(12 Sep 1995) English/Nat

In the wake of the announcement of record losses, the German car maker Daimler-Benz today put on a brave face at the International Car Exhibition in Frankfurt.

Frankfurt is back on the fast track of the European car industry.

Tens of thousands of car fans flocked to the cream of the industry on display at the 56th International Car Exhibition.

Over a thousand exhibitors from 37 countries took the chance to display their wares - more than half of the exhibitors alone are from Germany.

Other countries strongly represented include Italy, France, America, Japan, Sweden and Austria.

While the local car industry in Germany continues to hold its own, the weak value of the American dollar has hit the market hard and forced managers to introduce new cost-cutting measures.

Volkswagen has had its own problems with its workers. Company officials and union managers have finally resolved their differences after six rounds of wage talks.

Workers originally demanded a six per cent rise but recently settled for four per cent.

SOUNDBITE: (English)
"I think both sides have contributed to the success. I personally am very much pleased that we have an agreement with the unions. We always try to have a good situation with the unions and not a fight and I think both parties have contributed to the success and I'm
happy that from today on we are going back to normal work."
SUPERCAPTION: Ulrich Seiffert, VW board council member

The American giant General Motors has been hit hard by the fall in the value of the dollar.

A spokesman explained the particular problems facing GM.

SOUNDBITE: (English)
"Of course it's a little bit, a little problem for us at the moment because the grey market brings in cars for this low dollar. And of course we can not change our prices monthly like the grey import maybe does when they have the chance to buy cars for a good price - they can sell them for a lower price. So we have to calculate on the basis that stays stable and so that's a little bit of a problem at the moment.
SUPERCAPTION: Uwe Mertin, General Motors public relations manager

However, all is not well at the Daimler-Benz. On Monday the German company announced record half-yearly losses of 1.56 (b) billion marks - nearly one (b) billion American dollars.

However, a company spokesman still managed to find a silver lining when explaining the causes for the company's record loss.

SOUNDBITE: (English)
"The figures were quite negative for Daimler-Benz, and included very positive figures for Mercedes Benz. That is an increase in profits by of 45 per cent for Mercedes Benz. For sure we will go on being a strong company with Mercedes Benz and structural problems that we in the Daimler Benz group will be corrected in the very near future though Daimler Benz as a total will be very profitable company in the future."
SUPERCAPTION: Dieter Zetsche, Mercedes-Benz board council member

Despite the air of optimism generated by the manufacturers, the future BMW's European work-force remains unclear.

The company admits that it thinking of moving overseas where it is cheaper to hire workers, and is currently looking at setting up a plant in the American state of Nebraska.

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