Wednesday, June 1, 2005

ArvinMeritor to start joint venture in China

Detroit News, Reuters, AP and Bloomberg News reports

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ArvinMeritor Inc., the world's largest supplier of vehicle exhaust systems, said it will begin building a commercial vehicle brake plant in China this year as part of joint venture with a subsidiary of First Auto Works. The plant in China's Changchun area will produce 90,000 brakes annually when it reaches full production, and components will be made for both Chinese and export markets, ArvinMeritor said Tuesday. The venture, with First Auto Works' Sihuan Axle Brake Group, has been approved by both companies' boards and awaits government approval.

Orbitz offers rentals of Harley-Davidsons

Cendant Corp.'s Orbitz, the third- largest online travel-booking agency, is offering the ability to rent Harley-Davidson motorcycles when arranging hotel, flight and vacation packages in the United States. Orbitz joined EagleRider Inc., the world's largest motorcycle rental company, to provide rentals of Harley-Davidsons in 24 cities for travelers booking a vacation package.

GM may boost loan costs for 'junk' firms

General Motors Corp. may boost borrowing costs for companies with junk-bond ratings who must compete for investors. About $50 billion of GM's $196 billion in junk-rated debt is eligible for Merrill Lynch & Co.'s broadest high yield, high-risk bond index, more than three times that of telephone company Qwest Communications International Inc., the biggest component in the benchmark index. GM's bonds will make up about 6 percent of the index. "The cost of debt capital will rise" as GM "crowds out" smaller issuers, said Chris Garman, Merrill's head of high-yield bond strategy in New York.

Honeywell vice president joins Visteon

John Donofrio will become Visteon Corp.'s senior vice president and general counsel, effective June 13. The 43-year-old Donofrio joins Visteon from Phoenix-based Honeywell Aerospace, where he was the vice president and general counsel.

German boost helps Audi car sales

FRANKFURT - Surging demand in Germany helped Volkswagen's premium unit Audi AG increase global car sales by some 14 percent in May to over 72,000 units, the company said on Wednesday. In the first five months of 2005, deliveries rose roughly 6 percent to a record 342,000 vehicles compared to 322,192 in the year-earlier period. Sales in its largest market, Germany, rose by 9 percent to just over 101,000 cars so far this year, capped by a leap of over 32 percent in May alone. In the United States, though, customers bought only 6,455 Audis in May, a 6.1 percent drop for the month and a 1.7 percent dip year-to-date.