- Title: FRANCE: SWATCHMOBILE UNVEILED
- Date: 17th May 1995
- Summary: SARREGUEMINES, FRANCE (MAY 17, 1995) (RTV - ACCESS ALL) 1. SV PROTOTYPE "SWATCHMOBILE" BEING UNVEILED/ JOURNALISTS 0.09 2. SV CHAIRMAN OF SMH (MAKER OF SWATCH WATCH) WERNER HAYEK AND VICE-PRESIDENT OF MICRO COMPACT CAR COMPANY HELMUT WERNER SITTING IN "SWATCHMOBILE" TALKING TO JOURNALISTS 0.15 3. SV VARIOUS OF HAYEK AND WERNER STANDING UP IN "SWATCHMOBILE" 0.31 4. SCU WERNER SPEAKING ABOUT WHY HE IS CONVINCED THAT MERCEDES CAN BE SUCCESSFUL IN THE SMALL CAR BUSINESS (ENGLISH) 1.03 5. SV VARIOUS OF "SWATCHMOBILES" ON DISPLAY 1.31 6. SCU WHEEL OF CAR WITH WITH MERCEDES LOGO 1.34 7. SV "SWATCHMOBILE" 1.48 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
- Embargoed: 1st June 1995 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: SARREGUEMINES, FRANCE
- City:
- Country: France
- Reuters ID: LVABKHL7O6AS36FYTNBYE7HSFZ4S
- Story Text: Mercedes Benz AG and Switzerland's SMH (Suisse Microelectronic et Horlogeries SA), maker of the Swatch watch, unveiled a prototype of a Micro Compact Car - the "Swatchmobile" - at a news conference on Wednesday (May 17).
Werner Hayek, the chairman of SMH, and Helmut Werner, the new vice president of the Micro Compact Car Company, were both on hand in the French city of Sarreguemines to unveil the new cars, which are scheduled to hit the market in 1998.
The joint venture, called Micro Compact Car AG (MCC) or "Smart", is planning to spend around 1.3 billion German Marks (approximately 0.9 billion United States dollars) in total on development and start up costs for their new car.
MCC is building a new plant for the car in the depressed coal mining region of Lorraine. Investment in the plant will total around 750 million German Marks (about 500 million USD) of which the French authorities are putting up nearly a fifth. The plant will be able to build about 200,000 cars a year and employ 1,900 directly. It will create another 7,000 jobs, mainly in the components industry and 4,000 of which will be in Germany.
The car will be 2.5 metres (9 feet) long and will have space for two people and two crates of drinks. It will supposedly cost no more than 20,000 German Marks (15,000 USD) and will be sold through Mercedes dealerships and department stores.
- Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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