23 / 120
EuroWire – January 2010
21
Auto critic Mark Phelan of the Detroit Free Press wrote that Saab
developed the sleek 9-5 to elevate the style and performance
of its midsize model to compete with cars like the Audi A6 and
BMW 5-series. But production was held up by about six months
as Saab moves factory equipment from an Opel plant in Germany
to the Swedish auto maker’s headquarters in Trollhattan. (“Saab
to Show Concept Car That Will Define Brand,” 12
th
November)
Noting that Saab had planned to build the 9-5 alongside
the Opel Insignia in Ruesselsheim, Germany, Mr Phelan said,
“That plan was scuttled when GM, which owns Opel, decided
to sell Saab.” It would appear that, whatever the future holds
for Saab, as 2009 drew to a close the company’s US dealers had
plenty of companionship in limbo.
Metals
Harsco Corp (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania) said on 15
❈
❈
th
October
that, under agreements valued at up to $100 million over
ten years, its minerals subsidiary will treat and recycle the
metalmaking by-products of the two Austrian steel mills
Bohler Edelstahl and Breitenfeld Edelstahl.
Employing environmentally sound methods, and in
collaboration with Scholz Recycling AG, of Germany, the US
industrial services company will recover the slag’s high-value
metallic content for commercial resale. The new treatment
facility that Harsco will build in Austria is slated to go into
operation toward the end of this year.
Alcoa Inc in the third quarter of 2009 returned to profita-
❈
❈
bility after three straight quarterly losses. The largest US
aluminium producer earned $77 million for the three months
ended 30
th
September, for a 9% gain from the second quarter.
The improved showing was attributed to rising demand,
especially from auto makers, and rigorous cost-cutting.
Pittsburgh-based Alcoa on 7
th
October predicted an 11% increase
in worldwide aluminium demand over the rest of the year.
“We do clearly see growth, substantial growth, in China,”
Alcoa CEO Klaus Kleinfeld told analysts and reporters after the
company reported results. “The second half of the year is clearly
better than the first half in many industries and many regions.”
Dorothy Fabian –
USA Editor