motor

Swedish Automobile N.V. (Swan) announces that Saab Automobile AB (Saab Automobile) continues discussions with its supplier base on material supply and delivery terms in order to be able to resume production at its Trollh�ttan plant. Swan and Saab Automobile continue their discussions with parties to obtain further short-term funding to be able to restart and sustain production. As delivery of all parts needed to secure a production start is not yet agreed production will not resume on August 9 as intended and will be postponed until a full commitment on delivery plans can be secured.

Gunnar Brunius, Vice President of Production and Purchasing said: "I am positive about the progress we made on the payment terms with our suppliers and it is good to see that we all want to make it work. What we need now is a full commitment on supply of parts into our factory to be able to restart production and secure a stable manufacturing operation. We are now working hard with our suppliers to nail down these plans, commit to a delivery schedule and start building the close to 11,000 cars that we currently have in our order books. The industry-wide summer break at our suppliers caused certain key suppliers not to be able to supply us in time. Saab Automobile hopes to restart production earliest in week 35 provided that it is able to commit to a delivery schedule with its suppliers."

| Saab

Volkswagen has officially started production of the new Beetle in Puebla, Mexico. On this occasion Dr. Guido Westerwelle, the Federal Foreign Minister, Felipe Calder�n, the Mexican President, and Hubert Waltl, Board Member for Production and Logistics at the Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand, visited the Volkswagen plant in Mexico.

�The Beetle is a strong symbol of our brand. It combines the emotional heritage of the original Beetle with the future of Volkswagen,� Hubert Waltl said in Puebla. �At the same time, the new Beetle and the engine plant we are building in Silao represent the great confidence we place in Mexico as a manufacturing location. As one of the main manufacturers of compact class vehicles, Volkswagen de M�xico is a key building block in our growth strategy for North America.� Some 300 guests from politics and industry attended the ceremony in Puebla.


The Beetle wrote a success story in the USA in particular: That is where the mobility icon from Wolfsburg was sold almost five million times between 1949 and 1981. The New Beetle took up the thread of this Beetle Mania, with a total of 1.15 million units built in Puebla selling between 1997 and 2010. The latest Beetle celebrated its world premiere in April this year and will be in dealers� showrooms in Germany from this fall.

The Puebla plant is the largest automobile factory in Mexico and one of the Volkswagen Group�s biggest vehicle manufacturing plants. It supplies North and South America as well as Europe with the new Jetta volume model. The Beetle and Golf Variant are built exclusively by Volkswagen de M�xico for world markets. In 2010, the factory produced some 435,000 vehicles. Puebla also manufactures engines for the American continent and with its workforce of over 15,000 is one of Mexican industry�s largest employers.

| Volkswagen

The 100,000th big van rolled out of Renault's SoVAB plant (Soci�t� de V�hicules Automobiles de Batilly) in eastern France on Monday, July 11. The landmark figure speaks volumes for the vehicle's success, and orders for Renault Master have increased by 40 percent compared to the same period in 2010. The brand's 14 percent share of Europe's big van market up to end-May 2011 represents a rise of two points and 16 percent over the first five months of 2010. And this success isn't restricted to Europe either, since it is mirrored in the Euromed[1] region where the vehicle enjoys a market share of 17.9 percent (up 49 percent).

The SoVAB plant has pulled out all the stops to meet this growing demand which has resulted in full order books. Production rates have risen sharply, while 90 people were taken on during the first half of the year, allowing the factory to run two-and-a-half shifts. Everything is now in place for the unprecedented production rate of 600 vehicles per day to be reached by the last quarter of 2011.



"A remarkable team effort"
From New Master's launch to the availability of all 350 versions of the van in all its markets took a little more than one year, a remarkably short period of time given the immense challenge it represented in manufacturing terms. Indeed, while the broad variety of variants means that the needs of business customers are comprehensively covered, it has naturally made production more complex. "All those involved in the project produced a remarkable team effort," says Pierre Monflier, Factory Director. "Their unfailing commitment and motivation enabled us to make all 350 variants of New Master available in time. That's an achievement we can be proud of, and our biggest reward is the response of our customers which has resulted in full order books."

"The Renault network is a big plus!"
The 100,000th vehicle was delivered to the Colas Group which took delivery of its New Master at SoVAB's premises on Monday, July 11. Philippe Brissonneau, the Group's Equipment Director, explained his firm's choice of a New Master chassis cab which will go on to be converted into a dropside platform by Renault Tech: "We have worked with Renault for some years. Indeed, Renault is a fairly straightforward choice because our activity calls for reliable vehicles which match our needs at the lowest possible price. Renault has always met those requirements. We are convinced that this New Master will be even better than its predecessor, which is a vehicle we know very well. Being able to depend on Renault's network is obviously a big plus, too!"

Renault Master: an office on wheels
New Master is the third generation of Renault's big van. In addition to the range's breadth, the model features extensively revised, robust styling and sharply lower running costs (down 40 percent), thanks notably to the fuel efficiency of the new M9T engine which is made in Cl�on, France. New Master is also more driver-friendly, while work has gone into stowage solutions and innovations like pivoting and retractable tables, Carminat TomTom Live navigation and Bluetooth connectivity that make the cabin a genuine office on wheels.

In addition to New Master's success with its customers, the model has also been acclaimed by the trade's professionals:

- Business Vehicle of the Year 2011 (L�Automobile et Entreprise, France).
- Utility Vehicle of the Year 2011 (L�Argus, France).
- Van of the Year 2011 in Denmark and Lithuania.
- Van of the Year 2011 (What Van?, Great Britain)
- Van of the Year 2010 (Van Fleet World Honours, UK).
- Transporter of the Year 2010 (Kep, Germany).

THE SOVAB FACTORY (Soci�t� des V�hicules Automobiles de Batilly)

- Established in France's Meurthe et Moselle region in 1979.
- 2,350 staff with unlimited-term contracts (as of May 31, 2011)
- 1,802,410 vehicles manufactured since 1980.
- The factory has manufactured Masters since the model's first generation in 1980
- It is the only factory to produce New Renault Master.
- SoVAB also assembles the New Opel Movano.

(1) Bulgaria, Maghreb nations, Romania, Turkey.

| Renault