AIAG's Actionline Calls for Industry to Enact Standards

DETROIT, March 15 -- The February/March issue of Actionline magazine calls for the automotive industry to more aggressively enact self- policing standards or face costly legislation.

In this issue:

* Contributing writer John McCormick writes that DaimlerChrysler's U.S. chief, Dieter Zetsche, is "going on the offensive" in a "make or break year" with an unprecedented nine new models for 2004. The focus of the offensive is on styling, value and quality of the new models.

* CSM Worldwide, the automotive research firm, provides forecasted vehicle production volumes through 2008.

* AIAG Executive Director Andrew Cummins calls for the automotive industry to pre-empt potential legislation by enacting industry-wide standards on recalls, enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems and other activities in order to avoid billions of dollars in added costs.

Published seven times yearly, Actionline delivers in-depth information and analysis on all aspects of the automotive industry. A resource for OEMs, suppliers and vendors, Actionline includes monthly interviews with leading automotive executives, articles by industry experts and feature stories on emerging automotive supply chain issues.

Founded in 1982, AIAG is headquartered in Southfield, Mich. Its more than 1,600 member companies include North American, European and Asia-Pacific OEMs and suppliers to the automotive industry with combined annual sales of more than $600 billion. A not-for-profit association, AIAG's primary goals are to reduce cost and complexity within the automotive supply chain and to improve speed-to-market, product quality, employee health-and-safety and the environment. Additional information is available on the Internet at www.aiag.org .