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Stuttgart. The rapid development of Porsche Consulting GmbH, Bietigheim-Bissingen, calls for an expansion of management capacities. For this reason, the board of Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, Stuttgart, has appointed Dr. Wolfgang Lindheim (47) as Chief Financial Officer of the subsidiary. From August 1, 2008, Dr. Lindheim will take responsibility for the departments of Finance, Controlling, Human Resource and IT. At the same time, Eberhard Weiblen (44), who up till now was the sole Director of Porsche Consulting, will be appointed as Chairman of the Executive Board. In future, he will be responsible for the consultancy business, the strategic development and the marketing of the Porsche subsidiary.

“In Dr. Lindheim we are gaining a colleague who brings with him a wealth of valuable international experience. This increases our power and extends our managerial radius”, says Eberhard Weiblen. Porsche Consulting has a workforce of just under 200 employees and achieved a turnover of 45.8 million Euro in the business year 2006/07.

Dr. Lindheim was born in Austria in 1960. After studying industrial engineering and gaining a doctorate at the Technical University of Graz, he spent six years with McKinsey before coming to Porsche AG as Departmental Head of Strategy in 1994. In 1999 he joint the executive board of Porsche Cars North America Inc., Atlanta (USA), where he acted as Chief Financial Officer. This job will be taken over by Frank Hoffmann (44), currently Chief Financial Officer at Porsche Italia S.p.A..

Singapore: Tata Communications International Pte Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Communications Limited, has signed an equity joint venture agreement (EJV) with the shareholders of China Enterprise Communications Limited (CEC) for the acquisition of 50 per cent equity interest in CEC. This joint venture, which will become effective after the necessary approvals from the relevant government and regulatory bodies in China are obtained, will be the first-of-its-kind in the Chinese telecom sector post China’s entering the WTO.

“The strategic cooperation between China Enterprise Communications and Tata Communications was carried out under the background of economic globalisation, and the fact that China and India are driving the 21st century world economy. Through the cooperation with Tata Communications, we will focus on the development of the domestic market to provide high quality networking services to multinational enterprises in China as well as China’s domestic enterprises. We intend to grow the strength of the CEC brand,” said Zhu Jianhua, president and CEO of CEC.

CEC is a value-added telecommunications services and integrated IT solutions provider headquartered in Beijing, China. CEC was recently awarded a nationwide IP-VPN service licence by China’s Ministry of Information Industry (MII), the first telecom valued-added service licence granted to a non-facilities based service provider. CEC has network reach throughout China, with no regional restrictions on its service capabilities. CEC provides VPN connectivity reach into 347 cities in China, including a dual-pop presence in tier-one cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen. This reach complements Tata Communications’s VPN presence in 120 Indian cities and 19 other major business capitals in North America, Europe and Asia.

“Tata Communications is honoured to have this unique opportunity to establish an EJV with the shareholders of CEC and to become one of the first global telecom companies to attain this type of access to the Chinese market,” said Vinod Kumar, president, data and mobility services, Tata Communications. “Tata Communications understands and respects the complex, fast-changing and extremely competitive Chinese telecom environment and the needs of customers requiring seamless end-to-end connectivity. This is an innovative step in our ongoing effort to enable connectivity and managed services across strategic regions and emerging markets that are of high value to our global customers.”

“This is a historic investment,” said Camille Mendler, vice president of Yankee Group’s Enterprise Research Group. “Not only does it allow for the delivery of unprecedented reach into China and India for global enterprises, it also confirms Tata Communications’s leading position in service delivery to emerging markets.”

CEC is majority owned by China International Trust and Investment Corporation (CITIC); other investors of CEC include SASAC and CE-SCM. Tata Communications’s investment in CEC is subject to various closing conditions as well as approvals from and the relevant Chinese governmental and regulatory bodies, including but not limited to the MII and the Ministry of Commerce.

Auburn Hills, Mich. - “Concept to reality” has become a term that epitomises the Chrysler Group design philosophy, and many observers are hoping that it will apply to the company’s concept vehicles for 2007.

Chrysler Group’s latest concept vehicles clearly demonstrate a design tradition that has become a key strength of the company: an ability to design the coolest-of-cool concepts, which are as relevant as they are innovative.

This approach started with the Frankfurt Motor Show reveal of the Lamborghini-engined, cab forward-styled, four-door Chrysler Portofino concept sedan in 1987. Almost 20 years and more than 100 concepts later, this continuous development has helped Chrysler Group reinvent and maintain its reputation as a car company driven by design and engineering.

Concept vehicles have two major roles for the Chrysler Group: they showcase to management, the media and the public the potential future design direction for Chrysler Group cars and trucks, and they help to attract the best young designers in the world into its design studios.

Chrysler Group’s concept vehicle program allows designers to test new colors, features, vehicle size and segments. Concepts can also be showcases for new design cues, which often find their way into production on future vehicles – even if the entire concept vehicle does not.

Importantly, the designs that are revealed to acclaim and accolade at auto shows around the world each year are not just built to look good. That is where the company’s design-to-reality tradition really kicks in.

Not only does Chrysler Group produce concept vehicles that can actually be driven – especially by journalists for feedback and publicity purposes – but many ultimately become production vehicles within a few years of their first reveal. The latest example is the Dodge Challenger. First revealed as a concept at the 2006 North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit, it was announced that the Challenger will go into production in 2008.

According to Trevor Creed, Senior Vice President – Product Design Office, Chrysler Group, “We’ve always said at Chrysler that we don’t just produce concepts for fun. We have proved year after year that our concepts are innovative and relevant.

“Our track record shows that many Chrysler Group concepts, and several of the design features showcased on our concept vehicles, have gone into production,” he added. “While we can’t say yet if any of our 2007 concepts will eventually be seen in our showrooms, they clearly hint at exciting and innovative future design directions that could find their way into our company’s products.”

2007 Concept Vehicles

This year’s group of concept vehicles includes one for each of the Chrysler Group’s brands. Combining refinement, function and style, the Chrysler Nassau concept explores a new expression of the Chrysler brand. First shown at the 2007 NAIAS, the four-door, four-passenger Nassau luxury coupe is a more emotional and artistic articulation of what it means to be a Chrysler.

The Jeep® Trailhawk, which also had its premiere at the 2007 NAIAS, merges the spectrum of the Jeep brand by combining the core off-road features of the new Jeep Wrangler Unlimited with the refined sophistication of an all-new on-road, open-air concept vehicle, providing a unique and fresh expression for Jeep.

The Dodge Demon is a compact, nimble “roadster with an attitude” – a perfect balance of classic sports car proportion and simplicity blended with modern design and performance. The vehicle is designed to be an affordable Dodge sports car that merges brand cues of bold design and powerful performance with an open-air “fun-to-drive” attitude. This concept had its debut at the 2007 Geneva Motor Show.

Twenty Years of Modern Concept Vehicles

The Chrysler Group has a long history of innovation in design and engineering, going back even as far as the first 1924 Chrysler sedan. In the modern era, since 1988, the company has created more than 100 concept vehicles in a variety of shapes, sizes, configurations and materials.

“Safety First” has always been the motto at Tata BP Solar. Their concern for the health and safety of their employees has been recognised with the prestigious Golden Peacock Award.

Instituted by the Institute of Directors, a non-profit apex association of company directors committed to improving the competitiveness of Indian business through development of its leadership, the awards recognise excellence in occupational health and safety. The entries were judged by a respected jury, under the chairmanship of Justice PN Bhagwati, former chief justice of India and member, UN Human Rights Commission.

The award was presented at the Global Convention on Climate Change, held at Palampur, Himachal Pradesh on May 31, 2008.

The award was given away by chief guest HH Baba Hardev Singh Ji Maharaj, head, Nirankari Mission. Also present at the occasion was Madhav Mehra, president, World Council For Corporate Governance & World Environment Foundation (UK) and Ola Ullsten, former prime minister of Sweden and chairman, WCFCG, UK.

Vaideeswaran and Anil Patni received the award on behalf of Tata BP Solar.