After Successful Assimilation of Ford's US Trade Operations, Vastera Extends Managed Services to Ford of Mexico; Global Trade Management Leader Launches Vastera Mexico.Business Editors/Hi-Tech Writers DULLES, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 7, 2001 Vastera (Nasdaq:VAST), the leading provider of solutions for global trade management, today announced that Ford Motor Company (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange :F) has extended its 10-year managed services An umbrella term for third-party monitoring and maintaining of computers, networks and software. The actual equipment may be inhouse or at the third-party's facilities, but the "managed" implies an ongoing effort; for example, making sure the equipment is running at a certain quality agreement with Vastera to include Ford of Mexico. Under the terms of the agreement, Vastera will assume responsibility of Ford of Mexico's import and export operations, including classification of products, generation of import / export documentation, calculation of duties, management of customs clearance, and execution of regulatory compliance checks. Vastera also gains extensive global trade expertise in the form of 31 Ford of Mexico employees, who will now form the core of Vastera Mexico, based in Mexico City Mexico City Spanish Ciudad de México City (pop., 2000: city, 8,605,239; 2003 metro. area est., 18,660,000), capital of Mexico. Located at an elevation of 7,350 ft (2,240 m), it is officially coterminous with the Federal District, which occupies 571 sq mi . Ford was the first car maker to establish operations in Mexico in 1925 and currently operates three major assembly facilities and 128 dealers within the country. Ford of Mexico's three major assembly plants combined to make 278,559 automobiles in the year 2000, 83% of which were exported to other countries. The plants also produced 335,055 engines during the year, 58% of which were exported. Ford of Mexico is also a major importer, bringing in over 99,000 vehicles from abroad in the year 2000. The task of managing such significant volumes of high priced items is challenging and requires effective management of duty minimization programs to maximize profits. Vastera will now manage these processes for Ford of Mexico, leveraging experienced trade professionals, trade process knowledge, and its TradeSphere software technologies. In August, Vastera acquired Ford's U.S. Customs operations. Over the past four months, Vastera has defined new trade processes and identified new opportunities for cost savings within Ford's U.S. import operations. Vastera has also successfully completed the transition of 35 Ford U.S. Customs operations employees to its own staff, and has established a new office in Michigan to serve as its U.S. automotive center of excellence. Because of Vastera's early success in the U.S., Ford of Mexico accelerated its plans to adopt Vastera's managed services. Ford has owned an equity stake in Vastera since the venture was announced July 1, 2000. "We are very pleased that Ford has accelerated its global rollout of our original managed services agreement," said Arjun Rishi rishi (rēˑ·shē), n in Sanskrit, one who possesses knowledge. , CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. of Vastera. "We quickly gain a wealth of talent in Mexico by bringing on Ford of Mexico's global trade personnel. We believe this group of trade professionals, combined with our technology, will be able to meet not just the demands of Ford, but other companies in Mexico and South America South America, fourth largest continent (1991 est. pop. 299,150,000), c.6,880,000 sq mi (17,819,000 sq km), the southern of the two continents of the Western Hemisphere. as well. We welcome the Ford of Mexico team to Vastera." "We are extremely pleased with how Vastera is handling our US business," said Frank Taylor, Vice President of Material Planning and Logistics at Ford. "The transition has been rapid and smooth and we're looking forward to a similar benefits in Mexico." About Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company is the world's second largest automaker with approximately 335,000 employees in 200 markets on six continents Six Continents is a large retail PLC in UK which split into Six Continents Retail known as Mitchells and Butlers plc. The hotels and soft drinks business of Six Continents PLC is now known as InterContinental Hotels Group PLC. . Its automotive brands include Aston Martin Aston Martin Lagonda Limited is a British manufacturer of luxury performance cars, whose headquarters are at Gaydon, Warwickshire, England. The company name is derived from the Aston Clinton hill climb and one of the company's founders, Lionel Martin. , Ford, Jaguar, Land Rover See LANRover. , Lincoln, Mazda, Mercury and Volvo. Its automotive related services include Ford Credit, Quality Care and Hertz. About Vastera Vastera's global trade management solutions are designed to automate and streamline the trade functions of global e-business. Vastera's global trade management solutions include modular, web-architected applications, trade management consulting Noun 1. management consulting - a service industry that provides advice to those in charge of running a business service industry - an industry that provides services rather than tangible objects and managed services. The foundation of these solutions is Global eContent, a comprehensive, electronic library of country-specific trade and regulatory data, which is maintained and updated daily. Vastera clients include: Ford, Alcatel, Dell, Microsoft, Sun, New Zealand New Zealand (zē`lənd), island country (2005 est. pop. 4,035,000), 104,454 sq mi (270,534 sq km), in the S Pacific Ocean, over 1,000 mi (1,600 km) SE of Australia. The capital is Wellington; the largest city and leading port is Auckland. Dairy Board, Lucent Technologies, RightFreight and Nortel Networks. For more information, please visit www.vastera.com. This press release includes statements which may constitute forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor Safe Harbor 1. A legal provision to reduce or eliminate liability as long as good faith is demonstrated. 2. A form of shark repellent implemented by a target company acquiring a business that is so poorly regulated that the target itself is less attractive. provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (PSLRA) implemented several significant substantive changes affecting certain cases brought under the federal securities laws, including changes related to pleading, discovery, liability, class representation and awards fees and of 1995. Statements in this press release that are not strictly historical are "forward looking" statements which are subject to the many risks and uncertainties that exist in Vastera's operations and business environment. These risks and uncertainties may cause actual results to differ materially from the expected results and include, but are not limited to, Vastera's limited operating history, history of losses and anticipation of continued losses, potential volatility of quarterly operating results, the ability to successfully implement Vastera's expansion plans, risks related to the Internet, risks related to legal uncertainty and other risks which are set forth in more detail in Vastera's Registration Statement on Form S-1, as amended, as well as other reports and documents filed from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission. |
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