http://www.kansascity.com/business/story/477121.html

Posted on Tue, Feb. 05, 2008


National business briefs: All eyes on Chicago Auto Show


Auto show

Here are some of the announcements expected this week at the Chicago Auto Show:

•Chrysler, after a 35-year absence, is reintroducing the Dodge Challenger. The Challenger has the long hood, wide stance and racing stripes of the original, plus a 6.1-liter V-8 with 425 horsepower.

•Chevrolet is adding a crossover with three rows of seats to its lineup, the Chevrolet Traverse, which borrows its front end and styling from the 2008 Chevrolet Malibu.

•Ford is bringing the Transit Connect, a small but tall commercial van, from Europe to the U.S. for use mainly in congested urban areas.

•Ford also will soon offer an in-dash computer with high-speed Internet access and a battery-powered inkjet printer on its F-150 pickups and commercial vans.

Engine plans

General Motors plans to build a new heavy-duty diesel engine at a plant near Dayton, Ohio, investing $69 million and retaining more than 1,000 jobs, the automaker announced Tuesday.

GM said the new 6.6-liter V-8 turbo diesel engine will be produced at the DMAX plant, resulting in plant renovations, new machinery and tooling. GM said the engine would meet emissions standards in 2010.

Looking up

State Street Corp., the world’s largest money manager for institutions, raised its 2008 profit and sales forecasts because of interest-rate cuts by the Federal Reserve in January.

The company, in a regulatory filing Tuesday, said its net income per share would be in the midrange of its forecast for 10 percent to 15 percent growth, while operating revenue and operating return on equity would be in the midrange of its forecasts for 14 percent to 17 percent growth.

Chief Executive Officer Ronald Logue had said in January that 2008 figures would fall “near the lower end of these ranges” when State Street released fourth-quarter earnings.

Losing work

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lost a contract managing $1.2 billion of pension assets for Massachusetts after the state learned that Robert C. Jones, a senior money manager, will give up daily investment duties.

The board of the state retirement fund voted Tuesday to fire New York-based Goldman Sachs Asset Management LP. The firm’s fund unit oversaw “enhanced equity” investments for the $53.7 billion fund, known as the Massachusetts Pension Reserves Investment Trust.