TURIN(ITALY): Tata Motors Ltd is open to Italy's Fiat SpA helping to sell the ultra-cheap Nano model overseas, Chairman Ratan Tata said on Tuesday.

Tatas plans to launch the Nano later this year, priced at about $2,500. "We have held talks about the Nano being marketed in markets where Fiat has already a strong presence. I am open to consider a partnership," he told a news conference at a forum promoting cooperation between Italian and Indian companies.

Fiat has a joint venture with Tata to manufacture and distribute cars, engines and commercial vehicles.
Tata also said the Tata group was in talks with Italian defence and aerospace company Finmeccanica SpA about supplying helicopter parts.

Fiat Chairman Luca Cordero di Montezemolo said the company was in talks with Tata about making buses and trucks."We'll see if there are the conditions for us to go forward," he told reporters on the margins of the forum.

via economictimes.indiatimes 

Toshiba and Matsushita Electric Industrial will jointly manufacture small electroluminescent displays in an effort match the output from Korea-based makers, according to a Japanese report.

The two companies will set up manufacturing lines in Ishikawa Prefecture in the fall of 2009, aiming to produce 1 million "high-quality" 2.5-inch organic EL displays, according to a report in Monday's Nihon Keizai Shimbun.

This is a first for domestic Japanese production of EL displays on this scale, the report said. The displays are targeted at cell phones and other small devices.

EL displays are based on organic light-emitting diode (OLED) technology that uses electroluminescent organic materials. The display panels are extremely thin because they don't need backlights. The electroluminescent layer contains a polymer substance that directly converts electricity to light.

The companies are chasing Samsung, which has already begun mass production. The goal is to bring costs down and stabilize quality. This then can be applied to the manufacture of larger-size TV panels.

In December, Toshiba said it would postpone production of larger (up to 30-inch) organic EL displays and would focus initially on mass production of smaller displays.

Toshiba has a 60 percent stake in the venture Toshiba Matsushita Display Technology, while Matsushita holds 40 percent. The operation is capitalized at 15 billion yen ($140 million).

via news.cnet