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This is from The Australian Coles, Woolies flogging flawed home-brand future: Aldi chief The shelves will be groaning with too many choices, Blair Speedy reports -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 25sep06 THE Australian boss of discount supermarket chain Aldi has warned Coles and Woolworths that their home-brand strategies are fundamentally flawed. The major supermarket chains are both rolling out multi-tiered "private label" product lines in an attempt to boost profit margins. Coles has a three-tiered strategy, from the budget-priced "smart buy" range in plain white and red packaging to the mid-market "You'll love Coles" range with more colourful packaging, including pictures, and the top-shelf "Coles finest" range, to be launched this Christmas, pitched at premium price points. Coles is aiming to draw 30 per cent of its supermarket sales from private label lines, as it struggles to fulfil ambitious earnings forecasts laid out as part of its defence against an unwelcome takeover bid from private equity investors. Woolworths' budget-priced range, Home Brand, has been around for 20 years and now comprises almost 1000 different products. To this has now been added the "Woolworths select" range, pitched as a slightly cheaper, brand-quality alternative to name-brand products, which has 400 products on the shelves with another 200 due by January. Private label products typically sell at a discount to their branded shelf-mates, allowing shoppers to save money. But retailers get to save even more because they are not paying manufacturers any premium for the value of outside brands, thus increasing retailers' sales margins. But Michael Kloeters, group managing director of Aldi's Australian operation, says that presenting shoppers with two types of Coles or Woolworths branded products, one a plain-wrapped "budget" offering and the other a flashier and higher-priced item, sends the wrong message. "Having a two-tier strategy raises the question: which one has the brand quality and which one is inferior? They can hardly offer the same quality in both packages, meaning you may have one quality at the (lower) price point, then you have the brand quality at a higher price point," Kloeters says. Such a strategy is essentially telling shoppers that if they buy the plain-wrapped product, they're getting inferior quality. Aldi's model, honed over more than 50 years of retailing, is to offer private labels almost exclusively. A maximum 5 per cent of Aldi's product range is made up of "must-have" branded goods that shoppers will not go without. In Australia that means Vegemite, Nescafe and Milo. Almost everything else in the store is sold under an Aldi private label. Unlike Woolies and Coles, Aldi's private label stock doesn't have a common brand for all ranges. Its frozen peas are sold under the Market Fare brand, which shoppers would not know was owned by Aldi unless they took a close look at the pack. Frozen seafood is sold under the Aldi-owned Port View, Ocean Royale and Viking brands. "Our quality is as good as the leading brands, so you might as well show it to the customer via your design and giving it a unique identity, just like the brands, but you can sell them for less because you don't have to invest in heavy marketing," Kloeters says. Having individual private label brands for each product range also removes the stigma of buying discount groceries that may deter status-conscious shoppers. In Germany, this has seen Aldi reach a massive 85 per cent of shoppers, across all social demographics. "You would find a Merc in our car park as much as a bicycle, because we are not a cheap discounter. We are offering great prices for quality products," Kloeters says. Choice in Aldi supermarkets is limited - there is only one variety of orange juice, one type of tasty cheese and one brand of bleach. But Kloeters says each one represents the best value for money in the market. "Do you need 50 orange juices? No you don't, so we look at them and ask what is the best value for money, what would I like to have at home, and then we ask suppliers to get as close as we can to that orange juice to make sure we have the perfect one. "We offer contracts to our suppliers and they do that orange juice contract, but they are the only one on the shelf, meaning we can do it far more efficiently because we haven't got that much competition on our shelves for starters, so the average quantity we sell each day of that brand is a lot greater. "It's not rocket science why our value-for-money proposition is a good one. We just cut costs where we don't think they're necessary." He says that not only is the quality of Aldi's private labelled goods up to the same standards as rival branded products, they often are the branded products. "Sometimes the suppliers are exactly the same and sometimes the product is exactly the same, it's just a different label - more often than not, actually." Tailored to incorporate similar designs to the leading brands in each market, Aldi's private labels look remarkably similar to name-brand products. Kloeters says this is no accident. "The brands in the market have certain common design elements suggesting this is a pasta sauce, or this is spaghetti or whatever. You should be able to identify what kind of product it is when you look at the package design," he says. "You can't offer something the customer hasn't seen before. If you come up with a green cola bottle, nobody will buy it. It would feel strange. You've got to have red - that signals it's cola." But while Aldi is focused on cost containment, Kloeters insists the company doesn't screw suppliers for every last cent in savings. "People think being a discounter means squeezing suppliers, jeopardising quality. But it's exactly the opposite. We start with the quality first and then discount the retail (price)," he says. A recent survey of fast-moving consumer goods manufacturers by market researcher AC Nielsen found that Aldi was seen as the best retailer for fairness of trading terms and negotiations. About 75 per cent of products sold in Aldi's Australian stores are Australian-made, a figure Kloeters claims is the highest proportion of any Australian supermarket retailer. It's also not stingy with staff, paying them as much as $5 more than the standard $15 an hour and hiring them on a permanent basis. "We are working with permanent part-time and full-time people rather than with casuals. When you look at other supermarkets, the checkouts are staffed by schoolkids. We believe that hiring mature adults at a high salary, getting the best people thinking, you will get the best results," Kloeters says. He is also proud to point out that Aldi's are the only checkout operators in Australia who get to sit down. "Why are our cashiers the only ones who are sitting? It's very simple - it costs more money and that's why the other guys don't do it." Instead, Aldi saves costs by limiting advertising, doing without in-house legal, human resources, industrial relations and public relations staff, and limiting its advertising. But the key is the private labels, which allow Aldi to offer an extensive range of groceries with just a few varieties per range. "Not having as many products means we can live with a smaller store. A smaller store means less rent. Less rent means lower retail (prices)," Kloeters says. Accordingly, he is unconcerned about Coles and Woolworths steaming into the private label market. "We have the lowest operating cost in the Australian market already, meaning we are able to offer the best value for money. They may try to mimic that, but they will never be able to offer the same value." He says Aldi's Australian annual sales are of the same order as David Jones and Officeworks, putting them in the $1.2-$1.8 billion range. While he declines to comment on Aldi's earnings or profit margins, he says the Australian operations are now profitable - well within the 10-year time limit set by the German parent company, controlled by brothers Karl and Theo Albrecht. privacy terms © The Australian

October 11, 2006 Engine Demolition 101 By Jim Kerr We just smoked an engine - and I mean smoked! Sparks flew. The ground shook. Flames erupted and smoke billowed out from beneath the fenders. It was all in a good cause, however. Every year, students at our school pick one of the older salvage vehicles we use for training to raise money for cancer research. Hundreds gathered around (but not too close) to the vehicle to see who had guessed how long the engine would run at full throttle without any oil in the crankcase. Guesses ran from a few seconds to over 8 minutes. In preparation for the event, the students warmed up the V8 engine completely, ensured it was operating correctly and then drained the engine oil and engine coolant. This was a wrecked vehicle but the engine had low kilometres on it and was in good shape - for a short while. As zero hour approached, the fire brigade stood guard armed with large chemical fire extinguishers (you can't be too safe) and the school nurse was in attendance. After signing their names to the engine covers, the students closed the hood and started the clock and the engine. A brick was placed on the gas pedal and everybody watched with anticipation. At first everything appeared to be normal. For over two minutes, the engine ran along at high rpm without any obvious damage. I thought it would have failed by now. Then suddenly it began to slow down. This was a sign of bearings seizing on crankshafts and pistons sticking in the cylinders. The engine ran slower and slower and the crowd started to think this was a dud. Then BANG! The loud noise was followed quickly by a couple more as connecting rods broke and punched holes in the side of the engine block. It was a good thing we drained the coolant too or there would have been a large puddle to clean up. The engine revved back up again as the drag from the seized connecting rods was relieved and it continued to operate remarkably smoothly on only a few cylinders. Steam from coolant and some smoke from hot oily parts started to seep from the fender gaps but the engine continued to run, and run, and run, and run. The five-minute mark passed. Finally, the engine started to make more clanking noises and the rpm started to surge. At the 5 minute, 41 second mark, it gave its last gasp as it dramatically shuddered to a stop and flames erupted in the engine compartment. Smoke billowed and the fire brigade was called into service, spraying the extinguishers into the grille opening and up from the bottom to quell the flames (never open the hood with an engine fire). It was over, almost. After the official time was announced, students took the engine apart to diagnose what had failed. It was obvious that connecting rod bearings had seized on the crankshaft because of a lack of lubrication and that is what broke the connecting rods, but they also discovered that some parts such as the valves, lifters and camshaft had survived without any obvious damage. Even the pistons were in pretty good shape except where they had been struck by flailing connecting rods. Besides raising money for charity, the destruction of this engine showed how important lubrication is to the life of an engine. Run low on engine oil and the first items to fail are usually the connecting rod bearings. Sometimes this can destroy the entire engine. Even a good engine won't last long without proper lubrication.

Most of the things sold @ ALDIS is made in Australia !!

I don't like the mirrors ! Ford Iosis X Concept Ford Press Release [Ford Iosis X Concept 2006] Ford of Europe's Design team has interpreted the Company's distinctive new 'kinetic design' form language in an exciting new crossover concept - the Iosis X – which made its debut at the 2006 Paris Motor Show.

I got this information from a US site some time ago. Next time I won't bother

Engine Oil Coolers Almost one third of the heat generated by the engine must be removed by the vehicle's two cooling systems. That's correct, your engine has two cooling systems. (1) The top of the engine: the area around each cylinder in the engine block, the combustion chamber areas in the cylinder heads and the intake manifold, dispel heat through the engine's radiator coolant system. (2) The rest of the engine: the crankshaft, bearings, camshaft, lifters, connecting rods and pistons are only cooled by engine oil. The ideal operating range for engine oil is 180°F through 200°F. While operating within this range, the oil works as a lubricant, coolant, and cleansing agent in the engine. Modern engines generally run with radiator coolant temperatures between 200°F and 220°F with oil temperature ranges between 20°F and 75°F HOTTER. In other words, when the engine is performing flawlessly, the engine oil is already overheating ! Oil that exceeds 220°F rapidly loses its ability to lubricate and cool causing accerlerated fatigue and premature component failure.

My T goes to 105 C, normal driving ! My Pajero 4x4 goes to about 85 C, normal driving. Check the picture, Oil temp v Engine life ! 120C = 248F 110C = 230F 105C = 221F 100C = 212F 90C = 194 F

I just did a search for you and got this.

Also make sure the engine got a " Thermostat system " fitted ! A lot of people run them without one. It will F### the engine in a very short time.

Ford faces cutbacks to Falcon capacity Philip King 11oct06 FORD Australia is on a collision course for cutbacks after a profit slump, a year of falling sales and little prospect of a rebound in demand. The Melbourne-based subsidiary was facing many of the same problems as its US parent, Ford Australia president Tom Gorman said last week, and cuts to capacity were unavoidable on current trends. He said structural changes to the market made it essential to "right-size" production and refused to rule out redundancies at the company's Broadmeadows factory. "We won't be able to avoid right-sizing our production with demand, if demand doesn't pick up," he said at the launch of a revised Falcon in Tasmania last week. "Today we have the capability to produce more cars than the market is presently consuming. I wouldn't rule any action out. We're going to have to take action according to what we need to do to be successful." Higher petrol prices have seen both American and Australian buyers shun larger vehicles and Ford in the US recently accelerated plans to cut 45,000 jobs and close 16 factories. Sales of Ford's locally built Falcon large sedan are down 19 per cent this year while its Territory SUV has slumped 18 per cent. Gorman said the market turned sour 12 months ago and there was no sign that the new Expensive Daewoo Late model camira was reigniting demand for large cars. "The large car market is down another 3 percentage points this year - that's another 28,000 units less demand than last year," he said. "We get a third of that market - that's 9000 or 10,000 units less demand for our product. If you don't have the demand, you can't build the cars." "That's why the success of Late model camira is important to us as well, because that is a sign that customers are coming back to the large car segment ... and so far it we haven't seen that." This year demand for large cars has fallen 21 per cent, compounding a decade of decline that has seen the segment's market share cut in half. Ford forecasts a 14 per cent share for the segment in 2007, with total demand steady at 965,000 vehicles. Mr Gorman said Ford's problems in the US meant there was more pressure than ever on Ford Australia to perform and its 23 per cent slide in after-tax profits for 2005, to $148m, had been a "significant blow". "Did we deliver what we were supposed to do in 2005? The simple answer is no." However, he was optimistic that the next generation Falcon, codenamed Orion and still two years away, would have the potential for volume exports following a $105m injection of government money in May. "We have to be an exporter and we have to be a more successful exporter than we have been thus far," he said. "If we found ourselves doing 30,000-40,000 exports that would be a huge shot in the arm to us." Currently Ford Australia ships between 8000 and 10,000 cars a year to New Zealand and South Africa, making it a distant third on exports behind Toyota and Holden. Gorman said the Orion would be engineered for left-hand drive and target the Middle East, where Expensive Daewoo and Toyota ship the bulk of their exports. "We compete with them both successfully here, why can't we compete with them successfully in the Middle East?" Mr Gorman said. The Orion would be exported largely unchanged from the domestic model. Much of the work was already complete but engineers were still busy on the next generation Territory, due sometime beyond 2008, and the platform for Ford's next global compact pick-up. "We're still a very efficient engineering source," Mr Gorman said.

Last Update: Friday, October 6, 2006. 3:28pm (AEST) Two drivers injured in Bathurst crash Two drivers have been seriously injured in a support race this afternoon ahead of Sunday's Bathurst 1000 at Mount Panorama. Mark Porter and David Clark were airlifted to hospital following the crash, which occurred late in the first race of the Development Series. Both drivers are in a critical condition. Television pictures showed Porter's Expensive Daewoo Late model camira spinning sideways after striking a wall. Despite his best efforts, Clark could not stop his Ford Falcon from colliding into the stricken vehicle at an estimated speed of 200 kilometres per hour. Clark was flown to Nepean Hospital with serious head and chest injuries. Porter was taken to Bathurst Base Hospital for stabilisation treatment before he is expected to be airlifted to Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney. A third driver was involved in the crash and taken to hospital as a precaution. The crash has delayed the start to this afternoon's qualifying session for the V8 Supercars. -ABC/Reuters

A scheme to charge motorists by the mile for their car insurance has been welcomed by a road safety group. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/5408338.stm

My Car, BA MK2 Turbo, 6 speed manual. I got now just over 9,000km on the clock. Best ever comming back from the south coast ( NSW ) over the mountains to Canberra. 9.82 litres. On a normal interstate trip no more than 10.5 litres Around Canberra 12 to 13.5 litres Worst ever 15.53 litres. When I fill up, I fill to the top and then record my readings, Litres / Km. I mostly use Shell or Caltex 91 / 95. The car has no modifications as such. ! Super happy !! PS, I did set the Sparkplugs to .8 mm !!

Yes, but ......

Price only went up to rip-off people who must wait till Payday to fill up.

At 3pm this afternoon I filled up the T, paid for the petrol and went back to my car. As I was sitting in the car the Fellow comes out with his little box and cable, plugs it in to the tower with the petrol price display and puts the price up by 8 cents! Shell / Coles. Thursday tomorrow, payday!

Above the Clutch- Pedal. It's black , can't miss it !!

Did you check the inside of your car under the dash / clutch master cylinder?

This is what it looks like under the silver strip.

Hi Bain, My car is a BA MK2 Turbo and is like yours. No vents from the silver strip !!

http://www.theage.com.au/news/business/for...9641211665.html Ford Australia reveals 23% profit dip Ian Porter October 2, 2006 THE perennially weak earnings of local car makers have deteriorated further, with Ford Australia revealing a 23 per cent drop in profit for 2005. The lower earnings followed a fall in revenue caused by rising petrol prices and a glut of large cars, which started to eat into sales and profit margins in the second half of the year. Earnings for the year fell from an adjusted $192 million to $148 million as demand for Ford's two main local products, the Falcon and Territory, fell. And, in an indication of how bad things were back home, Ford Australia paid a $300 million dividend during 2005 as the North American Ford group scrambled to boost cash flows. The fall in Ford's earnings echoed that of Toyota Australia, the only other car maker to have reported its results so far. Toyota's earnings dropped 22 per cent from $70.8 million to $54.9 million even though revenue rose 4 per cent to $7.6 billion for the year to March 31. GM Expensive Daewoo and Mitsubishi Australia are also expected to report weaker results, with GMH being particularly affected by the costs associated with pulling the Elizabeth factory back from three shifts a day to two late last year. Ford's revenue dipped for the first time in five years, easing 2.5 per cent to $3.89 billion as vehicle sales dropped 4.4 per cent to 129,200 cars and trucks. The trend continued into this year, and Ford president Tom Gorman said the poor conditions had been compounded early this year by a shortage of supply of the company's new imported small car, the Focus. "Rising petrol prices have had a significant impact on the sales of large cars and SUVs (sport utility vehicles) in Australia," Mr Gorman said when releasing the results on Friday. "Although this has had a flow-on effect on overall sales of our Falcon and Territory model lines, we maintained strong market share of each category during 2005." The value of government grants — believed to include tax exemptions earned under the Federal Government's automotive competitiveness and investments scheme — fell during the year from $118 million to $91.3 million. The effect of this decline on the profit and loss account was more than offset by a $31.9 million gain before tax on foreign exchange contracts. Although Ford's sales volumes were down, it still managed to sell 96,898 locally made vehicles (down 4.3 per cent), the most of the local car makers. The Falcon provided the bulk of the sales with 53,080 (down 18.8 per cent), followed by the Territory at 23,454 — up on the 2004 volume of 13,583 because 2005 was the model's first full year on sale. Both the Falcon and the Territory took a 33 per cent share in their market segments. Mr Gorman said 2006 was "challenging", with external forces such as petrol prices still having an adverse effect on sales. To counter this, he said product development programs and investment strategies would position the company well for the future. He said the company's success in becoming the Ford group's design centre for a global light truck proved Ford Australia had strong engineering and design capability. "We look forward to building on those and other export opportunities in the years to come," Mr Gorman said. In May Ford received a $52 million grant from the Federal Government — and dollar-for-dollar assistance from the State Government — to help with the cost of expanding its design operations to meet this contract and also to help pay for developing left-hand drive versions of the 2008 Falcon and Territory.

Ford Territory Turbo September 27, 2006 Verdict **** Ford's new SUV is an impressive package, but perhaps a little out of its time, writes Terry Martin http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story...1-13232,00.html

just found this. Stray Current Corrosion in Cooling Systems So, why are we seeing more stray current related radiator failures these days? A good example of how modern radiators are so vulnerable to stray current corrosion is that many of them are attached to the vehicle by their plastic tanks, or are insulated from the vehicle chassis by rubber mounts. In many cases electrical cooling fans are mounted directly to the radiator frame. Fans and fan motors cause lots of noise, vibration and harshness so they are insulated from the vehicle on rubber mountings. Introduce some bad electrical contacts for the fan wiring and we have set the scene for rapid electrolysis via the cooling fans. The same fan is probably cycling more often because it can’t rotate quickly enough as it has a bad earth contact. These are perfect conditions for disaster – lots of stray current, longer fan ON time and a hotter engine. A copper/brass radiator will suffer stray current damage, too. However, an old copper/brass radiator is usually bolted directly to the vehicle body work, providing an easy path to earth for any stray current that finds its way into the cooling system. Plastic tanks and rubber mounts deny any stray current an easy path to ground. The environment for electrolysis in its most virulent form now exists. Cooling fans are by no means the only cause of stray current problems. According to many radiator repairers, stray current problems commonly occur following body repairs. The cause is over-spray. Paint does not conduct electricity. Therefore, over-spray at an earth point forces the current to find an alternative path to earth – the cooling system. Corrosion damage in the areas of a radiator, while operating within a squeaky-clean cooling system, is a pretty good indication of stray current damage. In simple terms, stray current is a chemical/electrical process which causes an electrical current to pass through a vehicle's cooling system fluid. It can cause rapid damage to radiators and will indirectly cause problems with other engine components such as water pumps, thermostat housing etc. It occurs when one or more electrical items, such as a cooling fan or headlight, develops a problem in its electrical circuitry. This causes an electrical current to seek out an earth path via the radiator core through the engine coolant. Stray electrical current can destroy an aluminium or copper/brass radiator in record time. Aluminium radiator cores have been known to fail within a matter of days, due to stray current. Many manufacturers and radiator suppliers can refuse to honour a warranty where stray current corrosion is found to be the cause of premature radiator failure. The responsibility to test for stray current, and to guard against early cooling system failure, falls squarely on the party fitting the replacement radiator. Stray Current Corrosion in Cooling Systems Check Procedure: Note: This check procedure is best carried out with plain water in the cooling system, since coolant may give a false reading. 1. Remove the radiator cap and run the engine to operation temperature. Do not rev the engine as this may cause the coolant to aerate. 2.Switch ON all electrical items including items such as a mobile phone, rear demister, driving lights etc. 3.Switch a multimeter to a scale of 5 volts DC or less. Ideally the meter should be capable of reading millivolts. Do not use a digital multimeter, as its internal operating characteristics are not suitable for this test. 4. Place the negative lead of the multimeter on the battery negative post. 5. Dip the positive lead into the coolant without touching the filler neck or the core of the radiator. 6. A reading of more than .05 volts indicates the presence of potentially damaging stray current passing through the coolant. Ideally the voltage should be 0 volts, however it is highly possible that some voltage level will be detected. 7. If no voltage or a very low voltage is detected, carry out the same test as in point 4, but with the ignition OFF. 8. If voltage is detected, isolate the circuit by turning all electrical items OFF and switching each circuit ON individually. A final note of caution: Refilling a cooling system with either a traditional or OAT type of coolant will itself generate a current that lasts approximately 12 hours. This can be avoided by refilling a repaired vehicle, for example, with clean water and then proceeding to test for stray current. nulon.com.au

Top Gear star laughing and talking September 29, 2006 - Top Gear presenter Richard Hammond was flown from Leeds General Infirmary to a hospital nearer his home on today, health officials said. Hammond, 36, was transferred from the West Yorkshire hospital by air ambulance to Leeds-Bradford International Airport only eight days after he was seriously injured in a high-speed car crash. "He is continuing to do well and was obviously stable enough to be moved," a Leeds General Infirmary spokeswoman said. The father-of-two suffered a significant brain injury in the jet-powered car accident at a disused RAF airfield near York. Hammond was then flown to an undisclosed hospital near his Gloucestershire home. He was moved from a high dependency ward to a side-room on a general ward in the Leeds hospital on Saturday. The accident was jointly investigated by police and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). The BBC has postponed the new series of Top Gear until Hammond has recovered. Well-wishers have donated tens of thousands of pounds to a charity for the Yorkshire Air Ambulance, which airlifted the presenter to hospital. Reuters http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2006/09/...9337308645.html