GM Canada drives to dominate armoured vehicle sales.With the August announcement that its Diesel Division has bought the Swiss company that developed the Piranha piranha: see characin.piranha or caribe Any of several species of deep-bodied, carnivorous fishes in the genus Serrasalmus (family Characidae), abundant in rivers of eastern and central South America and noted for voracity. light armoured vehicle (LAV), General Motors of Canada has positioned itself to dominate the global wheeled armoured vehicle market. Armed forces worldwide are planning major purchases of wheeled light armoured vehicles in the next few years and the buyout has effectively merged two of the largest suppliers. GM Canada's Diesel Division purchased Motorwagenfabrik AG (Mowag) of Kreuzlingen, Switzerland for an undisclosed sum in July, although the sale was not announced until a month later. Mowag, designer of the Piranha LAV that Diesel Division builds under licence in Canada, has estimated annual sales of $250 million. Mowag has supplied LAVs to Denmark and Sweden in Europe Stiftelsen Sverige i Europa ("Sweden in Europe") was the main campaign organisation on the yes side in the 2003 referendum on the Euro. Sweden in Europe involved all political groups supporting the Euro, including Social Democrats, in the campaign and published leaflets arguing for , Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Qatar in the Middle East, and has bid on sales to Malaysia in Asia. Mowag also has licenced production of the Piranha to companies in Chile, Saudi Arabia, and the United Kingdom in addition to Canada. Estimated income for the Diesel Division of GM Canada from 1998 military sales was $366 million. In September the company received a follow-on order from the Canadian Department of National Defence for 120 armoured personnel carriers (APCs) worth $247 million. Combined with two earlier orders for 360 APC (1) (American Power Conversion Corporation, West Kingston, RI, www.apcc.com) The leading manufacturer of UPS systems and surge suppressors, founded in 1981 by Rodger Dowdell, Neil Rasmussen and Emanual Landsman, three electronic power engineers who had worked at MIT. vehicles, this latest Canadian army contract is worth more than $1 billion. Earlier DND DND Drag and Drop DND Department of National Defence (Canada & Australia) DND Do Not Disturb DND Dungeons and Dragons DND Den Norske Dataforening DND Direct Nanoparticle Deposition DND Drugs for Neglected Diseases contracts with the company -- which began in the late 1970s and included 6-wheeled LAVs (as Cougar cougar: see puma. cougar or puma or mountain lion or panther Species (Puma concolor) of large, graceful cat that lives in a wide variety of habitats in the Americas, from southern Alaska to Patagonia. , Husky, and Grizzly variants), 8-wheeled vehicles (Bison LAVs for the militia), and sophisticated reconnaissance vehicles (Coyotes) -- have also totaled more than $1 billion. Export orders to the US Marines in the 1980s and the Saudi Arabian National Guard The Saudi Arabian National Guard (SANG, also known as the White Army) is one of five branches of the Saudi Arabian Defence Forces. It serves both as defence force against external threats and as a security force against internal threats. and Australian Army in the 1990s have exceeded $2 billion. GM Canada is hoping the buyout will result in an increased share of the international armoured vehicle market. In addition to pursuing known military competitions, bidding on upcoming contracts in 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. , the UK, Thailand, and Indonesia, for example, the Canadian-based company is hoping to expand its customer base. "We need to convince people there are other uses for armoured vehicles," a company official has said (Globe and Mail, August 13, 1999, p. B3). |
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