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Strategies & Market Trends : Booms, Busts, and Recoveries -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: twmoore who wrote (52305)	8/14/2004 6:42:14 AM
From: elmatador	Respond to of 74559

<<I would bet you a coffee>> You'd probably win because I lost one pizza to Jay and am about to lose a second -China's Reminbi won't be revalued. I keep saying to eplay that there are too many 'accidents' 'disaasters' and 'strikes'...

To: twmoore who wrote (52305)	8/14/2004 6:59:20 AM
From: elmatador	Respond to of 74559

<<first factory-produced car to run on gasoline, alcohol or natural gas>> We are ready, 2more: GM Unveils 'Multi-Fuel' Car in Brazil 08.13.2004, 01:42 PM General Motors Co. on Friday unveiled Brazil's first factory-produced car to run on gasoline, alcohol or natural gas, and a top government official said South America's largest country hopes to export the technology abroad. Economic Development Minister Luiz Furlan also predicted GM's "multi-fuel" car will be a big hit in Brazil's urban areas, where the three types of fuel are readily available and natural gas is the cheapest option. Brazilian drivers for years have hired mechanics to install natural gas conversion kits so cars can run on it in addition to either alcohol or gas. But the feature has never before been offered before as a factory-installed option. GM, Fiat SpA and Volkswagen last year began selling Brazilian "flex-fuel" cars that run on alcohol or gasoline or a combination of the two. GM's new car is the first to come with the natural gas option. The automaker will offer the multi-fuel package on its compact Astra sedan, expected to appear in showrooms next month. The car was unveiled in the capital of Brasilia in front of Brazil's presidential palace, and President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva turned on the engine and switched the fuel from gasoline to natural gas while the car was running. Furlan said Brazil's Finance Ministry is studying a plan from Brazilian automakers to reduce taxes on cars made with multi-fuel technology. Automakers sold 150,000 flex-fuel cars in Brazil from January through July, representing 18 percent of total new car sales. Most flex-fuel car buyers are currently filling up with alcohol because it costs about half as much as gas. Sales of the multi-fuel car could give an additional boost to Brazil's auto industry, which was hit hard last year by the country's worst recession in a decade. The Brazilian automakers association this week raised its forecast for overall 2004 production to 2.1 million vehicles after publishing data that showed output and sales rising for the third straight month in July. The association, Anfavea, said Brazilian output of cars, trucks and buses should increase 15 percent this year from last year's production of 1.83 million vehicles. That would set a new record and would be the first year since 1997 that Brazil's auto sector has produced more than 2 million vehicles. International automakers invested about US$27 billion in Brazil over the last decade in an overly optimistic bet that there would be demand for 3.2 million Brazilian-made cars every year