Until recently, China only allowed its citizens seven different choices of paint colors for their vehicles. But now, the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) has helped facilitate an agreement with the Chinese government to open up 500 product categories to its marketplace, essentially creating a new specialty market in China.

Continental product lines now include VDO and ATE September 8, 2008

VDO and ATE brands are now part of the Continental Corporation’s product portfolio. The addition of the VDO lines of electric motors, engine management, instrumentation and door systems comes as part of the acquisition of Siemens VDO AG by Continental AG. The ATE lines of brake rotors, pads, and service parts had already been part of the Continental portfolio.

WABCO premiering driver assistance technology at Germany event September 5, 2008

WABCO Holdings Inc. will present the industry’s first autonomous emergency braking (AEB) system at IAA Commercial Vehicles 2008 in Hanover, Germany. WABCO’s system minimizes the response time for a vehicle to brake in collision imminent situations with moving or stopped vehicles because the AEB system reacts faster than the driver.

Beck/Arnley expands new brake pad category September 4, 2008

Beck/Arnley recently announced it has expanded its new category of foreign branded brake pads to include ATE and Mintex, which brings the total number of available applications to 2,345.

DENSO offers new fuel pump catalog September 4, 2008

DENSO Sales California has released the 2008 Fuel Pump catalog (#FP-CAT-0708) for its First Time Fit fuel pump line. The expanded catalog includes 157 new fuel pump part numbers, including modules and hanger assemblies, and 33 new tank seal part numbers.

Timken introduces compact magnetic coder September 2, 2008

The Timken Company (NYSE: TKR) is introducing a new M15 Modular Magnetic Encoder that provides more reliable feedback than optical encoders to keep motors and factory-automated equipment running longer, even in harsh environments, according to the company.

International taking delivery of Navistar, RTI units August 29, 2008

This week, the International truck dealership service network begins to take delivery of ?state-of-art? mobile A/C service equipment from Navistar and RTI Technologies designed to dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve HD truck A/C service efficiency and provide cost savings to truck dealer service shops by capturing over 95 percent of refrigerant during recycling operations.

Fix Auto selects Mitchell's management systems August 27, 2008

SAN DIEGO — FIX Auto USA Inc. selected Mitchell International’s ABS and ABS Enterprise as preferred body shop management systems of choice for use throughout its entire collision repair network.

Raybestos Police Friction D3EA PPSV certified August 18, 2008

Nothing is more critical than the braking performance of emergency vehicles. Raybestos? brand brakes recently earned the distinction of having its line of police friction products recognized as being D3EA PPSV (Police and Public Service Vehicle) certified.