A..

AvtoVAZ Russia's largest car manufacturer at the annual shareholder meeting has decided to pay 2007 dividends at RUR0.29 per ordinary and preference share, down 97.2% from 2006 dividends (RUR10.3 per share).

B..

BMW Group and Fiat Group Automobiles (FGA) are considering the possibility of co-operation in the areas of architectures and components for their MINI and Alfa Romeo vehicles. A MoU to this effect was signed by Friedrich Eichiner, member of the Board of Management of BMW AG responsible for Corporate and Brand Development, and Alfredo Altavilla, Senior Vice President, Business Development, Fiat Group Automobiles and CEO of Fiat Powertrain Technologies.

BMW Group increased sales of its BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce brands by 4.7% in the period from January through June to reach a total of 764,874 automobiles (prev.yr.: 730,285).

BRT line of Guadalajara in Mexico has chosen Volvo as its bus supplier. The first order is for 41 Volvo 7300 articulated buses. Guadalajara is Mexico's second largest city with slightly more than four million inhabitants and the financial center for the country's western region.

BMW Motorrad Motorsport announced that they have agreed terms with Ruben Xaus and that he will ride their all-new BMW S1000 RR in the Superbike World Championship in 2009.

C..

China's logistics industry grew 26.2 percent in 2007, to nearly $250 billion. China's logistics industry accounted for 17.6 percent of the country's services value and 6.9 percent of GDP, according to the "China Logistics Industry Report, 2007-2008," by Dublin, Ireland's Research and Markets consultancy.

Caterpillar Inc. and Navistar International Corp. said they will pursue business opportunities around the world together, as Caterpillar bowed out of the North American heavy-duty engine market.

Cummins Inc. and Navistar International Corp. said they have extended their engine supply agreement for Class 8 on-highway diesel engines through 2013.The agreement is for the ongoing supply of Cummins ISL, ISM and ISX engines for use in Navistar's International brand heavy-duty trucks, the companies said.

D..

Daimler AG and the Hero Group have chosen a site in India to build a new truck plant. The plant, to be located in Chennai, India, will be part of a Daimler-Hero joint venture and will begin producing up to 70,000 trucks a year by 2010, Daimler said.

E..

Evraz Group is going to invest EUR125 million in the modernization of rail production of Novokuznetsk Iron and Steel Plant (NKMK) until 2011. The program of Russian Railways (RZD) envisages increasing the overhaul rail load, railcar weight and average train speed.

F..

Ford Motor Company renewed a logistics contract with third-party logistics provider NLM. NLM will remain a provider for critical shipments (excluding air charter) and truckload deviations for North America.

G..

GE's TIP Trailer Services says it just won an order for 205 trailers from Kuehne + Nagel.

GAZ Russian vehicle maker will pay a dividend of 55.2 rubles per ordinary share and 73.32 rubles per preferred share for 2007.

General Motors is going to start the production of Chevrolet Lacetti in Saint-Petersburg in July 2009. The volume of production will be about 45 000 cars annually.

GetThere has announced the introduction of enhanced SNCF French Rail booking capability via the national rail line's new RIVA 3 platform.

I..

Indian Railways first Ginger Rail Yatri Niwas with modern facilities inaugurated by K.C.Jena Chairman, Railway Board. New Delhi Rail Yatri Niwas is India's first Ginger Rail Yatri Niwas.

Indian Railways have carried 202.99 million tonnes of revenue earning freight traffic during April-June 2008. The freight carried shows an increase of 17.48 million tonnes over the freight traffic of 185.51 million tonnes actually carried during the corresponding period last year, an increase of 9.42 per cent. During the month of June 2008, the revenue earning freight traffic carried by Indian Railways was 65.26 million tonnes. There is an increase of 4.73 million tonnes over the actual freight traffic of 60.53 million tonnes carried by the Indian Railways during the same period last year, an increase of 7.81 per cent.

M..

MHF Supply Chain Solutions launched Carload Solutions, a new business unit offering door-to-door rail car service for shippers and receivers not currently served by rail. The asset-based 3PL bundles rail, transloading and trucking to save on fuel and costs.

R..

Russian Railways (RZD) in the first half of 2008, shipped 677.6 million tonnes of cargo (+19.2 million tonnes or 2.9%).

Russian Railways (RZD) Sign Agreement to Build Railway Connecting Russia, Iran, Azerbaijan. An agreement on construction of a railway connecting Russian, Iran and Azerbaijan was signed recently. Thus, Russian Railways (RZD) approved the route option to Iran.The railway companies of Russia, Iran and Azerbaijan signed an agreement to build a railway Kazivin (Iran) Resht (Iran) Astara (Azerbaijan). The companies are to develop the feasibility study by November establishing a consortium of the Russian, Azerbaijan and Iranian railways by the mid-August to implement the project. The railway section Kazivin Resht Astara, which is a part of the construction project of the transport corridor North-South, will be finished in 2012.

RailAmerica, the short line holding company that is owned by private equity firm Fortress Investment Group, unveiled a restructured senior management team that will oversee the Florida East Coast Railway as well as other lines within RailAmerica. John Giles, president and CEO of RailAmerica, said the Jacksonville, Fla.-based group is "a top-notch management team of professional railroaders" who each brings more than 20 years of industry experience.

Russian Railways (RZD) launched 168 double freight trains on the routes Saint-Petersburg Koshta and Saint-Petersburg Vyborg. Using the technology of double trains during railway repairs allows increasing the throughput capacity of the sections.

S..

Suzuki Motor Inc. plans to launch the production of next-generation Grand Vitara SUVs at its new car plant, which is being built in St Petersburg.

T..

Transgarant and All-Russian Public Organization “Business Russia” signed an agreement on strategic partnership. The cooperation between business and power aims to accelerate the process of building transport infrastructure. The document is meant to produce a unified position of business and power regarding transport development issues. The agreement is not aimed at making the private business get access to the state investment resources. It envisages cooperation in legislation in order to make the public private partnership appear in all spheres of power at legislative level. The primary task of the supervisory board and coordinating council, which are currently being established, will be audit which is to determine what legislative acts are to be adopted for the progressive development of the transport industry.

U..

U.S. Department of Transportation will spend $11 million to improve truck parking along two interstate highways. DOT selected Interstate 95 along the East Coast and Interstate 5 in the West because they are two of the nation's busiest highways, carrying as much as 10 percent of total interstate truck traffic. The money will be spent in support of innovative strategies such as intelligent transportation systems (ITS) technology to provide truckers with real-time information on available parking. The technology will monitor parking availability and transmit the updates to truckers. Both corridors will explore ways to allow truckers to reserve parking spaces ahead of time.

U.S. Department of Energy and the government of Sweden extended a cooperative agreement with the Volvo Group on development of alternative drivelines, Volvo said . The extended agreement between DOE and the Swedish Energy Agency first set in June 2007 will provide a three-year, $18 million grant to the Volvo Group for the development of hybrid technology and drivelines for alternative fuels, the company said.

V..

Volkswagen plans to spend $1 billion to build a plant in Chattanooga, Tenn., making the world's fourth-largest carmaker the latest European manufacturer to shift some production to the United States. The automotive giant considered 25 U.S. locations, including sites in Michigan and Alabama, before settling on Chattanooga for its new plant, which it expects to be up and running by 2011.