Bulletin 401 - Friday, December 26, 2008

Queretaro, Queretaro,- Navair inaugurated their new plant in Mexico, located in El Marques Industrial Park in Queretaro. Navair becomes then the first Andalusian aeronautics factory established here, which is expected to become an important pole for this industry. The factory will manufacture electric components. At the beginning, around 50 people will work here, which number is expected to be doubled throughout next year. Projects engineering and development will continue to be made at their headquarters in Andalusia Aeronautics Park (Aeropolis) in Sevilla. These facilities in Mexico are a response to the demand by their customers in the Region to manufacture in US Dollars to increase competitiveness. Navair, which in 2008 celebrated its 15th anniversary, has experienced an important growth in the last few years, going from invoicing €1.5 million in 2005 to €6 million last year.

Source: defensa.com

Hermosillo, Sonora,- 2 thousand 500 workers in Ford-Hemosillo Plant will go on vacation this .Saturday December 20th, which will be linked to a one-month technical stoppage and will therefore go back to work on February 3. Next year the factory will reduce production from 52 to 45 automobiles per day, and will therefore cut down their labor force by 5%, according to Ricardo Martinez Herrera, Leader of the Union Sindicato Progresista de Trabajadores de Ford. This Ford Plant assembles Fussion cars in its deluxe versions, as well as Mercury Milan and Lincoln MKZ. The four-week technical stoppage follows Ford's annual strategy to reduce inventories and refurbish facilities, Mr. Martinez Herrera said. But he also acknowledged that the economic crisis in the Unites States has caused this temporary closing. Estimates are that 6 thousand 500 vehicles will not be assembled in this temporary closing.

Source: El Financiero

Mexico City,- Victor Cervantes, leader of Volkswagen de Mexico Workers Union, confirmed that the. Company was forced to let go 100 temporary employees from their Puebla Plant, because 2009 does not look encouraging. "I hope next year not all of them will leave, but considering the situation of automotive industry I think we are among the less affected, because we have had not so may technical stoppages and no permanent employees have been laid off", he said. According to a radio broadcast, Mr. Cervantes said that the stoppage will take place only during the second week of January and it will be at a consortium level and not only in Volkswagen Group; this is, the stoppage will include all the brands that make it up, when employees will "enjoy" one week off "anticipating possible low sales, as has happened in the last quarter of the year".

Source: El Financiero

Mexico,- Shanghai businessmen are visiting Mexico in order to consider investment projects for .next year in infrastructure, automotive and aerospace industries, tourism and renewable energies. They will also get familiar with Punta Colonet Project, development of automotive and auto parts industries in Mexico and investment opportunities in Mexico City. During their stay in Mexico, they will also pave the way for investors' missions from Shanghai to Mexico next year, drafting agendas for meetings among businessmen from both countries. Shanghai's Delegation said they came to Mexico to get familiar with investment programs, which will also provide access to Latin American markets.

Source: Notimex

Aguascalientes, Aguascalientes,- Starting yesterday and up to January 6, Nissan Aguascalientes .Plant started a vacation for their five thousand workers, and announced technical stoppages, Auto Parts Union Leader, Rogelio Padilla de Leon, informed. He said that in addition to vacation scheduled for these dates, there will be technical stoppages on December 18, 19, 20 and 22 and next January 5 and 6, in order to reduce production due to lower sales. Padilla de Leon informed that Nissan's subsidiaries will make the same decision, and will therefore stop working almost simultaneously with the Japanese assembler and around 15 thousand workers will be on vacation.

Source: El Financiero

TOKYO - Panasonic has begun a 800 billion yen ($9 billion) takeover of Japanese rival Sanyo, hoping that transforming into one of the world's biggest electronics companies will help it weather the toughest business conditions in a century. Top shareholders, including Goldman Sachs, had been haggling over the price with Panasonic Corp. since it expressed interest in Sanyo last month, but Friday revealed they'd settled on a tender offer price of 131 yen ($1.47) a share. The deal would also allow Panasonic, which makes Viera TVs and Diga Blu-ray disc players, to take advantage of struggling Sanyo's green businesses in solar panels and rechargeable batteries. Panasonic President Fumio Ohtsubo said that taking over Sanyo will provide an opportunity for his company to become more competitive to ride out the worsening global downturn. "The alliance with Sanyo will provide an engine for growth for us," he said at a news conference in Osaka, central Japan, shown via satellite in Tokyo. Sanyo, founded by a brother-in-law of Panasonic founder Konosuke Matsushita, is a popular brand but has struggled to keep pace with bigger rivals in Japan's competitive electronics sector.

Source: Yahoo,news