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MADD Calls on Wisconsin Lawmakers to Pursue Tougher Drunk Driving Laws

MADD Calls on Wisconsin Lawmakers to Pursue Tougher Drunk Driving Laws MILWAUKEE, May 9 -- Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) urges Wisconsin lawmakers to comprehensively address the state's drunk driving problem as they consider law reforms following the outcry from people demanding change. The outrage stems from the April 25, 2008 crash in Oconomowoc that killed a pregnant woman and her daughter by a repeat drunk driver. The offender, Mark Benson, had three prior OWI convictions and was driving impaired on prescription medication without a license when he slammed his SUV into the rear of Jennifer Bukosky's car, killing Jennifer, her unborn child and 10-year old daughter and injuring her son.

With Wisconsin ranked as the worst in the country for the number of alcohol-related fatalities -- 42 percent of all traffic fatalities involve a drunk driver -- lawmakers need new strategies to combat this public health risk.

A team of bipartisan legislators are planning to draft legislation that addresses penalties for repeat offenders with three convictions, but MADD strongly believes effective legislation must include alcohol ignition interlocks and cover all drunk drivers -- including those convicted for the first time -- to make Wisconsin's roadways safer. Alcohol ignition interlocks prevent a convicted drunk driver from being able to start a vehicle with any measurable amount of alcohol.

The majority of OWI homicides in Wisconsin are committed by offenders with no previous OWI convictions -- and yet, our legislators are only willing to get tough on repeat offenders. Our legislators need to introduce and pass laws that prevent those convicted for a first time from ever committing the crime again. We shouldn't have to wait until a drunk driver has the opportunity to kill or injure our loved ones before we get tough. Research shows that those convicted of drunk driving for the first time have driven drunk more than 87 times before their first arrest.

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MADD Encourages Ohio Legislature to Make Interlocks Part of Lifesaving DUI Bill

MADD Encourages Ohio Legislature to Make Interlocks Part of Lifesaving DUI Bill Proposed law would be most effective with proven tool to prevent drunk driving
COLUMBUS, Ohio, May 9 -- Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) testified yesterday morning before Ohio's House Committee for Criminal Justice in support of lifesaving alcohol ignition interlocks. The Committee was considering Senate Bill 17, introduced by Senator Timothy Grendell (R-Chesterland) in 2007. This bill passed the Senate and, if signed into law, would strengthen Ohio's DUI laws. However, MADD believes there is a critical component missing -- a required period of alcohol ignition interlock use for all convicted drunk drivers.)

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Scion Exposed(TM) Tour Heads to Bristol Motor Speedway

Scion Exposed(TM) Tour Heads to Bristol Motor Speedway Unique Customer Meet Expected to Draw Hundreds of Scion Vehicles to Tennessee, May 16-17
BRISTOL, Tenn., May 9 -- Hundreds of Scion owners, from a variety of states, are expected to converge on Bristol Motor Speedway and Dragway, May 16-17, as part of the automotive manufacturer's Scion Exposed '08 tour.

Typically held in locations in the Southeastern and Midwestern United States, Scion Exposed (TM) provides Scion owners a unique opportunity to gather and meet other passionate owners, while enjoying an assortment of great food and entertainment - compliments of Scion. This year's event is held in conjunction with the Thompson Metal 150 UARA Late Model Race and O'Reilly NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals.

" We are truly excited about staging Scion Exposed(TM) at Bristol Motor Speedway and Dragway," said Julie Hoermle, regional manager at Scion. "This raceway has an incredible history and, with all the events on tap that weekend, we're certain this will be a memorable event for our owners."

The two-day schedule of events for Scion owners, include: complimentary tickets to the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals, DJ performances in a specially- designated "Scion Village" camping area, exclusive Scion laps around the speedway, regional car show judging, a "grillin' and chillin' food spectacular and a bevy of giveaways.

Growth Fuels Hybrid Leasing

Growth Fuels Hybrid Leasing CINCINNATI, May 9 -- Resulting from both rising fuel prices and environmental consciousness, hybrid vehicle registrations were up in 2007. According to R.L. Polk & Co. figures recently released, there was an increase of 38 percent in the hybrid segment when compared to 2006, meaning 350,289 new hybrids hit the road last year. Swapalease.com is noticing a similar trend when it comes to hybrid leasing.

As hybrid vehicles become more mainstream, the segment will see similar traditional financing and lease penetration rates to those of the market overall. Considering hybrid vehicle sales made up only 2.2 percent of the total automotive market in 2007, it is premature to extrapolate an industry recognized lease penetration rate of 24 percent. As overall lease penetration and interest increases, Swapalease anticipates that leasing of hybrid vehicles will grow as well.

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Race Fans on Fast Track to Recycling

Race Fans on Fast Track to Recycling Anheuser-Busch Recycling, Lowe's Motor Speedway Team Up To Benefit Speedway Children's Charities
CONCORD, N.C., May 9 -- Race fans will have an opportunity to support the environment, their favorite drivers, as well as Speedway Children's Charities for two weekends of racing at the historic Lowe's Motor Speedway this month.

Partnering with Lowe's Motor Speedway and Bealer Distributing, the local Anheuser-Busch wholesaler, Anheuser-Busch Recycling Corporation (A-BRC) is supplying more than 225 recycling containers in the concourse and select suite areas. In addition, campers at Fleetwood and Country Crock campgrounds will receive A-BRC blue recycling bags as they enter those facilities and will be encouraged to leave their recyclables at their camp sites for pickup. A Budweiser Recycling Team will reward those campers who "get caught recycling" with Anheuser-Busch branded items, including T-shirts and can coolies.

The recycling program will be in place for both race weekends during May at the 1.5-mile superspeedway, beginning May 16 and 17 for the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race, then returning from May 22-25 for the Coca-Cola 600.

" We're excited to work with Anheuser-Busch Recycling and Bealer Distributing on such a worthwhile environmental project," said Lauri Wilks, executive vice president of Lowe's Motor Speedway. "Race fans are extremely loyal and always ready to support efforts to reduce, reuse and recycle. This is a proven initiative that allows our fans to help divert used beverage containers from going to waste."

All proceeds from the Anheuser-Busch recycling program will be given to Speedway Children's Charities (SCC), which provides funding for hundreds of non-profit organizations throughout the nation that meet the direct needs of children.

Thanks to the generosity of many supporters, the SCC Charlotte chapter distributed in excess of $700,000 to 64 local charities at its annual grant ceremony in December 2007.

" Our employees truly are experts in the recycling field and take great pride in offering innovative recycling solutions and educational programs," said Trevor Hansen, vice president of Anheuser-Busch Recycling. "While race fans are enjoying all the action at Lowe's Motor Speedway this month and supporting top drivers like Kasey Kahne, we encourage them to take an extra step and use the recycling containers and bags. It's good for Lowe's Motor Speedway, good for Speedway Children's Charities and good for the environment."

This year marks an important milestone for the employees of Anheuser-Busch and the recycling industry. The company's recycling subsidiary, Anheuser-Busch Recycling Corporation, is celebrating its 30th year of operation. Since its inception in 1978, Anheuser-Busch Recycling has kept more than 430 billion aluminum beverage containers out of landfills across the United States. That's enough cans to circle the globe more than 1,300 times.

Since its founding in the mid 1800s, Anheuser-Busch has sought ways to improve the environment and communities around the country where it has business operations. It began with company founder Adolphus Busch, who recycled leftover grains from the brewing process for use as cattle feed. Today, the brewer's 12 domestic breweries recycle more than 99 percent of the solid waste from their brewing and packaging processes.

Subaru 2.5 Liter Turbo Engine Named International Engine of the Year

Subaru 2.5 Liter Turbo Engine Named International Engine of the Year CHERRY HILL, N.J., May 8 -- Subaru's 2.5-liter Boxer turbo engine has won the 2008 International Engine of the Year award in the 2.0-liter to 2.5-liter category.

" This is a testament to the unique design qualities of our Boxer engine," said Tim Mahoney, senior vice president and chief marketing officer for Subaru of America, Inc. "Subaru has been producing Boxer engines for over 40 years and we are delighted to once again be recognized by the International Engine of the Year Awards committee."

Juror, Christophe Congrega of L'Automobile Magazine, stated that the Subaru engine is: "A 2.5-liter Boxer full of torque and power." This statement is backed up by the fact that Subaru's Boxer engine beat BMW's 2.5-liter 6 cylinder engine twice in its category for the International Engine of the Year Award in the last three years.

The 65 judges on the International Engine of the Year Awards 2008 committee were impressed with the Subaru Boxer engine's power in the 4 cylinder 305 hp Subaru Impreza WRX STI, but were equally impressed with the performance of the 2.5-liter turbo in the 224 hp Subaru Forester. The engine is also found in the 224 hp Subaru WRX and in naturally aspirated form in the 170 hp 2.5i Subaru Impreza and Subaru Forester. The jury noted that aside from being a performance powerhouse, the Subaru Boxer engine offers impressive fuel economy.

As judge Nikos Kounitis stated, "This powerful, fun-to-drive engine justifies Subaru's persistence in Boxer engines."

The Subaru Boxer engine is produced in several forms for world markets including 4 cylinder engines in 1.5-liter, 2.0-liter, 2.5-liter capacity and also 6 cylinder 3.0-liter and 3.6-liter versions. Additionally, the Company recently introduced the world's first Boxer diesel engine for sale in Europe.

Chrysler Celebrates Production of All-New 2008 Dodge Challenger SRT8(R)

Chrysler Celebrates Production of All-New 2008 Dodge Challenger SRT8(R) - Highly anticipated 2008 Dodge Challenger SRT8(R) production begins at Brampton Assembly Plant
- Employees, guests join Chrysler executive Vice President Frank Ewasyshyn for festivities
- Manufacturing expertise contributes to product quality
- Modern muscle car offers best of past, present
AUBURN HILLS, Mich., May 8 -- Chrysler LLC today celebrated the production launch of one of the industry's most highly anticipated vehicles -- the all-new 2008 Dodge Challenger SRT8(R). Dodge Challenger is back in Chrysler's line-up as a modern muscle car with a new SRT8 model. A full line-up will follow in the 2009 model-year. Consumer interest in the Dodge Challenger has been some of the highest seen at Chrysler.

The all-new Dodge Challenger is built at Chrysler's Brampton Assembly Plant on the same assembly line as the Dodge Charger and the award-winning Chrysler 300.

" Even though the development time for this Dodge Challenger SRT8 is one of the shortest in Chrysler's history, the wait for this exciting car has been too long, and as of today, the wait is finally over!" said Frank Ewasyshyn, Executive Vice President - Manufacturing. "Dodge Challenger represents the best of Chrysler's past and future. The teams that worked to bring this vehicle to market with quality and speed have done an excellent job."

Nearly 1,000 employees and invited guests joined Mr. Ewasyshyn for the celebration.

Quality Manufacturing

To ensure quality targets were met and to foster a smooth manufacturing launch, a team of Brampton employees spent months helping to build pilot vehicles at Chrysler's Auburn Hills Technology Center. Then, early pre-production models were built on the Brampton assembly line -- rather than a pilot facility -- which allowed engineers to more realistically test the production process.

" The vision of rolling launches on lines that build multiple and variant models is becoming a reality as demonstrated with the Dodge Challenger at the Brampton Assembly Plant," said Fred Godetel, Vice President - Car and Minivan Manufacturing. "Chrysler's Flexible Manufacturing Strategy, little more than a theory a few years ago, is being proved out at plants across North America."

The Brampton Assembly Plant features Chrysler's Flexible Manufacturing Strategy which provides for the production of higher quality products at lower cost. This unique system combines off-the-shelf robotics with customized and interchangeable tooling to build a variety of products on a single assembly line. This manufacturing expertise also allows the Company to more quickly and easily balance vehicle production with customer demand.

STMicroelectronics and Mobileye Deliver Second-Generation System-on-Chip for Vis

STMicroelectronics and Mobileye Deliver Second-Generation System-on-Chip for Vision-Based Driver Assistance Systems GENEVA and JERUSALEM, May 7 -- STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM) , a leader in the design and manufacture of automotive ICs, and Mobileye N.V., the leading provider of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) to the automotive industry, today announced that the two companies have successfully sampled the second generation of their system-on-chip EyeQ2 for the vision-based driver assistance segment of the automotive market.

The implementation of this type of technology is fundamental for increasing safety on ever more congested roads. According to research (Autosafe 2006) the total number of casualties on the roads of USA, Europe and Japan was 94,000 and regional programs are being launched to reduce this to 63,000 by 2010. It has been shown that if drivers reacted half a second earlier, they would avoid approximately half of all accidents. In Europe, one third of accidents are due to lane changing or leaving the road, and overall two thirds are due to lack of attention.

The first generation of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems, implemented on EyeQ1, are already in production at several car makers and offer functionality such as lane-departure warning (LDW), adaptive headlight control, traffic-sign recognition, collision avoidance through radar/camera fusion and forward collision warning that can drastically reduce the number of accidents. The LDW is akin to a 'virtual rumble strip' that alerts drivers when they cross lane markings -- a common factor in many head-on collisions and other serious accidents.

" By using an audible warning upon an unintentional deviation from the driving lane, these lane-departure warning systems create an intelligent rumble strip imitation that alerts the driver even when there are no physical strips on the shoulder of the road," explained Amnon Shashua, Ph.D., Chairman of Mobileye N.V. and the Sachs professor of computer science at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel.

As a significant portion of run-off-road crashes are attributed to driving while drowsy, to the point of falling asleep at the wheel, Mobileye's lane-detection technologies can play an instrumental role in reducing accidents and fatalities for multi-tasking motorists who also log long hours.

The new generation ADAS being sampled now takes this active safety concept to a new level. By increasing the processing power six fold, the EyeQ2 introduces added functionality, such as pedestrian detection and well as the previously mentioned lane-departure warning (LDW), adaptive headlight control, traffic-sign recognition, collision avoidance and forward collision warning on one vision processor. The EyeQ2 takes input from two high-resolution image sensors and has video-output capabilities that include graphic overlay.

Pedestrians are the most vulnerable road users and in the EU alone, it is estimated that there are 9,000 fatalities and 200,000 injuries from road accidents involving cars colliding with pedestrians or cyclists. Pedestrian detection is in development with a major European OEM and is slated for production on EyeQ2 bundled together with additional features including LDW and collision-mitigation functions.

" The detection capabilities of the EyeQ2, even in difficult environmental conditions, allow for both notification and for crash mitigation, increasing safety for road users dramatically," said Marco Monti, Vice President of STMicroelectronics' Automotive Product Group. "By combining ST's automotive design and manufacturing expertise with Mobileye's strength in video-based driver-assist systems we provide an optimal solution for innovative, automotive-market proven, and cost-competitive solutions for the automotive market."

Purchase Volkswagen's All-New Routan and Help Fund Your Child's Colleg

Purchase Volkswagen's All-New Routan and Help Fund Your Child's College Tuition Volkswagen partners with Upromise(R) to provide customers $1,500 when they buy or lease a Routan
HERNDON, Va., May 7 -- Volkswagen of America, Inc. announced today a partnership with Upromise, the country's largest private source of college funding contributions, to provide $1,500 to customers who purchase or lease a new 2009 Routan for their child's future education savings.

" We know parents are concerned about saving for their kid's future. To help families tackle this challenge of saving for college, we're excited that we are able to partner with Upromise," said Tim Ellis, Vice President of Marketing, Volkswagen of America, Inc. "We're aware that the cost of college continues to rise exponentially, far outpacing inflation, and our hope is to help our customer's off-set that cost, while getting a great new vehicle."

Upromise members can get $1,500 in college savings when they pre-order a Routan by August 31, 2008 and take delivery by November 30, 2008. To do so, members should log on to www.upromise.com/vw, print their unique Upromise VW Savings Code, and present it to their preferred Volkswagen dealer at the time the pre-order deposit is made. Anyone can join Upromise at no charge simply by visiting www.upromise.com. Signing up is fast, simple and completely free.

The Routan, Volkswagen's all-new seven-passenger minivan, delivers families the best of both worlds: a vehicle that combines German sensibilities in design, fit and finish, and handling characteristics with market relevant features and outstanding value. The Routan is instantly recognizable as a member of the Volkswagen family, with its stylized front grille and exterior treatments. The interior enhancements create an environment that is visually pleasing, modern, and meticulously detailed. The high quality materials, beautiful textures and rich luxurious colors are combined with exacting tolerances and superb fit and finish.

While pleasing and contemporary, the Routan's interior also follows the traditional Volkswagen design philosophy that form follows function. The Routan comes with a host of functional features, including: conversation mirror, rear seat entertainment system with two nine inch screens for second and third row, touch screen navigation with 30 GB JoyBox(TM) Multi-Media Entertainment system, dual power sliding doors with power windows, power fold third row seating for extra storage room, and no less than thirteen cup holders.

Second row captain's chairs offer an increased level of luxury and comfort while still providing the convenience of a traditional minivan, with over 32.7 cubic feet available behind the third row seats and a full 83 cubic feet is available behind the second row.

The Routan will come standard with a 3.8L V6, offering 197 hp and 230 lb. ft. of torque when combined with the standard six-speed automatic transmission. A 4.0L V6 will also be available rated at 251 hp and 259 lb. ft. of torque. Routan features European tuned suspension and steering optimized for handling and improved driving dynamics. Standard all-season traction control and ESP, brings safety and security to the Routan.

The Routan will have starting prices of $24,700 for the S Model, $29,600 for the SE Model, $33,200 for the SEL Model and $38,400 for the SEL Model equipped with a Premium Package. A distinctly designed minivan at an attractive price point will broaden the brand portfolio, while providing a roomy alternative to existing Volkswagen owners. The Routan is expected to be available at dealers in September 2008.

Lamborghini Makes Another Iconic Appearance in Latest Batman Movie 'The Dar

Lamborghini Makes Another Iconic Appearance in Latest Batman Movie 'The Dark Knight' - Bruce Wayne Drives Batmobile by night, Lamborghini Murcielago LP640 by Day -
SANT'AGATA BOLOGNESE, Italy, May 6 -- When he isn't protecting Gotham City from various villains in the Batmobile as his alter ego, Batman, billionaire Bruce Wayne's vehicle of choice is one of Lamborghini's sexiest super sports car ever built, the Lamborghini Murcielago LP640. Bruce Wayne's newest Lamborghini can be first seen prowling the streets in the movie's new, extended theatrical trailer shown in theatres May 2, 2008, prior to "Iron Man."

The Lamborghini Murcielago LP640 Coupe is not Bruce Wayne's first Lamborghini. The association with the marquee began in 2005 when Propaganda Global Entertainment Marketing, Lamborghini's entertainment marketing firm for worldwide activities, brokered the deal for the Lamborghini Murcielago Roadster to make its on-screen debut in "Batman Begins." In the film, Bruce Wayne can be seen driving the Lamborghini supercar to an exclusive party with two beautiful models in the passenger seat.

The Lamborghini Murcielago LP640 Coupe appearing in "The Dark Knight" is powered by a 640 horsepower 12-cylinder engine and is capable of more than 211 mph.

" The Lamborghini Murcielago LP640 is the natural choice for Bruce Wayne's other car," stated Stephan Winkelmann, President and CEO of Automobili Lamborghini. "Lamborghini is proud to be associated with one of the greatest movie franchises in history, especially co-starring with the night-bound Batmobile."

" The Dark Knight" is set to be released in theatres worldwide on July 18, 2008.