World-Business news

fter months of debate and rounds of legislation, the wait has ended. Consumers can finally take advantage of the government's "Car Allowance Rebate System" (CARS), and Hyundai is leading the way. Katherine Michon of Arlington, Virginia was the first to trade-in an eligible clunker for a new Hyundai, replacing her 15 mile-per-gallon 1995 Ford Explorer with a 26 mile-per-gallon Hyundai Elantra Touring, at Alexandria Hyundai in Alexandria, Virginia.

Mazda Motor Corporation has announced upgrades to its Premacy (known as the Mazda5 in overseas markets) compact minivan in Japan. Popular due to its sporty styling and driving performance, the freshened Premacy goes on sale today at all Mazda, Mazda Anfini and Mazda Autozam dealerships nationwide.

GlaxoSmithKline plc (GSK) today announced that it has acquired the branded generics business of Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS) in Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, Libya and Yemen for a cash consideration of $23.2m (£14.2m). The business comprises a portfolio of 13 branded pharmaceuticals with annual sales in 2008 of $11.8m. This purchase is another step forward in GSK’s strategy to accelerate growth in emerging markets and signals a strong commitment to provide quality medicines to patients in the Middle East and North Africa.

First-in-Class Alzheimer’s Treatments Expand Existing J&J Neuroscience Pipeline Johnson & Johnson Equity Investment Provides Financial Flexibility for Elan

For the first time in more than 50 years, Ford Motor Company of Canada, Limited is the top-selling automaker in the country. Ford of Canada sold 27,408 units representing a 24.6 per cent increase over sales the same month last year, marking the first year-over-year sales increase of 2009.

Offer available on retail purchases of new 2009 Suzuki SX4 Sedan and 2009 SX4 Crossover models through Aug. 31

Toyota Motor Sales (TMS), U.S.A., Inc., today reported half-year sales of 770,449 vehicles. TMS saw improvements in the second quarter, posting sales of 410,777 units, an increase 11.2 percent over the first quarter, on a daily selling rate basis.

Chrysler Group LLC today reported more than a 1 percentage point increase in retail market share with June U.S. retail sales of 66,324 units. Retail sales declined 16 percent compared with the same time period in 2008. During the month of June, Chrysler Group LLC did not produce any vehicles for fleet sales, which resulted in a fleet sales reduction of 95 percent year-over-year for the same period.

Overall sales (BMW and MINI) down 20.3 percent in June

Audi vehicle sales equal 9.1% of U.S. imported luxury sector, based on preliminary totals for the month; second highest U.S. share in Audi history, after 9.2% in April 2009

Hyundai Motor America today announced June sales of 37,943 units, a three percent increase over last month and a 24 percent decline versus June 2008. Hyundai outsold Dodge in June for the first time, making Hyundai the number-six best-selling brand in the U.S.

An industry team led by The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA] has received a contract from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) for work on Phase 2 of the Fast Access Spacecraft Testbed (FAST) program. The $15.5 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract is currently funded to $13.8 million.

Siemens Energy is expanding its service business for energy and environmental technology and has acquired a 60 percent majority holding in Gummersbach-based Steinmüller Engineering GmbH, Germany. Steinmüller Engineering provides engineering for both innovative combustion technologies designed to significantly reduce CO2 and NOx emissions and exhaust-gas cleaning systems for fossil-fueled power plants. The company has a work force of more than 60. The purchase price was not disclosed.

Combination of Nationale-Nederlanden, RVS and ING Verzekeren Retail

Defence and security company Saab has received an order valued at approx. MSEK 350 from FMV (the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration) for development of the Gripen system.

The volume leaders for the month were the C, E, and M-Class with sales of 4,583, 2,781, and 2,362 respectively. The company's new GLK compact SUV continued to exhibit strong demand, outperforming all of its competitors for the first half of the year.

Customers purchase Ford Fusion, Ford Flex and hybrids in record numbers

Daimler AG (stock exchange abbreviation DAI) today reported sales for the Mercedes-Benz Cars division in the U.S. (Mercedes-Benz and smart combined) of 16,271 units, a decline of 26.45 percent compared to June 2008. All sales figures in this release are on an unadjusted basis unless otherwise noted.

UPS (NYSE: UPS) today announced it has extended its contract with Ford Motor Company to continue providing logistics services for the delivery of new cars to dealers.

Turkish Airlines and Etihad Airways have signed codeshare agreement.The deal follows the launch of Etihad’s four flights a week service to the Turkish commercial capital, Istanbul, which began on June 1, 2009.