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April 2000

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Tuesday, April 4, 2000

AK Steel Vaults Onto Prestigious Fortune 500 List

AK Steel Vaults Onto Prestigious Fortune 500 List

AK Steel has ascended to the prestigious Fortune 500 list of the country's largest companies with a ranking of 372 for 1999, based on revenues of $4.285 billion. AK Steel was one of the 45 newcomers to the list for 1999. ... Continue reading

ALLDATA Releases First Quarter 2000 Database

ALLDATA Releases First Quarter 2000 Database

ALLDATA added over 130,000 electronic pages, including over 19,400 pages of wiring diagrams and 1,500 pages of technical service bulletins, this quarter to the ALLDATA(R) Database. ... Continue reading

American Honda March Sales Break 100,000 Mark, Set Multiple Records

American Honda March Sales Break 100,000 Mark, Set Multiple Records

Total American Honda March sales rose 20.3 percent to 104,855, setting a new record for the month and marking the company's second-best month ever, according to sales figures released by American Honda Motor Co., Inc. ... Continue reading

American Isuzu Motors Inc. Scores Direct Mail Hit

American Isuzu Motors Inc. Scores Direct Mail Hit

American Isuzu Motors Inc. (AIMI) announced impressively strong initial results of the firm's latest direct mail campaign. ... Continue reading

American Suzuki Automotive Posts Best March Sales in More Than a Decade

American Suzuki Automotive Posts Best March Sales in More Than a Decade

Supported by a growing dealer network, American Suzuki reports its strongest sales month since August 1988. Marking sales increases across its six-model line, American Suzuki sold 6,486 vehicles in March, a 67-percent increase over March 1999 sales. ... Continue reading

April 12th SAE Meeting to focus on CART engineering

April 12th SAE Meeting to focus on CART engineering

April 12th SAE Meeting to focus on CART engineering ... Continue reading

Autoco.com Announces New Web Site Design and Services

Autoco.com Announces New Web Site Design and Services

Autoco.com, Inc. announced TheMotorPages.com revised website, increasing the suite of e-commerce services available to automotive dealers and consumers. ... Continue reading

BOLDER Reports Expansion of SecureStart Portable Jump Starter

BOLDER Reports Expansion of SecureStart Portable Jump Starter

BOLDER Technologies Corporation announced that its SecureStart (TM) Portable Jump Starter product will become available in mid- April in Home Hardware. ... Continue reading

Bonded Motors Announces 66 Percent Workforce Reduction

Bonded Motors Announces 66 Percent Workforce Reduction

Bonded Motors Inc. filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission a notification of late filing of its annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended Dec. 31, 1999. ... Continue reading

Budget Offers Double Perfect Drive Points For Booking on its Web Site

Budget Offers Double Perfect Drive Points For Booking on its Web Site

Members of Budget Rent a Car's Perfect Drive customer loyalty program will start seeing double this month, when they book their car rentals on the company's Web site: http://www.budget.com. ... Continue reading

Budget Rent a Car Award-Winning Ad Campaign Picks Up Steam

Budget Rent a Car Award-Winning Ad Campaign Picks Up Steam

Budget Rent a Car launched the latest in a string of new TV spots highlighting the company's line-up of cool cars and Fastbreak express service. ... Continue reading

Carlisle Announces Organizational Streamlining Moves

Carlisle Announces Organizational Streamlining Moves

Carlisle Companies Inc. announced further organizational changes affiliated with the recent creation of the Office of the Chairman. ... Continue reading

Cherry Corporation Completes Sale of Its Semiconductor Subsidiary

Cherry Corporation Completes Sale of Its Semiconductor Subsidiary

The Cherry Corporation announced that it has closed the sale of its subsidiary, Cherry Semiconductor Corporation, to Semiconductor Components Industries, LLC, a subsidiary of SCG Holding Corporation. ... Continue reading

Chrysler Group's Decade-Best Minivan Sales Strengthen U.S. Market Leadership

Chrysler Group's Decade-Best Minivan Sales Strengthen U.S. Market Leadership

Record minivan and strong car sales propelled DaimlerChrysler Corporation to a new March sales record with a four percent increase in sales over 1999. ... Continue reading

Copart and Keystone Announce National B2B Automobile Parts Initiative

Copart and Keystone Announce National B2B Automobile Parts Initiative

Copart, Inc. and Keystone Automotive Industries, Inc. announced the signing of an exclusive marketing agreement between the companies. ... Continue reading

Daewoo Continues Record Sales Pace

Daewoo Continues Record Sales Pace

Daewoo Motor America ended first quarter sales with another record month. March sales of 6101 units represented a 14% increase from February. ... Continue reading

DaimlerChrysler Adds Dealers to its Free Child Safety Seat Inspection

DaimlerChrysler Adds Dealers to its Free Child Safety Seat Inspection

Four new DaimlerChrysler dealers in the Phoenix area officially opened the doors of its free, permanent child safety seat inspection service -- Fit for a Kid -- to all families, no matter what make or model vehicle they drive. ... Continue reading

DaimlerChrysler Combined March Sales Continue Record Setting Year in the U.S.

DaimlerChrysler Combined March Sales Continue Record Setting Year in the U.S.

Consolidated DaimlerChrysler sales in the United States totalled 290,612 for a record-setting March 2000, versus sales of 278,309 in 1999 -- a gain of four percent. ... Continue reading

Dana Completes Sale of Commercial Vehicle Cab Systems Group

Dana Completes Sale of Commercial Vehicle Cab Systems Group

Dana Corporation announced that it has completed the sale of its Commercial Vehicle Cab Systems Group to an affiliate of Hidden Creek Industries. ... Continue reading

DENSO Establishes a Sales Company in Belgium

DENSO Establishes a Sales Company in Belgium

DENSO Corporation -- parent company of Southfield-based DENSO International America, Inc. -- announced that it established a sales company, DENSO Sales Belgium N.V., in a suburb of Brussels, Belgium on March 20, 2000. ... Continue reading

Digital Audio Breakthrough Redefines Personal Computers

Digital Audio Breakthrough Redefines Personal Computers

JAM Technologies announced an all-digital audio breakthrough that makes digital music, DTV, DVD movies, and digital radio through a personal computer rival the performance of a high end living room stereo. ... Continue reading

Environmental Solutions Allowed U.S. Patent Application on Spark Plug

Environmental Solutions Allowed U.S. Patent Application on Spark Plug

Environmental Solutions Worldwide Inc. announces that their U.S. patent application has been allowed on a new, highly efficient spark plug, which has the potential to dramatically increase efficiency of internal combustion engines. ... Continue reading

Expert Tips on Spring Cleaning for Your Car

Expert Tips on Spring Cleaning for Your Car

Winter's ravages have made an impact on your vehicle. Mike Lange, Training Manager at Murray's Discount Auto Stores, suggests a thorough spring cleaning for your car. ... Continue reading

F-150 Online Truck Enthusiast Web Site Celebrates Third Anniversary

F-150 Online Truck Enthusiast Web Site Celebrates Third Anniversary

F-150 Online (www.f150online.com), a web site for owners and enthusiasts of late model Ford trucks, is celebrating its third year on the Internet. ... Continue reading

Fairchild Semiconductor Announces Phase Two Growth Plan

Fairchild Semiconductor Announces Phase Two Growth Plan

Fairchild Semiconductor International announced its Phase II growth strategy, designed to attain a 10% market share in its segments and double the company's revenues by 2002. ... Continue reading

Fairchild Semiconductor Raises Estimates for Q1 2000

Fairchild Semiconductor Raises Estimates for Q1 2000

Fairchild Semiconductor International expects to report its first quarter sales up approximately 10% from the fourth quarter of 1999, announced Joe Martin, executive vice president and chief financial officer. ... Continue reading

Federal-Mogul Appoints Ron Quell, Vice President, Systems Protection

Federal-Mogul Appoints Ron Quell, Vice President, Systems Protection

Tom B. Conaghan, senior vice president, Sealing Systems, Visibility and Systems Protection, Federal-Mogul Corporation announces the appointment of Ron Quell, 55, to the position of vice president, Systems Protection, effective immediately. ... Continue reading

Ford Motor Company Sets All-Time Monthly U.S. Sales Record

Ford Motor Company Sets All-Time Monthly U.S. Sales Record

U.S. consumers purchased or leased a record 441,701 cars and trucks from Ford, Mercury, Lincoln, Jaguar, and Volvo dealers in March -- the highest sales total for any month in the company's history. ... Continue reading

Former GM Chairman Stempel Joins Board of Southwall Technologies

Former GM Chairman Stempel Joins Board of Southwall Technologies

Southwall Technologies Inc. announced that Robert C. Stempel has accepted nomination to the Company's Board of Directors. ... Continue reading

Futuristic Nissan Hypermini Commuter Car At 2000 Future Car Congress

Futuristic Nissan Hypermini Commuter Car At 2000 Future Car Congress

The first U.S. showing of the award-winning Nissan Hypermini electric vehicle gives a glimpse of what is possible in the future for advanced technology vehicles which provide enhanced environmental and fuel economy performance. ... Continue reading

GM Posts 8th Consecutive Month of Record Truck Sales

GM Posts 8th Consecutive Month of Record Truck Sales

General Motors reported that its March truck sales rose 16 percent to 241,201 units, marking the eighth straight month of record truck sales and the fourth straight month of double- digit truck sales growth. ... Continue reading

Going to the eXtreme with Infogrames

Going to the eXtreme with Infogrames

Infogrames North America, Inc., a global publisher of interactive entertainment software, announced that it is publishing a title for the extreme sports enthusiast in all of us. ... Continue reading

Goodyear Extreme Rock Crawling Championship Series Takes on Utah

Goodyear Extreme Rock Crawling Championship Series Takes on Utah

The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company announced that its third in the five-part Goodyear Extreme Rock Crawling Championship Series will be held in Cedar City, Utah, on May 26 and 27. ... Continue reading

Herm Rosenman Resigns as President and CEO of Bikers Dream Inc.

Herm Rosenman Resigns as President and CEO of Bikers Dream Inc.

Bikers Dream Inc., which operates under the name Ultra Motorcycle Co., announced that Herm Rosenman has resigned from his positions as president and chief executive officer of the company effective immediately. ... Continue reading

Hyundai Sales Continue to Set Records; March Sales Up 84% Over Last Year

Hyundai Sales Continue to Set Records; March Sales Up 84% Over Last Year

Hyundai Motor America announced sales of 22,001 vehicles for the month of March, up 84% percent from one year ago. ... Continue reading

iMotors.com Launches in Oregon

iMotors.com Launches in Oregon

iMotors.com, the Internet's first and only used car e-tailer, today introduced its service in Oregon with the opening of its first Delivery Center in downtown Portland. ... Continue reading

Infiniti Announces March Sales Figures; I30 Posts Record Sales

Infiniti Announces March Sales Figures; I30 Posts Record Sales

Infiniti, the luxury division of Nissan North America, Inc. (NNA) reported total March sales of 7,436 units, an increase of 17.6 percent over February. ... Continue reading

INTERMET Permanently Closes Its Ironton Foundry

INTERMET Permanently Closes Its Ironton Foundry

INTERMET announced that it has permanently closed its Ironton Foundry located in Ironton, Ohio. The plant was shut down on Friday, March 31, 2000. INTERMET announced in December 1999 that it would close the plant in the first quarter of 2000. ... Continue reading

International Electronics Introduces Second Generation of Electronic Access

International Electronics Introduces Second Generation of Electronic Access

International Electronics, Inc. announced the introduction of PowerKey(tm) 2500, the initial product of its second-generation family of electronic access control products for industrial vehicles. ... Continue reading

Isuzu Motors Inc. Chooses FirePond as Interactive Selling Platform

Isuzu Motors Inc. Chooses FirePond as Interactive Selling Platform

FirePond announced that American Isuzu Motors Inc. has signed an agreement to use FirePond Sales(TM) and FirePond Sales Manager, the Web-based guided selling and customer information management modules of the FirePond Application Suite. ... Continue reading

Kia Sales Continue to Surge; Sportage Sales Up 44 Percent

Kia Sales Continue to Surge; Sportage Sales Up 44 Percent

Kia announced sales of 12,729 vehicles for the month of March, nearly 12 percent higher than last March. ... Continue reading

Land Rover North America, Inc. Announces March Sales Figures of 2,056 Units

Land Rover North America, Inc. Announces March Sales Figures of 2,056 Units

Land Rover North America, Inc. has posted its second best March sales figures ever, with sales of 2,056 units. This result rounds out the best first quarter ever for Land Rover. ... Continue reading

Lawrence A. Bossidy Joins Aatlas Commerce Board of Directors

Lawrence A. Bossidy Joins Aatlas Commerce Board of Directors

Aatlas Commerce, a leading enabler of business-to-business (B2B) Internet Marketplaces, announced that Lawrence A. Bossidy has joined the company's board of directors. ... Continue reading

Liteglow Industries Inc. Receives SEC Clearance

Liteglow Industries Inc. Receives SEC Clearance

CEO of Liteglow Industries Inc. announced that effective , Monday, April 3, 2000, the Securities and Exchange Commission has advised the company it has been cleared for all comments on form 10SB, effective October 15, 1999. ... Continue reading

Mace Signs Purchase Agreement To Acquire Beneva Car Wash

Mace Signs Purchase Agreement To Acquire Beneva Car Wash

Mace Security International, Inc. announced that it has signed a definitive purchase agreement to acquire Beneva Car Wash, located in Sarasota, Florida. ... Continue reading

Maker of Toyota Lift Trucks Offers to Buy BT Industries of Sweden

Maker of Toyota Lift Trucks Offers to Buy BT Industries of Sweden

Toyoda Automatic Loom Works, Ltd. (TAL), makers of Toyota Industrial Equipment products, announced a public offer to shareholders of BT Industries AB of Mjolby, Sweden, to purchase the Swedish manufacturer of material handling equipment. ... Continue reading

Mazda Reports March Sales Gain; Increase Attributed to All-New MPV Minivan

Mazda Reports March Sales Gain; Increase Attributed to All-New MPV Minivan

Mazda North American Operations (MNAO) announced U.S. sales of 20,432 units for the month of March, a 0.5 percent increase over the same period last year. ... Continue reading

Mercedes-Benz Records Second Best All-Time Month Ever in March 2000

Mercedes-Benz Records Second Best All-Time Month Ever in March 2000

Mercedes-Benz USA, Inc. (MBUSA) reported sales of 18,595 new vehicles during the month of March 2000, a 15.8 percent increase over last year's March 1999 sales record of 16,054. ... Continue reading

NASCAR WCUP: Kenny Wallace leaves Texas without a scrath, moves on to Martinsville

NASCAR WCUP: Kenny Wallace leaves Texas without a scrath, moves on to Martinsville

NASCAR WCUP: Kenny Wallace leaves Texas without a scrath, moves on to Martinsville ... Continue reading

NASCAR WCUP: Tony Stewart marches on to Martinsville

NASCAR WCUP: Tony Stewart marches on to Martinsville

NASCAR WCUP: Tony Stewart marches on to Martinsville ... Continue reading

Nation's Traffic Death Rates Reach Historic Low in 1999

Nation's Traffic Death Rates Reach Historic Low in 1999

U.S. Transportation Secretary Rodney E. Slater announced that traffic fatality rates hit an all-time low in 1999. It is the third successive year of historic improvement in the highway death rate. ... Continue reading

NetManage's OnWeb Integrator Provides eBusiness Platform for Mercedes-Benz Belgium

NetManage's OnWeb Integrator Provides eBusiness Platform for Mercedes-Benz Belgium

NetManage, Inc. announced that Mercedes-Benz Belgium, the luxury car manufacturer, is using NetManage's award-winning OnWeb(R) Integrator(TM) product to deliver a Web-based application to its Belgian dealer network. ... Continue reading

'New Drivers Course' Added to the BMW Driving School Curriculum

'New Drivers Course' Added to the BMW Driving School Curriculum

BMW of North America, Inc. has put its own mark on drivers education with the introduction of a "New Drivers Course" at the BMW Performance Center Driving School. ... Continue reading

NHRA: Bernstein anxious to get back on winning track in Top Fuel

NHRA: Bernstein anxious to get back on winning track in Top Fuel

NHRA: Bernstein anxious to get back on winning track in Top Fuel ... Continue reading

NHRA: Viva Las Vegas: NHRA teams go for drag racing jackpot

NHRA: Viva Las Vegas: NHRA teams go for drag racing jackpot

NHRA: Viva Las Vegas: NHRA teams go for drag racing jackpot ... Continue reading

Nissan Division Reports a 27.3 Percent Increase in Sales

Nissan Division Reports a 27.3 Percent Increase in Sales

Thanks in part to a new Xterra sales record, the Nissan Division of Nissan North America, Inc. (NNA) posted March sales of 62,142, an increase of 27.3% versus last year. ... Continue reading

Permatex Acquires No Touch North America

Permatex Acquires No Touch North America

Permatex, Inc. announced it has acquired No Touch North America from parent company Taiho Industries, Co., Ltd. (Japan). Terms were undisclosed. The acquisition will add approximately $10 million to Permatex revenues. ... Continue reading

Pick-Ups Plus Announces the Development of Its New E-Commerce Site

Pick-Ups Plus Announces the Development of Its New E-Commerce Site

Pick-Ups Plus, Inc. announced the appointment of Intec Solutions, Inc. of Crescent Sprint, KY as its e-commerce site developer. ... Continue reading

Prudential Reduces Rates for Connecticut Drivers

Prudential Reduces Rates for Connecticut Drivers

Prudential Property and Casualty Insurance Company (PRUPAC) is reducing Auto insurance rates in Connecticut by an average of 7.4 percent statewide. Some Connecticut drivers will enjoy reductions of over 15 percent. ... Continue reading

Quantum Direct Subsidiary Assumes Auto Insurance Policies of Direct Choice

Quantum Direct Subsidiary Assumes Auto Insurance Policies of Direct Choice

Quantum Direct Financial Corporation announced that its subsidiary, All Nation Insurance Company, has assumed all of the insurance policies issued by Direct Choice Insurance Company, through an assumption reinsurance transaction. ... Continue reading

RECARO-Johnson Controls Joint Venture

RECARO-Johnson Controls Joint Venture

RECARO Johnson Controls LLC may have the "pole position" in the race to market custom and specialty seat systems for new vehicles in North America. ... Continue reading

Saab Selects Digitas for Interactive Marketing

Saab Selects Digitas for Interactive Marketing

Saab Cars USA, Inc. announced that it has selected Digitas Inc. to execute interactive marketing and internet media activities. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed. ... Continue reading

Simula to be Featured in Dateline NBC's Passenger Train Crash Test Story On April 4

Simula to be Featured in Dateline NBC's Passenger Train Crash Test Story On April 4

A nationally-televised Dateline NBC story on the Federal Railroad Administration's passenger rail car crash test program will feature the role of Simula as a key contractor in the crash test experiments. ... Continue reading

Subaru Announces March Sales Figures; Best March Total Sales Month Since 1989

Subaru Announces March Sales Figures; Best March Total Sales Month Since 1989

Subaru of America, Inc. (SOA) announced its March sales figures. ... Continue reading

SupplySolution, Inc. Adds Henriette Douglas to Product Management Team

SupplySolution, Inc. Adds Henriette Douglas to Product Management Team

SupplySolution, Inc., providers of Internet based application services to the automotive supplier community, has hired Henriette Douglas as Director of Product Management. ... Continue reading

The Quantum Group Inc. Acquires Modified Asphalt Technologies

The Quantum Group Inc. Acquires Modified Asphalt Technologies

The Quantum Group Inc. has merged with Modified Asphalt Technologies by acquiring 100 percent of MAT's stock, it was announced by Ehrenfried Liebich, CEO of The Quantum Group Inc., and Jeffery R. Smith, president of MAT. ... Continue reading

Timken's Rail Bearing Service Subsidiary Consolidates Facilities

Timken's Rail Bearing Service Subsidiary Consolidates Facilities

Rail Bearing Service, a Timken Company subsidiary, has announced a consolidation of their Knoxville, Tennessee facilities. ... Continue reading

Toyota Reports Best-Ever March Sales and Record-Breaking First Quarter

Toyota Reports Best-Ever March Sales and Record-Breaking First Quarter

Toyota Motor Sales (TMS), U.S.A., Inc., reported best-ever March sales of 140,393 vehicles, an increase of 16.0 percent over last year. ... Continue reading

Union Acceptance Corporation Announces Web Site www.unionacceptance.com

Union Acceptance Corporation Announces Web Site www.unionacceptance.com

Union Acceptance Corporation announced the launch of its web site, www.unionacceptance.com. ... Continue reading

USAC: Debeaumont hones skills in Russell' s TRC

USAC: Debeaumont hones skills in Russell' s TRC

USAC: Debeaumont hones skills in Russell' s TRC ... Continue reading

USAC: Drake, Gordon take 'Branson/Larson' and 'Niebel' classics

USAC: Drake, Gordon take 'Branson/Larson' and 'Niebel' classics

USAC: Drake, Gordon take 'Branson/Larson' and 'Niebel' classics ... Continue reading

USAC: Tyler hoping to improve 1999 Nazareth finish this Saturday

USAC: Tyler hoping to improve 1999 Nazareth finish this Saturday

USAC: Tyler hoping to improve 1999 Nazareth finish this Saturday ... Continue reading

Vicinity AutoFinder Technology Drives Consumers to Their Ideal Vehicle

Vicinity AutoFinder Technology Drives Consumers to Their Ideal Vehicle

Vicinity Corp. has developed a technology called Vicinity AutoFinder to help automobile manufacturers and dealers "drive" consumers from their Web sites to each consumer's ideal car or truck. ... Continue reading

Williams Controls Reaches Agreement to Sell Agriculture Equipment Business

Williams Controls Reaches Agreement to Sell Agriculture Equipment Business

Williams Controls announced an agreement in principle to sell the agriculture equipment business of Hardee Williams Inc. and Waccamaw Wheel Williams, Inc. for approximately $2.9m in cash and notes plus the assumption of up to $200,000 of liabilities. ... Continue reading

ZAP Signs Private Placement Agency Agreement For $7.5 Million in Capital

ZAP Signs Private Placement Agency Agreement For $7.5 Million in Capital

ZAPWORLD.COM of Sebastopol announced it has signed an agreement in principle with the investment banking firm Donner Corporation International to raise for the Company up to $7.5 million in equity capital in a private placement. ... Continue reading

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