Business Drive
VET Programme to get off ground in April
What can you do to improve the ability for your vehicle to pass VET?
* Your vehicle oil and coolant levels should be at manufacturer’s
recommended levels.
* Present your vehicle at normal operating temperature (generally
driven for a minimum of 20 minutes). If you have to wait in line, keep
your engine running.
* Ensure the vehicle’s emission control equipment is present and
properly connected.
* Make sure you have a properly fitting gas cap with no missing seal
or seal cracks and breaks.
* Make sure your check engine light is not lit while the engine is
running or the light does not fail to illuminate, briefly, when you
first turn on your vehicle.
Laugfs Eco -Sri (Pvt) Ltd geared up to meet the demand for Vehicle
Emission Tests (VET) will be mandatory for Sri Lankan vehicle owners
from this year.
The VET programme was officially launched last year.
Laugfs Eco- Sri Ltd and CleanCo Lanka (Pvt) Ltd had been selected for
the programme which was initiated by the Ministry of Environment and
Natural Resources. Both companies will invest Rs 1 billion to instal
equipment and carry out the tests to issue the emission certificates.
Chairman of the Laugfs Holdings Limited W. K.H Wegapitiya told Daily
News Business that they are ready for the project and are scheduled to
commence in April.
VET certification will be mandatory for vehicle owners to renew their
revenue licenses from this year. However RMV needs to gazette this for
the commencement of the project on schedule he said.
We expect to setup 35 testing stations around the country to
facilitate the VET programme. At the moment we have made arrangements to
import testing equipments for this project, he said.
Many countries in the world are focusing on environmental pollution
and it is important for a developing country like Sri Lanka to implement
the VET programme.
Sri Lanka need to focus more on air pollution as it is a direct
impact for public health. However there will be a positive response from
the local vehicle owners for improving air quality, he said. Though this
is a business venture we see this project as one of our national
responsibilities, he added. AS
Third quarter revenues and earnings up:
The BMW Group increased sales volume, revenues and earnings figures
for the third quarter 2007.
“Excluding the exceptional gain on the Rolls-Royce exchangeable bond,
the BMW Group is still aiming to post a current year profit before tax
that will be higher than the previous year’s record figure,” said
Chairman of BMW AG’s Board of Management Norbert Reithofer.
The company is also heading towards a sales volume for the year of
over 1.4 million vehicles, with growth in the high single-digit
percentage range. All three brands are forecast to achieve new retail
sales volume records.
Third-quarter revenues of the BMW Group rose by 19.2% to euro 13,778
million (third quarter 2006: euro 11,557 million) on the back of
increased sales volumes.
Profit before tax improved by 6.3% to euro 765 million (third quarter
2006: euro 720 million), while the net profit rose even more sharply by
77.7% to euro 803 million (third quarter 2006: euro 452 million) partly
as a result of tax effects.
The BMW Group saw its revenues for the nine-month period grow by
11.1% to euro 40,412 million (first nine months 2006: euro 36,368
million).
 The group profit before tax amounted to euro 2,682 million (first
nine months 2006: euro 3,248 million/-17.4%).
Adjusted for the exceptional gain on the partial settlement of the
exchangeable bond on shares in the British engine manufacturer,
Rolls-Royce plc, London, the profit before tax would have decreased by
only 9.4%. The group profit after tax was euro 2,143 million (first nine
months 2006: euro 2,187 million/-2.0%).
During the period from January to September, earnings were affected
by various factors, including the cost of market launches and production
start-ups for numerous new models; high raw material costs; substantial
expenditure for the development of even more efficient and fuel-saving
engines; and the on-going weakness of the US dollar and Japanese yen.
The BMW Group uses hedging instruments to reduce the impact of
unfavourable exchange rate fluctuations. All of the main currencies are
fully hedged for the business year 2007. The negative full-year impact
of exchange rate factors will not exceed the level of euro 666 million
recorded last year.
The company was also confronted with higher purchase prices for
steel, precious metals and other materials. The additional cost is
likely to be on a similar scale to the previous year’s level of euro 178
million.
The BMW Group is currently working intensively to implement the
company’s future strategic realignment, announced at the end of
September. “The BMW Group will focus its attention on profitability and
increasing value over the long term”, explained Reithofer.
The BMW Group has set itself some ambitious interim targets for the
first five years: The company aims to achieve retial sales of more than
1.8 million vehicles per annum by 2012. On the automobiles side of the
business, the company is targeting a return on capital employed (RoCE)
of 26% and a return on sales of between 8% and 10% from 2012 onwards.
Euro Motors and Seylan Merchant in leasing tie up
Seylan Merchant Leasing signed an agreement recently with Euro Motors
the local agent for Fiat cars in Sri Lanka to provide a unique seven
year lease package to all their customers.
The Fiat brand which has been making strong inroads into the vehicle
market in Sri Lanka within the last year, is now positioning itself as
the most affordable new car for discerning buyers.
“We are giving very, competitive prices. Anyone who does their market
research will see that we are giving a high quality product at cost that
cannot be matched” said Executive Director Euro Motors Fazil Hashim.
“This agreement that we signed with Seylan Merchant Leasing, is the
value addition process to the brand in Sri Lanka. Now our customers will
be able to pick up a car at our showroom without the hassle of running
round. The new ‘Fiat Leasing’ will provide them with a one stop shop
service,” Hashim added.
Director/General Manager of Seylan Merchant Leasing Surath Peiries
said, “We are a finance company registered by the Monetary Board of the
Central Bank of Sri Lanka and from the time of our launch in year 2000
we have offered some very innovative products to our customers with the
long term goal of making leasing more affordable to people. The 84 month
lease which we are offering through Euro Motors for the purchase of Fiat
cars is one such unique product.”
Saturn to Bring Two-Mode Hybrid to Vue
Saturn, the General Motors brand that has carved out a green image,
is trying to distinguish itself in the hybrid market with a compact SUV
that gives consumers more choice.
The automaker is unveiling the 2009 Vue Green Line two-mode hybrid,
hoping to reach consumers by combining towing capacity with fuel-savings
in a small sport utility vehicle. Saturn will be the first brand to
offer two hybrid options on the same vehicle, building upon a milder
hybrid version of the Vue that was launched in 2007.
“I think some consumers today might be held back if the hybrid is not
affordable,” Jill Lajdziak, Saturn general manager, said ahead of the
Vue’s premiere this month at the North American International Auto Show
in Detroit. “I think we give people the option that you don’t have to go
broke to go green by offering choice in the marketplace.”
Saturn plans to start production in late 2008 of the latest General
Motors Corp. vehicle to offer the “two-mode” hybrid system. The
technology, developed with Chrysler, Mercedes-Benz and BMW, was
introduced last year on the Chevrolet Tahoe and GMC Yukon SUVs and will
be appearing on the Chevrolet Silverado pickup and Cadillac Escalade.
The vehicle gives GM another entry into the growing hybrid market.
New hybrid registrations increased 35 percent to nearly 290,000 vehicles
during the first 10 months of 2007, according to data from R.L. Polk and
Co., an auto information and marketing company.
Toyota Motor Corp. has dominated the hybrid market with its Prius,
but analysts said the Saturn entry should give GM another chance at
cracking the competition. AP |
