European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 21, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 14 the stars and stripes Money matters tuesday december 21,1993 today a rates following arc fixed rates at which Community banking and credit Union facilities will sell foreign currencies to . Personnel for personal use it German Mark. 1.67 British Pound .1.52 dutch Guilder. 1.86 greek drachma 238.8575 nolo the. Rates a Oft apply within the Host country. Figure Are expressed in dollars to the British Pound other  to tha Dollar. Following Are Interbank rates that fluctuate and should be regarded As the approximate value of the . Dollar to foreign Curran pics italian lira. 1,604.75 turkish lira .14,115.30 Spanish peseta .140.31 portuguese escudo 174.00 austrian Schilling 12.0530 saudi Royal .3.75 bahraini Dinar 0.3767 kuwaiti Dinar 29600 norwegian Krone 7.429q danish Krone 6,7025 British Pound 1.4859 German Mark 1.7125 Swiss franc. 1.4615 French franc. 5.8395 dutch Guilder. 1.9161 belgian franc .35.67 Canadian Dollar. 1.3403 note figures Are of pressed in dollars to the British Pound other currencies to the Dollar Gold quote 1369.75 an ounce a. I Silver quote $5.09 an ounce . Reclaiming spot As top vehicle maker Detroit a the United states will regain its position As the worlds big gust vehicle producer next year surpassing Japan for the first time in 13 years automotive news reported monday. The United states nearly caught up with the japanese in production this year. . Plants will turn out 10.7 Mil Ion cars and trucks in the production car that ends this week up from 9.8 Mil Ion last year. Japanese car makers arc expected to build 11,1 million vehicles this year Down from 12.5 million in 1992, according to automotive news. But production in the United states i will increase about 4.6 percent to about 11.2 million units next year. Meanwhile Japan hampered by the rising value of the yen will Sec production slip to about 11 million units or fewer the Trade publication said. As recently As 1992, Japan produced about 2.7 million More vehicles per year than the United states. The chief executives of the big three automakers said in sundays Detroit news that the . Auto Industry a rapid turnaround surprised even them. A the Domestic Industry is in a much stronger position than we had even thought a year ago a said general motors corp. Chief executive John f. Smith or. A a year ago we weren to looking for the japanese to get themselves in trouble a sales by pm Ford motor co. And Chrysler corp. Are up 10.3 percent giving the big three control of nearly three quarters of the . Vehicle Market. The japanese who were closing in on one third of the . Market two years ago have fallen to 24 percent. Smith predicted that people will be buying cars soon because on average they Haven to bought a new car in eight years a cars arc at their highest level of age since world War ii a Smith said. Pump prices continue fall dip 2v2 cents los Angeles a gasoline prices fell 2xa cents in the past two weeks continuing a trend that began in late october the Lundburg Survey reported sunday a Survey Friday found the Overall average Price of gasoline including Alt grades and Levels of service was $1.1078 a Gal Lon said Trilby Lundburg who canvasses 10,000 stations nationwide every two weeks. Gasoline prices have fallen More than 7 cents a gallon since the oct. 22 Survey while crude Oil prices have fallen just Over 6 cents a gallon Lundberg said easy riders German i foreign minister Klaus Kin Lul right and russian Miry Sll on min tractors at an exhibition of Industrial and Agri foreign minister Andrei v. Kozarev pose for photographers As cultural equipment in Vladimir Russia on  did Tokyo apr attention shoppers in aisle seven we re running a special with prices so Low you la hardly believe what country you re in a times Are changing a said 25-year-old Mitsuhiko Tabata As he rifled through a rack of Cut Price menus suits in a discount shop near Tokyo a ritzy Ginza shopping District. A if it s the same suit it makes sense to buy it at the shop with the Best  american style discounters considered declasse Only a few years ago Are now the rage among Consumers. A whatever i can buy in bulk i buy Here now a said Michiko Yamaki 60, nimbly mane vering her shopping cart Down a narrow aisle bulging with slabs of imported beef. These Are no football Field sized Wal marts japanese discount stores Are often so cramped customers have to clamber Over one another to get at the shelves. But the idea is the same. A the cuts of meat Are better at the smaller shops near my Home a Yamaki conceded. A but things Are cheaper  indeed things Are cheaper and some traditional retailers Are worried As they see their customers turn to Joys of Ward Thrift Ness no longer footing the Bill for the layers of middlemen who get the goods on the shelves. Making it tougher for the smaller retailers the government favors the discount shops because they re one of the few growth spots on an otherwise Bleak economic horizon . Toy retailing giant toys a or Quot us inc. Was one of the first on the scene. It has steadily expanded since opening its first store in 1991. A in the Long run department stores and Small shops will pull out and Only toys r us and a few Large supermarket chains will remain a said Dean Perry a retail analyst at Lehman Brothers Japan inc. In fiscal 1992, department store sales fell 6.7 percent from the year before according to the Japan department store association. Sales in discount shops Rose a brisk 8.5 percent Over the same period. The traditional retailers Are usually More expensive because they buy from middlemen who buy from other middlemen. Each layer pads itself with profits pushing prices Ever  unwritten rules of retailing in Japan have Long allowed wholesalers and retailers 10 conduct their Busi shopping Ness in cozy arrangements that in other nations would violate monopoly Laws. Shopkeepers have Small reason to object since the connections allow them to return goods they did t sell and to even negotiate a product s wholesale Price a after its Sale. Consumers foot the Bill a single Tomato Selling at a neighbourhood grocer often costs the same As five cans of imported italian tomatoes in a discount store. A i heard that having lots of layers of wholesalers is a japanese tradition a Tabata said a maybe its a part of our culture. But things have just gotten too  with millions of livelihoods at stake Battle lines have been drawn Over the nations distribution routes. In one Case cosmetics company Shishido Cut off its supplies to the Kawachika discount House because the discounter was Selling the cosmetics 25 percent to 30 percent lower than suggested retail prices. Kawachika complained to the fair Trade commission Japan a anti monopoly watchdog. And the commission ordered Shishido to resume shipments. Under pressure from the United states and other trading partners Japan has begun to tighten its enforcement of anti monopoly rules