarding investments. You should always check with your licensed financial advisor and tax advisor to determine the suitability of any investment.

HYPOTHETICAL OR SIMULATED PERFORMANCE RESULTS HAVE CERTAIN INHERENT LIMITATIONS. UNLIKE AN ACTUAL PERFORMANCE RECORD, SIMULATED RESULTS DO NOT REPRESENT ACTUAL TRADING AND MAY NOT BE IMPACTED BY BROKERAGE AND OTHER SLIPPAGE FEES. ALSO, SINCE THE TRADES HAVE NOT ACTUALLY BEEN EXECUTED, THE RESULTS MAY HAVE UNDER- OR OVER-COMPENSATED FOR THE IMPACT, IF ANY, OF CERTAIN MARKET FACTORS, SUCH AS LACK OF LIQUIDITY. SIMULATED TRADING PROGRAMS IN GENERAL ARE ALSO SUBJECT TO THE FACT THAT THEY ARE DESIGNED WITH THE BENEFIT OF HINDSIGHT. NO REPRESENTATION IS BEING MADE THAT ANY ACCOUNT WILL OR IS LIKELY TO ACHIEVE PROFITS OR LOSSES SIMILAR TO THOSE SHOWN.

The Connors Group, Inc.
10 Exchange Place, Suite 1800
Jersey City, NJ 07302

All analyst commentary provided on TradingMarkets.com is provided for educational purposes only. The analysts and employees or affiliates of TradingMarkets.com may hold positions in the stocks or industries discussed here. This information is NOT a recommendation or solicitation to buy or sell any securities. Your use of this and all information contained on TradingMarkets.com is governed by the Terms and Conditions of Use. Please click the link to view those terms. Follow this link to read our Editorial Policy.

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

TecDoc reinforces leading Scandinavian data provider - PR Inside

Posted: 07 Sep 2009 11:38 PM PDT

2009-09-08 08:39:29 -

A comprehensive web-based information service is currently being created for the Swedish automotive service and repair market. The unusual feature of this service is that vehicles are identified via their licence plate number. In enlisting TecDoc, Europe's leading provider of technical data for the independent automotive spare parts market, the operator, AIS Nordic, has a strong partner. Together they plan

to expand operations further. The other Scandinavian countries of Norway, Finland and Denmark will soon follow.

With a neutral catalogue platform, Target Automotive Information Systems Ltd. (AIS Nordic) intends to provide qualified technical data on vehicles and automotive spare parts to Scandinavian countries. TecDoc Informations System GmbH's experts from Cologne are supporting the project with qualified technical data and their experience in the area of complex data processing and structured search design. The portal has access to the complete portfolio of brands currently available with TecDoc.

The Swedish firm AIS Nordic specialises in the development, operation and marketing of information systems for the automotive industry. Their information systems experts have been operating in the Nordic market since 2006. Among their latest developments, one major, service-friendly highlight is the ability to search for technical vehicle data simply by entering the number plate data. This makes it easier for trade and workshop customers to link correctly to TecDoc's catalogue data. This type of search saves time and prevents errors in vehicle identification.

TecDoc in Scandinavia
AIS Nordic has incorporated the databases and expertise of major suppliers for the Scandinavian project. Along with TecDoc, Europe's leading provider of spare parts information, the Swedes are also turning to the current repair and service data of Vivid, among others. AIS itself provides further details relative to aspects such as vehicle model and equipment.

In an initial stage of the collaboration, the qualified TecDoc master data for Sweden were first updated and completed. Now all vehicles registered in Sweden can be called up via the number plate search engine. And the Cologne experts are already planning further expansion steps with AIS Nordic: this means other Scandinavian countries – Norway, Finland and Denmark – will soon have access to the data pool as well. The advantage in this case is that they all already have the ability to identify spare parts via the number plate.

According to Ulrich Zehnpfenning-Bendisch, Managing Director at TecDoc, "The partnership with AIS Nordic is a major step toward further expansion of our market leadership in Europe.

With the basic subscription, AIS licensees can access over two million repair data entries and vehicle information from some 340 different suppliers and visualise more than 890,000 photos and drawings. They also obtain detailed data covering every aspect of some twelve million vehicles. This includes, among other things, information on year of manufacture, vehicle chassis number, engine variant, displacement and power as well as type of transmission, drive and body.

For further information on the portal and about AIS Nordic's services, please visit www.ais-nordic.com (in Swedish but leaflets, product sheets and a "AIS at a glance" is available in English). However, queries concerning the partnership or any customer projects with AIS can be sent directly to sales@tecdoc.net.

May be reprinted free of charge. Please forward specimen copy.

About TecDoc
TecDoc Informations System GmbH was established on January 20, 1994. TecDoc is supported by a total of 31 partners from the supply industry and parts trade, represented by the German Association for Spare Parts (GVA). The primary aim of the company is to help ensure the competitiveness of the independent spare parts business. For the sales agents of the free market, TecDoc offers an electronic information system for the passenger and commercial vehicle segment. The availability of the technical catalogue information enables multi-brand service in all automotive service businesses. The TecDoc system currently includes more than 360 parts industry brands. The electronic parts catalogue on DVD and in the Internet bundles over 2.54 million articles in 24 languages. Users have access to more than 1.19 million diagrams. As a result, the system covers more than 41,000 passenger vehicle types and more than 30,000 commercial vehicle types. Every quarter, TecDoc data reaches 800,000 users inside and outside Germany. Sixty percent of these users receive it through TecDoc's own catalogues or through commercial solutions implemented by TecDoc in the WEB SHOP, and the remainder receive it via commercial catalogues.

Media contact:
Gabriele Kordes – Tel.: +49 (0) 171 – 45 17 707 - press@tecdoc.net
Birgit Schiller – Tel.: +49 (0) 221 66 00 – 214 - Fax: +49 (0) 221 66 00 – 100 – birgit.schiller@tecdoc.net
TecDoc Informations System GmbH, Arnikaweg 3, 51109 Cologne, Germany

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Australian car parts maker goes into administration - World Socialist Web Site

Posted: 07 Sep 2009 09:01 PM PDT

Home » World Economy » Oceania » Australia and South Pacific » Australia

Australian car parts maker goes into administration

By Terry Cook
8 September 2009

The real face of the Australian government's car industry bailout packages was demonstrated last month when the jobs of hundreds of car parts workers were thrown into jeopardy after ACL Bearing, an offshoot of Automotive Components Ltd (ACL), went into voluntary administration on August 26.

The company employs 270 at its factory in Launceston, Tasmania and another 130 at ACL Gasket in Brisbane, Queensland. ACL also owns ACL Distribution Inc in Grand Rapids, Michigan and Automotive Components NZ in Auckland.

The news came within weeks of workers being told that their jobs were safe due to a rescue package worked out in June between the federal and Tasmanian state Labor governments, ACL, car producers Ford and Toyota, and the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU).

Under the June deal, the federal government injected $7 million into ACL under its so-called Automotive Industry Structural Adjustment Program. The Tasmanian government handed over $330,000 to the company and agreed to make available a $4 million line of credit. The latter arrangement fell through after ACL directors refused to provide personal guarantees. Ford loaned ACL $3 million to pay out the company's debt to GE Money.

The handouts were part of a $21.7 million three-year restructuring program, which involved the company undertaking "productivity initiatives", meeting specific performance targets and accepting continuous monitoring. "Productivity initiatives" and "performance targets" are code words for imposing cuts in pay and conditions, increased workloads and speed-ups on workers.

Facing the threat to their jobs, workers were pressured into accepting a four-day week, resulting in a substantial loss of pay. Nevertheless, AMWU official Glen Thompson praised the outcome, declaring: "On behalf of our members at ACL Bearings, the AMWU congratulates all parties who have made this possible."

Similar pacts to prop up companies at the expense of workers' hours, wages and conditions have been imposed throughout the car industry by the trade unions, acting in concert with the federal Labor government and the employers.

ACL Bearings will continue trading for a month after Ford appointed its own receivers, Grant Thorton, which will take control while the administrators review options including the liquidation and sale of the company in parts or as a whole.

Even if total liquidation is avoided, there will be a drastic restructuring, further job shedding and severe cuts to working conditons. Grant Thornton director Matthew Byrnes said: "We will review, consolidate and restructure ACL to be viable and then we will have a product we can talk to people about buying."

Ford intervened, not out of any concern for the workers, but because ACL's collapse would mean a major crisis for the automaker. GM Holden and Toyoto have alternative suppliers, but Ford relies entirely on ACL for bearings.

While Ford is a secured creditor, the workers face the potential loss of $30 million in accrued entitlements and severance pay. The federal government's General Employee Entitlements and Redundancy Scheme (GEERS) pays up to eight weeks of redundancy entitlements, just a fraction of what ACL workers are owed.

Federal Industry Minister Kim Carr, who oversaw the June deal, made clear that the government's concerns lay exclusively with defending the interests of Ford and the other manufacturers. Carr declared that uninterrupted supply of components was "an issue of national importance". He said the government would work closely with the administrators "to try to avoid disruption to the Australian automotive industry".

For its part, the AMWU remains committed to assisting the receivers to restructure the company at the expense of its members. AMWU national secretary David Oliver told the ABC: "They are a gutsy bunch of workers that are committed to the viability of this enterprise. They're rolling their sleeves up and they're committed, they're going to continue to work, and work hard, to ensure we can minimise any jobs losses and secure a future for ACL Bearing."

When the Rudd government introduced its multi-billion dollar New Car Plan for a Greener Future fund and Automotive Industry Structural Adjustment Program earlier this year, it denied these were taxpayer-funded bailouts of the auto giants. It presented the handouts as promoting technological innovation and job creation.

However, the government has continued to hand out millions of dollars as the car companies have axed jobs and helped drive component makers to the wall. At the beginning of this year Ford Australia extracted $13 million in federal government assistance after it threatened to close production at its engine plant in Geelong, Victoria and eliminate 300 jobs.

GM Holden is currently planning to slash about 200 jobs in office-based functions at its Port Melbourne headquarters through "voluntary" redundancies. Just this month, GM Holden was granted a $200 million line of credit by the federal government's Export Finance and Insurance Corp. Earlier this year it raked in $149 million from the green car fund to manufacture a new four-cylinder petrol driven model. The company then announced it would accelerate the closure of its four-cylinder Family II engine plant at Fisherman's Bend, originally scheduled for the end of 2009, at the cost of 513 jobs.

The locally-based auto producers have directly contributed to the collapse of a number of component manufacturers. They have insisted that parts contracts are based on fixed prices, preventing component suppliers passing on increases due to currency movements or rising raw material prices.

At the same time, the collapse of ACL Bearing is a sharp reflection of the devastating impact of the global recession. Shrinking markets, increasingly ruthless competition and tightening credit have seen major car companies around the world slash production. As a result, many component companies have collapsed, while others have restructured their operations, destroying jobs and working conditions.

While ACL's contracts with Australian-based car companies formed a critical part of its business, around 55 percent of its turnover was in shrinking export contracts. The company's now deposed chairman Ivan Jones confirmed this week that ACL's sales volumes fell by roughly 45 percent after the onset of the global financial crisis.

What is happening at ACL is a case study of the ongoing tripartite operations being carried out by the government, employers and unions to bail out, restructure and try to restore profits for failing companies. Billions of dollars are being made available to the corporate elite to assist in gutting workers' jobs, wages and working conditions.