Jumat, 07 Agustus 2009

“Top U.S. Dealers Create Auto Stimulus Plan to Help Consumers Left ... - Biloxi Sun Herald” plus 4 more

“Top U.S. Dealers Create Auto Stimulus Plan to Help Consumers Left ... - Biloxi Sun Herald” plus 4 more

Top U.S. Dealers Create Auto Stimulus Plan to Help Consumers Left ... - Biloxi Sun Herald

Posted: 07 Aug 2009 06:43 AM PDT

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NEW YORK, Aug. 7 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Some of the largest U.S. Automotive Retailers in the country created a privately funded stimulus program to provide up to $4500 in incentives for consumers to make it easier for them to get a newer more fuel efficient vehicle. The dealer funded Automotive Stimulus Plan was designed to complement the government's program and to compensate for some of the gaps that don't allow consumers to purchase pre-owned vehicles or choose a short term lease. "The government program has been fantastic for business but some of our customers have been disappointed because the programs rules left them behind," said Scott Gruwell from Courtesy Chevrolet, one of GM's largest dealers and one of the retailers participating in the Auto Stimulus Plan. "Letting consumers lease a new vehicle or buy a pre-owned vehicle makes it affordable for a lot of people who could not participate otherwise."

"The government's program helps approximately 10% of the market who qualify but the majority of the consumers who want to upgrade into a more fuel efficient vehicle are not eligible for the governments program," said Brian Benstock from Paragon Auto Group, one of the participating dealers in New York City. "Now we have a program that makes it easy for nearly all consumers with a vehicle that is older than a 2007 to get into a newer more fuel efficient vehicle."

The Automotive Stimulus Plan gives consumers up to $4500 in incentives towards the purchase or lease of a new or pre-owned vehicle with a minimum of 2 mpg of improved fuel economy. The program promises fewer requirements, easier paperwork and no minimum MPG requirements. "The government program is fantastic but there are still consumers who can't afford to buy new or who aren't eligible and the Auto Stimulus Plan is designed to help them," said Rick Case, owner of Rick Case Automotive Group in Florida, Georgia and Ohio. "Consumers will pay less a year to drive a newer car because the payments are so low and the gas and repair savings are so high."

The Automotive Stimulus Plan is a private sector program funded by retailers to provide incentives to consumers that will help the economy and the environment at the same time. To qualify for an incentive a consumer must select a new or pre-owned vehicle with a 2 mpg improvement over their current vehicle, which is the same requirement the government program has for SUVs, but this applies to all vehicles under the dealers plan. "The MPG requirements are lower because our primary goal is to help consumers that don't qualify for the governments program and to stimulate the economy through improved sales, jobs and spending," said Gruwell. "As a result, the environmental benefits will not be as big as the government program but it will help more customers get into more fuel efficient vehicles."

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Building permits total 36 in July - Paris News

Posted: 07 Aug 2009 12:41 PM PDT

Construction has begun on a new Subway at 5 E. Plaza.

Its being built to match the historical standards of the downtown district, Danny Martin, owner, said. The inside will have the Subway look, but well keep the (outside) downtown historical looking.

The restaurant, which should be up and running by the end of October, is one of seven commercial repair permits issued by the City of Paris in July.

The permit was issued for $125,000 in repairs to the location.

The project is one of 36 building permits issued by the city, which totalled $660,750 for July. There were no demolition permits issued, nor were there any permits requested for new residential construction.

Other commercial repair permits included two for Dr. Khalid Shafiq for work at 1775 FR 195 at a total of $60,000; 9th Street Grocery at 371 9th S.W. St. for $21,600, Speedy Stop at 663 Bonham for $49,700; a business at 340 Bonham for $5,800; and St. Johns Baptist Church at 1631 13th N.E. St. for $5,500.

There were three new commercial permits, totalling $347,000. They included work at Chisum ISD for $219,000, and properties at 1335 20th N.E. St. for $3,000 and 4030-4032 Pine Mill for $125,000.

Residential repair permits were for 426 E. Tudor for $20,000, 2135 S.W. Loop 286 for $3,700, 2448 W. Kaufman for $5,000, 1605 E. Houston for $1,000, 360 5th Street for $1,600 and 3185 Ridgeview for $14,850.50.

Three fence permits were issued to locations at 1746 W. Austin, Turner International Pipe at 1200 19th S.W. St. and 149 49th S.E. St.

Sign permits were issued for 17 locations, which included Valley of the Caddo Museum for various locations, First Baptist Church, Family Cuts at 3564 Lamar Ave., Bell Electronics at 4207 Lamar Ave., CHMA at various locations, Subway at 5 E. Plaza, Verizon Wireless at 3844 Lamar Ave., Benevolent & Protective Order of Elks at 2110 36th N.E. St., First Baptist Church at 340 E. Kaufman, Lisa Short Income Tax Service at 3206 Bonham St., Mike Bregier State Farm at 3210 Lamar Ave., The Donut Place at 1545 Lamar Ave., Sweet Dreams at 3120 U.S. 271 N., Thrifty Ts Used Furniture and Appliances at 1560 S. Church, Club Minnie Bell at 518 E. Tudor, North Texas Auto Auction at 165 W. Center and Small Town Girls Boutique at 102 Clarksville.



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At Random: Morris McGee - Valdosta Daily Times

Posted: 07 Aug 2009 10:10 AM PDT

Published August 07, 2009 01:06 pm -

At Random: Morris McGee


By Johnna Pinholster

VALDOSTA — Morris McGee has an eye for art.

McGee has been working in auto body shops since he was a teenager at Cook High School.

Self-employed since 1988, McGee has turned a passion for automobiles and a love for art into a bustling business.

Morris McGee Body Shop at 233 E. Hill Ave. is hard to miss. Parked outside are two wreckers, one an iridescent purple, the other bright green.

McGee's wreckers are part of his advertisement for business, all of the artwork on the vehicles was done by McGee.

It took McGee almost two years to airbrush the hordes of monsters and skulls on wife Melissa's green wrecker.

The art on both sides of the truck mirror each other except for a few subtle differences in the skull faces.

On one side a skull has hands over its face. On the other side, in the exact same spot, the skull has dollar signs in its eyes.

This is the mark of a man who knows how to make a statement.

McGee said he started working in body shops when he was in the eighth grade. After school he would go to the shop and work.

"I've been doing this about 38 years," he said. "I like taking cars into the body shop and restoring them, making them look brand new."

Through the years, the majority of McGee's business has centered around fixing cars damaged in accidents.

When the economy started to flounder, McGee said the auto repair work decreased, so he started doing restoration and customized work.

Business is booming, he said.

"I got tired of dealing with the insurance companies and decided to do other stuff," McGee said.



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Latin America’s Pending Fire Sale - Latin Business Chronicle

Posted: 07 Aug 2009 11:50 AM PDT

BY JOHN PRICE

Experienced Latin American investors understand that today's financial crisis will present discounted buying opportunities to those with the authority and boldness to quickly negotiate an acquisition and the cash to pay for it.

Six years of rapid growth in the region invited a lot of new players into the market, overcrowding supply in several sectors. Tight credit, faltering demand and falling prices put to the test the viability of many players, particularly recent entrants who may have overpaid to compete in the region . As a result, several sectors are overdue for some consolidation.

Different from the M&A dynamic of an expanding Latin America, acquisition opportunities present themselves very quickly in a down market, triggered this time around by exiting multinationals or over-indebted multi-latinas. After building a significant presence in Argentina, Brazil and Chile, Ryder Logistics, for example, was poised to enter the Colombian market in 2008 when global trade flows slowed and then collapsed, sparking a retreat by the company to its core NAFTA market position. Ryder's exit from South America was swift and muted.

STRONG MOTIVE

The financial need to focus on core and profitable markets is a strong motive for global firms to exit from Latin America, especially if they are recent arrivals still nursing a developing investment. Another motive may be the need to raise cash to repair a damaged balance sheet. RBS has been ordered by its new majority shareholder, the British Treasury, to shed assets, so it plans to sell operations of its subsidiary, ABN AMRO, in Argentina, Venezuela, Chile and Colombia. Retreating multinationals are the first and possibly the most attractively priced acquisition opportunities presented in the region .

The financial crisis hit Latin American markets anywhere from three to nine months after first striking in the U.S. It is only now that the need to consolidate in over-supplied sectors in Latin America is becoming evident. The first industries to feel the pain of falling demand are the region's burgeoning commodity exporters. Junior mining companies in Peru and metal manufacturers in Argentina and Chile all share in common a rapid fall from grace as prices collapsed and their debt servicing costs skyrocketed thanks to scarce corporate credit. Cut off from capital markets, junior mining companies are busy flogging their new exploration properties in South America to the handful of cash-rich mining majors. But there are too many junior mining companies looking for too few majors, leaving many stranded and ready to sell to financial investors at discounted prices.

In Mexico, auto parts exporters have watched their U.S. customer demand collapse as two of three U.S. major car companies faced bankruptcy. The top 10 Mexican auto parts product category exports are anticipated to drop 50 percent from $53 billion in 2008 to $26 billion in 2009. The capital intensive industry cannot survive intact under the scenario of losing half of its revenue. During the last few years, many of Mexico's auto parts exporters were able to borrow in dollars at historically competitive rates, assured of demand in the U.S. Now, with a devalued currency and rising corporate debt pricing, the Mexican auto parts sector is under attack from the revenue and cost sides of the ledger.

PRESSURE ON CARGO PLAYERS

Across Latin America, trade with the United States will decline close to 40 percent in value and an estimated 10-15 percent in volume. That will place enormous pressure on international cargo players, particularly air cargo in and out of South America, as well as cross-border trucking between the United States and Mexico. Latin American players in the space grew market share over the last six years, their expansion fuelled by access to cheap debt. They face the same margin squeeze as auto parts exporters with falling demand, weakened prices and growing finance costs.

After retreating multinationals and exporters under siege, the third source of distressed assets evolving from this crisis will be capital intensive service sector providers that took on too much debt too quickly in their effort to grow over the last six years. Retailing, consumer credit, construction, and tourism are all sectors that enjoyed spectacular growth and intra-regional investment in recent years.

Consumer credit grew by an average of over 20 percent per year between 2000 and 2007 (see Birth of a New Banking Model, Kroll Tendencias, April 2007). Construction grew on the heels of government spending while fiscal budgets in most countries expanded at 10 percent+ per year over the last five years. Latin American retailers like Pao de Açucar, Falabella and Soriana all fought back against the wave of foreign retailer investment and staked their claims, particularly in middle markets. Latin American hoteliers grew in multiple segments and now face falling demand from both international and domestic tourists. All of these industries were over built and face consolidation. The trigger point will be expiring debt contracts that force these over-leveraged players to shed non-core assets.

DUE DILIGENCE IS KEY

All three areas of acquisition opportunity reward speed and boldness, the operational advantages of private equity and venture capital, as well as wealthy individuals in the region. The private equity sector raised record cash from 2006 to 2008 and is waiting patiently on the sidelines for the fire sale to commence. Strategic investors can join the party of buyers as well, but must take pre-emptive steps if they are to compete. They will need to line up funding from head office ahead of negotiations, much like a first time house buyer. Most importantly, strategic buyers need to identify targets with sufficient time to conduct reputational due diligence before engaging in negotiations, when financial and legal due diligence activities usually begin. In a time-compressed buying process, due diligence must be swift and pre-emptive.

Due diligence must also be thorough. Fire sales are fraught with risk because the seller is operating from a position of weakness and has every incentive to hide potential liabilities in the hope of pushing through a quick sale that preserves maximum value of its assets. Certainly, the ability to purchase discounted assets allures buyers, but the degree of liability can often overshadow the rewards. The most common liability of cash-strapped companies is the non-payment of taxes, particularly value added sales taxes, a form of tax evasion that is a criminal offense for business owners and board members in some Latin American jurisdictions. Other liabilities include unpaid worker wages, AML non-compliance, FCPA non-compliance, as well as internal fraud. Understanding these issues ahead of negotiation may be the key to purchasing at fair market value. Knowing the full extent of any liabilities may be vital to avoiding a regretful acquisition.

John Price is Managing Director of Business Intelligence at Kroll Latin America and based in Miami. This article originally appeared in the Latin American PE VC Report, the official newsletter of the Latin American Venture Capital Association (LAVCA). Republished with permission from Kroll.

 

 



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NASTF Announces Fall Meeting Date - PR Newswire

Posted: 07 Aug 2009 11:58 AM PDT

LEESBURG, Va., Aug. 7 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The National Automotive Service Task Force (NASTF) has announced the date and location of the Fall General meeting, which will be held on Tuesday, November 3, 2009 at 1:30 p.m. at the Mandalay Bay, in Las Vegas, Nevada, just prior to the International Autobody Congress and Exhibition (NACE) and Congress of Automotive Repair Services (CARS) trade shows.

In addition to the regular committee and organization reports, the meeting agenda includes an update and discussion on the State of the Industry and a panel on Non-key code uses for the Secure Data Release Model. "The Fall NASTF General Meeting is usually well-attended due to the proximity to NACE and CARS," said Charlie Gorman, NASTF Chairman. "Given the current economic conditions and dramatic changes in the marketplace over the past year, we're looking forward to some lively input and discussion at this gathering and encourage every service professional attending AAPEX, SEMA, NACE or CARS to join us and learn how NASTF is working to improve the information access within the automotive service and collision repair industries."

NASTF was established in 2000 to identify, communicate and resolve gaps in the availability and accessibility of automotive service information, service training, diagnostic tools, and equipment for the benefit of automotive service professionals and their customers. NASTF was incorporated in 2006. Additional details can be found at www.nastf.org.

As a 501(c)6 not-for profit organization, NASTF takes no position on any legislation that may be proposed or pending in state or national legislative bodies.

SOURCE National Automotive Service Task Force

Website: www.nastf.org




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