Under the licensing agreement, Microsoft will provide DealerPoint technology to more than 1,000 Honda and 250 Acura dealers. The dealers do not need to be part of the existing CarPoint network of retail sales outlets to participate in the agreement.

DealerPoint includes an industry-first feature for dealers that imports Internet leads from multiple Internet sites and online car-buying services and pools them into one electronic-commerce management tool, helping dealers manage Internet customer leads more easily, respond faster to customer inquiries and increase their sales-closing ratios.

Not only are production rates increasing, horsepower and torque are on the rise, too. The Triton 6.8-liter V-10 engine used in the F-53 chassis has received power improvements for 1999. The horsepower increased from 275 to 310 at 4250 rpm, and peak torque is at 425 foot-pounds at 3250 rpm, up from 410.

F-53 chassis production will begin at the TruMack Assembly plant this fall.

TruMack Assembly is a joint venture between Trumark Inc., a Lansing, Mich.-based minority-controlled supplier of automotive stampings and assemblies and distributor of steel, and Mackie Automotive Systems, an Oshawa, Canada-based company that is the leading international supplier of "Tier Zero" sequencing, subassembly and logistical support systems for the automotive industries.

Ford awarded a contract to the joint venture to assemble complete chassis from components supplied by Ford and other companies. The joint venture will ship the rolling chassis to recreational vehicle manufacturers in Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, California, Iowa, Oregon, Alabama and Canada.

Volvo has now received the final orders for bus chassis for this year´s delivery to EGGED Transport Co-Operative in Israel. EGGED operates more than 4,200 buses in Israel, and - out of a total of 220 units - EGGED has ordered 130 Volvo bus chassis for delivery during 1999. Volvo delivered 100 bus chassies during the first half of 1999 and these are now gradually being put into operation. The chassies are of the model B10B, intercity specification. Most of the bus bodies are produced by Merkavim Metal Works Ltd, owned by Volvo to 26 percent since 1996, by Koor Industries to 50% and by Volvo's importer Mayers Car and Truck to 24%.

The first city bus of the model Volvo 7000, a new generation of low floor city buses presented by Volvo in October last year, and produced in stainless steel has now been delivered for testing by EGGED in Jeruslam. Tel Aviv and Haifa. The test in city bus operation will start in September, and the low floor concept will for the first time in Israel be evaluated by passengers as well as by the traffic planners.

350 Volvo chassis for buses and coaches in all has so far been ordered for delivery 1999 on the Israelian market. Volvo is strengthening its position as market leader in Israel as regards heavy buses and coaches and Volvo´s strong and determined involvement in the body building industry in Israel since 1996 has been very well accepted by the market. Merkavim Metal Works Ltd has recently inaugurated a completely new body building factory close to Tel Aviv. The production is entirely based on the Finnish bus body manufacturer Carrus Oy concept of stainless steel. The production capacity is 450 bodies per year.

Carrus Oy, the largest bus body manufacturer in Scandinavia, was acquired by Volvo Bus Corporation on January 1, 1998. The management of Carrus has participated with technology transfer and production know-how in the planning of the new production facility of Merkavim.