JAKARTA : Indonesia's cigarette producer Hanjaya Mandala

JAKARTA : Indonesia's cigarette producer Hanjaya Mandala
Sampoerna said Monday its sales of cigarettes in the third
quarter rose 17.4 percent to Rp 3.871 trillion from Rp 3.297
trillion during the same period last year.

The company attributed the increase in sales revenue to higher
cigarette prices. It didn't offer details.

Sampoerna said its sales volume during the period ended Sept.
30, however, fell 2.2 percent to 10.73 billion sticks of
cigarettes from 10.97 billion last year.

The company is expected to report its earnings for the third
quarter early next month.

Shares in Sampoerna ended unchanged at Rp 2,825 a share. --Dow
Jones

Daimler, union ratify contract

TORONTO : Unionized auto workers at DaimlerChrysler Canada have
overwhelmingly ratified a three-year contract, the Canadian Auto
Workers (CAW) union announced Sunday.

Overall votes were 91 percent for production, 80.5 percent for
skilled trades and 92.8 percent for technical, office and
professional workers, it added.

The agreement is based on the economic pattern established in
recent accords with General Motors of Canada and Ford Canada.

That pattern increases wages by three percent in the first two
years and two percent in the third year.

The vote ended six weeks of tough negotiations between the CAW
and the three big automakers in Canada -- General Motors, Ford
and DaimlerChrysler -- on improving working conditions and pay at
their plants in Ontario.

The tentative deal was worked out last Wednesday between the
DaimlerChrysler Canada management and the CAW, averting a looming
strike. But the deal had to be ratified by the CAW membership.
--AFP

Mazda to shut down plant

TOKYO : Japanese automaker Mazda Motor Corp. said Monday it will
shut down a domestic plant for commercial vehicles due to a
prolonged slump in truck sales.

The nation's fifth-largest car manufacturer, 33.3 percent
owned by U.S. auto giant Ford, will close its oldest plant in
Fuchu, Hiroshima, western Japan.

"The closure is mainly due to sluggish truck sales while we
also want to put more resources into passenger car production,"
said Kenichi Wakabayashi, a Mazda spokesman.

The company will transfer all 630 workers at the Fuchu plant
to Mazda's two Ujina plants also in Hiroshima. One of the plants,
which was closed in September 2001, would be reopened in 2004,
the spokesman said.

"We have decided to reopen the second Ujina plant due to
steady demand for passenger cars in Europe and we want to
increase our production capacity," Wakabayashi said.

The move would help raise Mazda's overall domestic production
capacity by 110,000 units, or 14 percent, to 898,000 units
annually. --AFP

Vietnam Airlines to set up subsidiary

HANOI: Vietnam Airlines said Monday it has asked the government
to set up a subsidiary company to run the carrier's short haul
routes.

The proposed entity, Express Airlines, would handle most
internal flights and take over Vietnam Airlines' shuttle runs to
Laos and Cambodia, said Nguyen Huy Hieu of the state-owned
carrier's external relations department.

The parent company would continue to run the lucrative Hanoi-
Ho Chi Minh City route but would concentrate on its medium and
long haul international destinations, he said.

Hieu declined to reveal the planned time frame for setting up
Express Airlines should it receive government approval.

Vietnam Airlines has an 80-percent stake in Pacific Airlines,
the country's number two airline. --AFP

Fiat has no plan to auto unit

ROME : The chief executive of Fiat SpA said in an interview
published Saturday that the struggling industrial conglomerate
has no plans to sell its loss-making auto unit to General Motors
Corp. (GM) before 2004.

In his first interview since taking over in June, Gabriele
Galateri also defended the company's plan to lay off 8,100
workers primarily at its car unit Fiat Auto.

"The put (option) is part of a discussion that can be opened
in 2004 until 2009," he told Corriere della Sera daily. "But it's
not linked to the restructuring of Fiat Auto."

GM already owns 20 percent of Fiat Auto, the loss-making unit
that Fiat is trying to rescue by cutting jobs and investing 10
billion euro for 20 new car models by 2005.

Fiat SpA has an option to sell the remaining 80 percent to GM
starting from 2004. --Dow Jones