Crain Communications Launches Die Automobil-Woche

Crain Communications, publisher of the highly respected Automotive News, will launch Die Automobil-Woche at the time of the Frankfurt IAA Motor show. The German- language newspaper will cover the entire new-vehicle industry, from suppliers to automakers to franchised dealers.

"Germany is one of the world's three most important automotive markets, and it's an exciting place for a hard-hitting business newspaper," said Keith Crain, chairman of Crain Communications and publisher of Automotive News and its sister publication, London-based Automotive News Europe.

Helmut Kluger, a veteran German business-to-business publishing executive, is publisher of Die Automobil-Woche (meaning The Automobile Week) and managing director of Crain Communications GmbH. Most recently, Kluger was responsible for the trade journal division of Verlag Moderne Industrie, a subsidiary of Sueddeutsche Verlag, the publisher of Sueddeutsche Zeitung. His group included several leading automotive business magazines.

"Die Automobil-Woche will be the first German publication that covers the whole German automotive industry," Kluger said. "The interaction between suppliers, OEMs and dealers will increase considerably. It won't be long before German dealers will ask their customers: Do you want Delphi or Bosch inside?"

Die Automobil-Woche is based in the Munich suburb of Oberpfaffenhofen (e-mail: automobil-woche@crain.com ). Kluger is assembling a team of editors, reporters and sales and marketing people.

Initially, Die Automobil-Woche will publish every two weeks for distribution to automotive and dealership executives in Germany, Austria and German-speaking Switzerland. It will cover the whole range of the vehicle business, from product-development to manufacturing, sales, marketing, distribution and dealer service. Its web site will provide hour-by-hour breaking news and a rich source of automotive industry data.

Die Automobil-Woche becomes the fifth publication in the Crain Automotive Group. Automotive News is the dominant newspaper of the American auto industry; Automotive News Europe, with offices in England, France, Italy and Germany, is the leading pan-European automotive newspaper; Automotive News International is a glossy monthly that provides intelligence and insight to top automotive executives globally; and AutoWeek is a leading American enthusiast publication.

Headquartered in Detroit, Crain Communications Inc. publishes 33 consumer, business and trade publications including Advertising Age, BtoB, Business Insurance, Modern Healthcare, and business weeklies in Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit and New York, along with numerous related business Web sites. It has more than 1,000 employees in 17 offices worldwide. The company's web address is http://www.crain.com .