Citi and Shell have announced that cash-back rates are to be slashed on their co-branded Shell MasterCard, with fuel rates cut from 3% to 1%. As the card is no longer being issued, Shell is now looking to its loyalty scheme rather than its credit card to improve customer allegiance, although this may prove tricky as UK fuel customers are notoriously disloyal and price-conscious.
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Finland-based retail conglomerate Kesko Group’s sales from continuing operations in August 2009 totaled E718.6 million, excluding value-added tax, down 11%, compared to August 2008.
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Harley-Davidson is planning to formally enter the motorcycle market in India, where it expects to start selling its motorcycles in 2010.
The company has established a subsidiary to be located in Gurgaon, near Delhi, and has begun the process of seeking dealers. The company’s current approach is to import its motorcycles, accessories and riding gear.
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Toyota Motor Sales USA has reported sales of 225,088 vehicles in August 2009, an increase of 10.5%, compared to 211,533 units in August 2008.
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Abbott Laboratories has reported that the Chinese State Food and Drug Administration has approved its Xience V everolimus eluting coronary stent system for the treatment of coronary artery disease.
According to Abbott, Xience V is the only drug eluting stent to have demonstrated superiority over the Taxus paclitaxel-eluting coronary stent system in the primary endpoints of two randomized, pivotal Phase III clinical trials.
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American Suzuki Motor has reported that its sales decreased 5% to 5,749 units in August 2009, compared to 6,081 units in August 2008.
For the year-to-date, the company has reported total sales of 31,793 units, a decrease of 55%, compared to 70,431 units in the same period of 2008.
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General Motors has reported that its sales decreased 20.2% to 246,479 vehicles in August 2009, compared to 308,817 vehicles in the same period of 2008.
For the year-to-date, the company’s sales decreased 35.3% to 1.39 million units, compared to 2.15 million units in the same period of 2008. In August 2009, total car sales decreased 4.6% to 118,744 units from 124,441 units in August 2008.
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French grocery chains have reported a mixed set of results for the first half of 2009. While the large and outdated hypermarket format continues to underperform, convenience formats are driving growth. Despite the resilience of smaller format stores, most of the large French grocers still rely on hypermarkets for the bulk of their turnover, which is dragging down overall sales performance.
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Well crafted, positive results for AstraZeneca’s Brilinta and an unexpected coup for Boehringer Ingelheim’s Pradaxa dominated the headlines following this year’s European Society of Cardiology’s Annual Meeting in Barcelona. Both announcements have a number of important implications for the wider cardiology market, from both therapeutic and commercial perspectives.
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Air Berlin has said that it will increase the number of its destinations in Greece to a total of 17 in the summer of 2010.
Effective May 4, 2010, the airline will launch non-stop flights from Nuremberg, Germany to the airports of Araxos and Kalamata in Greece.
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