European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 31, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Tuesday March 31, 1992 the stars and stripes b pa9e 17money matters prices at Gas pumps in the United states held steady in the past two weeks according to a Survey. The Lundberg Survey of 13,000 service stations found the average Price of All grades of gasoline including taxes was $1.1718 per gallon Friday two hundredths of a cent below the average March 13. Industry analyst Trilby Lundberg said sunday in los Angeles that wholesale prices moved up slightly but retailers kept their prices stable because consumer demand was  rates London up mondays rates for the . Dollar to other currencies. Figures Are expressed in dollars to the British Pound other local currencies in dollars Gold was quoted at $342.75 an ounce Silver at $4.14. March 27 March 30 British Pound.1.7360 1.7355 German mark.1.6460 1.6460 French franc.5.6285 5.5827 dutch guilder.1.8684 1.8543 belgian franc.33.95 33.91 italian lira.1.250.60 1.241.75 Swiss franc.1.4982 1.5000 greek drachma.192.76 191.24 turkish lira.6,226.80 6,220.70 saudi arabian rtyal.3.7502 3.7501 Spanish peseta.104.84 104.16 portuguese escudo .142.96 141.96 Canadian Dollar.1.1906 1.1885 austrian schilling.11.6275 11.5650 norwegian krone.6.512 6.467 danish krone.6.4385 6.3900 these Are commercial rates and can be related Only to the use of foreign currency by . Forces for official business. The Only official rates concerns the Sale of German Marks and British pounds to . Personnel for personal use and these will be 1.60 Marks to a Dollar and $1.78 for a Pound through tuesday based on mondays noontime  expanding Kentucky Plant Georgetown by. Up  plans to expand its Kentucky Plant to manufacture six Cylinder engines instead of importing them from Japan. The $90 million investment expanding the Power train Plant will allow the japanese automaker to produce More front and rear axles and add 200 new jobs. The current facility produces Only four Cylinder engines for the camry Model built at Toyota a Assembly Plant in Georgetown located near Lexington in Central Kentucky. The additional capacity will allow Toyota to manufacture up to 200.000 v-6 engines annually giving the facility a combined capacity of 500,000 engines a year the company said. Axle production will increase by up to 180,000 per year Over the current 240,000, the company said. Construction on a separate project began at the Assembly Plant last year. That expansion when completed late next year will bring total manufacturing capacity to 400.000 vehicles per year Toyota officials said. A a completion of the Power train addition is targeted for Spring 1994, with engine production beginning in the fall. Construction will get under Way in Early 1993. Olympics Aren t just games to charge card companies by Denise Gellene los Angeles times the summer olympic games Are four months away but for leading credit card companies the olympic charge has begun. Visa which paid a staggering $20 million to become the official card of the olympics is airing commercials that boast a the olympics done to take american  meanwhile american express is fighting Back with radio spots touting its card As the official card for tourism in Spain a site of the summer games. American express got that slogan at a bargain Price it paid $3.3 million. Companies try to link themselves to the olympics because it gives Consumers warm feelings about their products. Performance research of Newport r.i., said More than six out of 10 people surveyed viewed olympic sponsors As a Friendly innovative  but the american express ads Are getting the adrenaline flowing at visa because they mention the olympics a a right visa paid for dearly. The . Olympic committee which sold visa the sponsorship is not too Happy about the american express ads either. A olympic committee spokesman Mike Moran called the american express ads Quot a Clever ambush concocted by a yuppies sitting up nights at and agencies trying to figure out How to mention the olympics without paying for it. Moran said that the committees lawyers were exploring possible Legal action against american express. A spokeswoman at Ogilvy amp Mather the new York advertising Agency that created the controversial radio ads said �?o1 guess the olympic committee is entitled to its opinion. But a spokesman for american express defended the and. Spokesman Frank Vaccaro said american express became Spain a official card after joining with Iberia air lines of Spain and the Spanish government Agency tur Espana last year in a three year $10 million tourism promotion. A we saw 1992 As a tremendous year for tourism in Spain a Vaccaro said noting that the european country is the Host of the worlds fair As Well As the olympics. The summer games will be held in Barcelona from july 25 to aug. 9, while Seville will hold epo �?T92 from april 20 to oct. 12. What is More Vaccaro said the american express ads Correct what the company considers a a misleading impression left by visa. One in four Consumers who watch visa commercials wrongly believe that the american express card cannot be used anywhere near the games he said. Visa is the Only card accepted at the games themselves. Quot visa is using their olympic sponsorship to Bash american express a Vaccaro said. Visa spokesman Brad Henning responded a american express is trying to counterfeit an olympic  this is not the first time olympic related advertising by american express has aroused controversy. The company was fined $36,000 by a French court last month for distributing brochures that had a picture of the trademark olympic rings. The Fine came As the Winter olympics got under Way in the French Alps. And around the same time the . Olympic committee accused american express of using a a ambush advertising tactics in the United states. In its . Ads american express did not mention the olympics directly. But it showed Alpine Snow scenes and invited Consumers to join a the Winter fun and  who won the Winter olympic charge a Thon according to performance research 55 percent of people surveyed correctly identified visa As an olympic sponsor. But a significant 30 percent of those polled mistakenly picked american express. Fuji be join forces to make a Ray system Tokyo up Fuji photo film co., Japan Stop maker of photographic film materials said monday that it will join with general electric co. Of the United states to Market one of its digital a Ray imaging diagnostic systems. The medical digital a Ray machine called ac-1 plus will be supplied to Tokyo based Yokogawa medical system 75 percent controlled by the . Electric giant for distribution in Japan and else where a Fuji photo spokesman said. The ac-1 plus system is a compact computerized a Ray machine that can provide clearer pictures on a imaging plate than conventional medical a Ray machines. Yokogawa will Market the device at $230,000 each throughout the world under the be Brand name starting in april the spokesman said. Fuji photo started marketing the machines in 1983 and has sold 1,500 units As of last month. The linkup also Calls for joint research and development activities in the medical equipment Field Between Fuji and general electric the spokesman said. Fuji has cooperated in the past with Toshiba corp., Philips of the Netherlands and Siemens a in medical equipment  tool demand increases in february by the new York times orders for american made machine tools Rose 6.4 percent last month from january a level in another sign of renewed economic growth according to a report that was to be released monday by an Industry Trade group. T the association for manufacturing technology calculated february a orders at $231.4 million up from $217.4 million in january. However the amount of february orders was Down 5.6 percent from the $245.2 million of february 1991. Together with january a figures year to Date orders for machine tools totalled $448.8 million up 0.9 percent from $445.0 million in the first two months of last year. Of the $231.4 million in total orders $200.6 million were placed by american companies and $30.8 million were sold for Export. A Domestic orders Are off to a Good Start a Albert w. Moore president of the association said in a statement. He noted that Domestic sales of machine tools had topped $200 million for two consecutive months while in 1991 Domestic sales topped $200 million Only three times All year. The associations statistics Combine figures for two kinds of machinery Metal cutting and Metal forming machines. Each is used to produce a significant number of manufactured goods from refrigerators and cookware to automobiles and aircraft and Are regarded by economists As one of Many indicators of the nations economic condition. Exports have been depressed in recent months but Moore expressed the Industry a determination to press ahead with efforts to gain foreign Market share. A the slow or no growth condition in much of Asia and Europe does not mean we should pull Back a Moore said. A instead it is precisely the time to invest More in Export  at $30.8 million Export orders of machine tools were More than double the $13.2 million of january but Down sharply from the $80.1 million of february 1991. Business mexican Market leads world with 28% gain from wire reports Mexico City a Mexico a Stock Market again led the worlds courses in the first Quarter rising 28.42 percent in the local currency and 26.42 percent in dollars. But hefty first Quarter gains in european Stock markets were virtually wiped out for american investors by a corresponding rally in the Dollar. Developer in trouble London a Many of the largest Banks in the United states Europe and Asia Lent billions of dollars to Britain a Olympia amp York even though the real estate Developer refused to disclose All of its financial obligations and would not let the Banks review its books. Now it is being pummelled by too much debt depressed property values and disastrous investments. Its tanks Are nervously lining up to see what their losses May be. Vow names chairman Bonn Germany a Volkswagen a has announced that Carl h. Hahn the company a chairman for More than 10 years and the driving Force behind its global expansion will step Down at the end of the year. He will be succeeded by Ferdinand Piech the chief of the company saudi a subsidiary