auto parts manufacturers,auto parts suppliers

WOLFSBURG/LÜBECK —There are just a couple of weeks left before the big double birthday party: Volkswagen New Beetle fans from all over Europe are going to be celebrating the tenth anniversary of the cult car line; at the same time the New Beetle Sunshine Tour is starting its fifth run in July. Alongside the production models, special paint jobs or completely new body work will all be on display at our grand review drive along the Baltic Sea coastline. The birthday tour starts midday on Saturday, July 19, at the Volkswagen Center in Lübeck. Its goal? A beach party featuring New Beetles on the beach grasslands at Grömitz.

The private initiative of the “New Beetle Sunshine Tour” got started by Beetle Cabriolet driver Gabriele Kraft of Lübeck in 2004. She takes charge of the organization of the party, which comes along each year in July. “What had its origin on a small scale has grown meanwhile into a regular international meeting. This year three New Beetles from Ukraine will be joining us as a first,” she says. More than some 190 cars with participants from all over Europe have registered already, and Gabriele Kraft is pretty optimistic that there won’t be a single spot left on the beachy grasslands at Grömitz. Even Beetle freaks from as far away as Scotland have logged on with us.

The Grömitz community and Volkswagen, the sponsors of the New Beetle Sunshine Tour, have definitely dreamed up a fine birthday surprise again this year. A really spectacular art project has been initiated to follow up on the drive-on show-truck-stage that we had last year, complete with its open air concert. New Beetle drivers who would like to be there when it happens this year can register for free on the Internet at the homepage www.beetle-sunshinetour.de.

HERNDON, VA.—Volkswagen of America, Inc. announced today that its Jetta SportWagen, a sporty and functional wagon version of their top-selling Jetta model, is now available in dealer showrooms. The Jetta SportWagen combines practicality with European style and balances both style and sportiness—exceptional ride and handling and class-leading safety features, coupled with its functional design are perfect for those with an active lifestyle.

Staying true to Volkswagen’s long history of delivering performance and value, the Jetta SportWagen will be offered in three engine variations. Now available in dealer showrooms is the 2.5-liter, five cylinder engine that produces 170 horsepower and 177 lbs.-ft of torque. For those wanting more power, a 2.0-liter, turbo-charged, four cylinder engine that produces 200 hp and 207 lbs.-ft. of toque will be available in dealer showrooms later this year. The 2.5L Jetta SportWagen has a starting price of $18,999.

For customers desiring an efficient alternative fuel vehicle, the Jetta SportWagen TDI will also be available later this year with an all-new 2.0L clean diesel engine that produces 140 hp, and an impressive 236 lbs.-ft. of torque. The clean diesel engine version demonstrates that consumers do not have to compromise when it comes to performance and fuel efficiency. The Jetta SportWagen TDI will have a starting price of $23,590.

Aside from offering the sporty feel and fun to drive performance of a Jetta, the SportWagen also opens up a new world of possibilities in the way of usable cargo room— 32.8 cubic feet to be exact, or an even more impressive 66.9 cubic feet with the rear seat folded down. For those whose active lifestyle requires even more room, there is an optional fold-flat front passenger seat that provides additional cargo space. Fold-flat front passenger seat is available with “V-Tex” leatherette seating.

The Jetta SportWagen comes standard with Volkswagen’s Prevent and Preserve Safety System™, with over forty standard safety features – including no less than six standard airbags, with optional rear side airbags. Electronic Stabilization Program (ESP) is now standard on all 2009 Volkswagens.

Also standard for 2009 is Volkswagen’s carefree maintenance program, with this program there are no charges for the scheduled maintenance described in the vehicle’s maintenance booklet for the length of the New Vehicle Limited Warranty—three years or 36,000 miles, whichever occurs first.

Tata Salt has become the No 3 most trusted brand, its highest ever rank in the Brand Equity ET Survey 2008, conducted by AC Nielsen. The ‘Desh Ka Namak’ has also regained its No 1 spot as the most trusted food brand in India.

Tata Salt is also a resounding No 1 brand among the housewives segment, echoing the trust that millions of housewives across the country place on the brand every single day. It’s No 2 in North and East regions and No 3 most trusted brand in metros.

Tata Salt is the market leader in the national branded iodised salt segment with a 43 per cent market share. Consumer activations and BTL activities throughout the country have helped it establish a stronger brand connect with its consumers.

The brand has also engaged consumers through its socially relevant Desh Ko Arpan programme under which Tata Salt extended educational support to 1,500 underprivileged girl children in the last two years through the Nanhi Kali project.

The launch of Tata Salt Lite, a low-sodium salt, which is a brand extension of Tata Salt, has had a positive rub off on its brand equity as well.

ET defines the most trusted brand as one which bonds best with the consumer, a brand that is not only familiar to the consumer but also provides quality and reassurance to her / him. The brands are evaluated on relatedness, perceived popularity, quality connotation, distinctiveness / uniqueness of what they stand for, value for money offered — does it strike a chord with the consumer and repurchase intent.

The survey interviewed more than 8,000 respondents across 12 cities in the west, east, north and south zones of India. The sample is spread across socio-economic class, age and income groups, covering consumers aged 15 and older. The list consisted of 300 brands (219 consumer products and 81 service brands).

The Tinplate Company of India had a historic day on June 16, 2008 when the cold trial of Electrolytic tinning line – II was commenced by Chairman B Muthuraman in the presence of all the directors on the board, ex managing director, RN Sharma, COO of Tata Steel, Hemant Nerurkar, VP (engg) Tata Steel, RP Singh, VP (flat products) Tata Steel, Anand Sen and many customers, suppliers and members of the Golmuri Tinplate Workers’ Union, including Rakeshwar Pandey, its president.

The Tinplate Company was producing 60,000 tonne of tinplate around 10 years back and the capacity has already been increased three times and last year it has produced around 170,000 tonne. With the addition of ETL-II its capacity has become 380,000 tonne per annum. The commercial production will start after two months. The technology and equipments have been supplied by Nippon Steel Engineering Corporation, Japan, which is one of the best in the world. Some of the equipments have come from Korea.

Mr Muthuraman said that TCIL had undergone a qualitative change and has emerged as a much stronger and forward looking company under the leadership of Bushen Raina in the last few years. He reiterated that TCIL was going to become one of the strongest arms of Tata Steel and applauded the steps taken by it to enhance capacity to 380,000 tonne per annum

Mr Muthuraman mentioned that ETL-II will have a singular facility to produce both tinplate and tin-free steel in coil form as well as in sheet form with closest tolerances. This line is also having the provision for scrolling. TCIL is already a leader in South East Asian market due to its high proportion of export. This line is one of the best line for tinplating in the world. Bushen Raina, MD, TCIL, said that this project was a dream come true. He expressed confidence in his team, and in his suppliers, especially Nippon Steel, Japan. Rakeshwar Pandey, president, Golmuri Tinplate Workers’Union, thanked Mr Muthuraman for his continued support to TCIL and expressed full support on behalf of the workers of the company.

Mr Hayashi, project manager of Nippon Steel, said that he was very happy to work in this project and expressed his belief that the targets would be met. Earlier TK Ghosh, president, TCIL, welcomed all those present. KN Mishra, VP, TCIL, thanked all the dignitaries for their time including suppliers, customers and other service providers and hoped that the project would be completed well within the budget. Tarun Daga, COO, TCIL, conducted the programme.

Before this, Mr Muthuraman did the ground breaking for 200000T CRM-II, a Rs450-crore project. This project will be executed in TCIL under the aegis of Tata Steel. This will supply TMBP coils to ETL-II. The finishing units will be completed in around 18 months time in CRM-II. Already negotiation has been done with M/s Blue Scope, Australia and LOI, Germany, for appropriate equipments like temper mill and annealing furnaces, respectively.