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September ’07 – Transport Intelligence reports

Global Shipping Leaders 2007

The latest report published today by market leading analysts Transport Intelligence (Ti), Global Shipping Leaders 2007, has revealed that whereas revenues of the major shipping lines almost doubled between 2002 and 2006, average operating margins rose by just 1.2 percentage points to 3.4 percent. However this small increase masks a rollercoaster ride over the past five years when margins rose as high as 11.6 percent at their peak in 2004.

The sharp fall in margins in 2006 was caused by the levels of new-build shipping capacity, which the shipping lines had added to their fleets to exploit the high volume growth, mostly out of China. The softness in the rates, which resulted, combined with significantly rising costs, hit the bottom line of every container-shipping carrier. Profits have only stabilised due to consistently strong levels of demand and according to John Manners-Bell, Ti's Chief Analyst, things could have been much worse.

'Although margins shrank back to around 2002 levels, the industry was inadvertently helped due to the difficulty that shipbuilders had in responding to demand,' he commented. 'Consequently the demand/supply ratios have remained stronger and relatively few shipping lines sank into the red. Early signs are that this year will see a rebound due to firmer rates and continued volume growth.'

Global Shipping Leaders 2007 details the shipping lines, which have been most successful over the period. It examines the industry using a range of indicators such as slot capacity, revenue, profitability and margin growth. In addition it provides company profiles of the leading container shipping lines, including corporate overview; breakdown of financial data; operational analysis; examination of their strategic goals as well as key mergers and acquisitions.

Headquartered in the UK, Transport Intelligence is the world's leading provider of expert research and analysis dedicated to the global logistics and express industry.

Transport and automotive sectors

Economic and industrial development

Wavecom S.A. today announced its membership of the MOV´EO competitiveness hub, which groups together a number of French players in the transport and automotive sectors for promoting economic and industrial development.

Wavecom S.A. will make a technological contribution to two of the strategic focuses of the MOV´EO hub:

Road safety
the emergency call service for which Wavecom will concentrate efforts on tests, assessment and use of embedded communication solutions in vehicles. The emergency call initiative was developed in response to a major European road safety objective aimed at reducing, by 2010, the number of deaths and injuries caused by car accidents. In the event of an accident, an embedded communications system will send a message to the nearest emergency centre alerting the vehicle´s GPS position and will establish a voice link between the vehicle´s occupants and emergency service via the GSM network.

Wavecom also plans to contribute to the development of cooperative systems between vehicles and infrastructure to allow better information exchange thus further improving road safety.

Mobility and Services
Wavecom´s technological input, supported by its progress in designing smart wireless electronic communication solutions with its "Wireless Microprocessor" aims to support development of new business models for better use of transport services by encouraging data exchange between vehicles and traffic with transport centers.

"We are delighted to be joining the MOV´EO competitiveness hub that will allow us to make solid contributions in solving social issues in the fields of road safety and mobility" declared Pierre Piver, Vice President of Wavecom S.A. before adding, "The diversity and significant increase in communication means should promote intermodal transport systems. Through MOV´EO, we strive to encourage the use of sustainable transport and make car and road use safer".

Wavecom is a worldwide leader in embedded industrial wireless communication solutions for automotive, machine-to-machine and mobile professional applications.

MOV´EO is a French competitiveness hub, with a global mission centering in the three French regions of Basse-Normandie, Haute-Normandie and Ile-de-France around strategic test and research sites. The hub is currently involved in 60 cooperative projects representing EUR 150 million of investment in research & development.

Source: Wavecom (15-11-07)

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Frankfurt Motor Show

A future small-car design vision

Ford Verve Concept —a bold and colourful concept car to be revealed at the 2007 Frankfurt Motor Show— gives the first hints of Ford's future small-car design vision.

The significance of the Ford Verve Concept is that it's the first physical evidence of the design direction for an all-new small Ford since it was announced earlier this year that the European arm of the company's global Product Development group is taking the design and engineering lead in creating a new small-car portfolio for major world markets. The Ford Verve Concept is the first of three concept vehicles, which will debut in key regions - Europe, Asia and North America.

"Ford Verve Concept is presented here in Frankfurt as a bespoke concept car to generate reactions while our production plans are taking shape," said John Fleming, President and CEO of Ford of Europe. "Our Design team took an unrestrained approach to how our future small cars could look, and this eye-catching concept was one of the results. If we get the reaction we expect, I'm certain that the team will incorporate elements of this advanced design vision into our final production design. This will make the next generation of small cars from Ford very compelling indeed."

Finished in rich colours and distinctive materials inspired by the world of fashion and cosmetics, the Ford Verve Concept was created by a team of designers from Ford's studios in Dunton, England, and Cologne, Germany.

Building on the kinetic design momentum of Ford's recent iosis and iosis X concept cars, and the more premium feel of production models like the new Ford Mondeo, the Ford Verve Concept is a bold expression of a small-car vision.

As product development of a new generation of Ford small cars continues behind the scenes, Ford of Europe is hoping to gauge public reaction to the Ford Verve Concept during the Frankfurt Motor Show.

Source: Ford Europe (23-8-07)