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The Bologna Motor Show is the place of the family reunion of the Up!s. After being presented separately, the Volkswagen Up!, Volkswagen Space Up! and Volkswagen Space Up! Blue are showcased together for the first time at the Italian auto show.

The Volkswagen Up! concept car was presented at the IAA International Motor Show in Frankfurt on 10 September. Six weeks later, the Volkswagen Space Up! micro-van made its debut in Tokyo. The Los Angeles Auto Show was the place where the Volkswagen Space Up! Blue met the public for the first time.

Press Release:
Premiere in Bologna: family portrait of the New Small Family

Up! – Two-door city specialist vehicle offering more space and fun for four Space Up! – Four-door microvan with maximum variability Space Up! Blue – Zero emissions thanks to electric engine and fuel cells

Round the world in 14 weeks: before their group appearance at the 2007 Bologna Motor Show,
Volkswagen sent the New Small Family on a whistle-stop tour around the world. Today it’s showdown in Italy as the three Up! concept vehicles are revealed side by side for the first time as ambassadors of a new range and as a family.

“For both my team and for me, it was a dream to design these concept vehicles” confirmed Walter de Silva, Chief Designer of Volkswagen Group, at the start of the press conference, “because these cars embody the emergence of a new era. Anyone looking at the New Small Family will immediately see how friendly and neat these Volkswagens are. Cars of this sort are fun. No explanation is needed - they speak for themselves.”

Before their joint debut in Bologna, Volkswagen sent the New Small Family on a whistle-stop tour around the world, starting at the IAA International Motor Show in Frankfurt on 10 September with the two-door Up!. Just six weeks later, the larger Space Up! micro-van made its debut in Tokyo – they impressively demonstrate how every millimeter of space can be exploited using intelligent packaging while at the same time creating an emotional design.

Twenty days later and 9,000 air kilometers further eastwards, Los Angeles was presented with the third variant of the New Small Family – the zero-emission Space Up! Blue van. The response was extremely positive all around the globe. That was perhaps also “because every Up! also demonstrates commitment to protecting our environment” according to Dr. Ulrich Hackenberg, Board Member with responsibility for Technical Development at Volkswagen. “After all, extremely clean petrol and diesel engines and electric motors will be working in the backs of these cars.”

Today, Renault announced a strategic partnership with the Russian car manufacturer AvtoVAZ. The Renault and AvtoVAZ partnership will allow AvtoVAZ to accelerate the development of its vehicle range and to grow the Lada brand while preserving its identity. The main shareholder of AvtoVAZ is currently Russian Technologies. Russian Technologies will still keep an interest in AvtoVAZ’s capital and ensure continuous support from the Russian State.

Press Release:
RENAULT BECOMES THE STRATEGIC PARTNER OF AVTOVAZ
• Sergey Chemezov, Head of Russian Technologies, Chairman of the Board of AvtoVAZ, Serguei Skvortsov, President of Troika Capital Partners and Carlos Ghosn, President and CEO of Renault signed on December 8, 2007 a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in Togliatti, Russia.

• This partnership would allow AvtoVAZ and Renault to:
o Accelerate the development of AvtoVAZ, renew and expand its vehicle range
o Grow the Lada brand while respecting its identity, in order to maintain its leadership
o Share technological expertise and know-how

• Russian Technologies, currently representing the main shareholder of AvtoVAZ, would keep an interest in AvtoVAZ’s capital and ensure continuous support from the Russian State.

Russian Technologies and Renault would become equal shareholders of AvtoVAZ in the spirit of a long-term partnership. Once the capital of AvtoVAZ has been restructured in the first half of 2008, a holding equally owned by Russian Technologies and Renault would control a total of 50% of the shares of the company (AvtoVAZ). Renault would become a significant AvtoVAZ shareholder.

AvtoVAZ and Renault would share know-how and technology particularly in relation to manufacturing and marketing and with the aim of improving the attractiveness, competitiveness and overall quality of AvtoVAZ’s products. They would also exchange executive managers in various fields of expertise in order to optimise integration and boost the transformation of AvtoVAZ into a global automotive player with a capacity of well over 1 million vehicles per year. The partnership would also include cooperation in relation to engines and gearboxes with the view to equip both AvtoVAZ and Renault vehicles.

This investment should also significantly contribute to enhancing Renault and the Renault- Nissan Alliance’s competitive position on the Russian market.

AvtoVAZ would benefit from Renault’s contributions in relation to platforms and powertrains which are expected to help the company to renew faster and enhance the entire Lada product line. This would apply to AvtoVAZ’ C-segment project.

Russia should become Renault Group’s main market as a result of the partnership. Sale volumes of Lada vehicles, in agreement with AvtoVAZ and its
shareholders, will be consolidated by Renault. Consequently, sale volumes represented in Renault’s Commitment 2009 will be revised upwards.

This agreement punctuates a long and transparent selection process that led to Renault’s offer being considered competitive financially and the best from an industrial and technological viewpoint.

About AvtoVAZ
AvtoVAZ is one of the biggest car makers in Europe and the leading auto manufacturer in Russia, controlling around 70% of domestic car production. Company manufacturing capacities allow for production of over 1 000 000 cars annually. The company features models such as the LADA-ELFI (a miniature city car), the VAZ-1111E (a four-seat electric car), the VAZ-2115 (sedan), and the Niva 2131(an all-wheel drive SUV). The company has a $330 million joint venture with General Motors – GM AvtoVAZ — to manufacture the Chevy-Niva SUV and Chevy Viva cars. AvtoVAZ and GM each hold a 41.5% share in the venture, while the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development owns the remaining 17%. In 2006, AvtoVAZ’s net profit was 2 512 million rubles (70.5 million euros), up by 79,4% from 2005.

About Renault and the Alliance in Russia
Renault is a global automotive manufacturer selling 2.5 million vehicles worldwide (2007 forecast including 100 000 in Russia).

Renault, together with Nissan, its strategic partner in the Renault Nissan Alliance, is the fourth biggest manufacturer worldwide with 6.3 million cars forecasted for 2007.

Both companies are developing quickly on emerging markets and have already announced in 2007 important joint projects in India and Morocco.

Renault was established in Russia in 1905, created the Avtoframos company in 1998 in partnership with the City of Moscow, began production in its Moscow plant in 2005, and announced in 2007 that the plant’s capacity would be doubled.

Nissan’s production site in Saint Petersburg is under construction.

This partnership with AvtoVAZ would open new development opportunities for Renault and for the Alliance on the Russian market, as well as component sharing activities.

Renault Commitment 2009
• Is a growth plan whose ambition is to make and sustain Renault as the most profitable European volume car company. The three major commitments are:
• Quality: Position the next Laguna, which was launched in October 2007, among the top three models in its segment in terms of product and service quality;
• Profitability: Achieve an operating profit margin of 6% in 2009;
• Growth: Sell an additional 800,000 units in 2009 as compared to 2005.

Acne is a very complicated problem and the exact reason as to what causes it has not been fully discovered. It appears that there are many factors involved that contribute to acne. These factors include diet, exercise, stress and skin cleansing. It is important to look at each of these areas to give yourself the best possible chance of solving your acne problem permanently. Here are the three top tips we believe can make the biggest difference in helping to give you the clear skin you seek.

Eat More Natural Foods
We live in a culture and time where there is an abundance of processed foods that taste good, are easily accessible and are also cheap. This makes them a popular choice of food for most people. Unfortunately these types of foods also tend to be rich in chemicals that have been added to preserve the food and also to make it look good. Many people believe that these kinds of chemicals and other toxins in your food can contribute to causing and making acne worse.

This is why it becomes important to select the most natural foods you can find. You do not need to eliminate completely processed foods but look to reducing the quantities and adding more fresh fruits and vegetables to your diet. If you can consume more organic foods then that is best as organic foods are grown free of artificial chemicals and they also tend to be richer in nutritional content and taste better than conventionally produced foods.

Consider juicing your own fresh fruits and vegetables as this will allow you to get a lot more nutrition and it will also give your digestive system a break. Juicing can be a great way to cleanse your internal system and remove excessive toxins that may have built up from a poor diet.

Reduce Stress
Many acne researchers believe that stress can have an impact and contributes to causing and making acne worse. Many people live extremely stressful lives however many times this stress is caused by wrong thinking. This means that if you can learn to control your mind better then you may be able to eliminate a significant amount of stress from your life.

Meditation can be an effective way to reduce stress and develop mind control so be sure to do further research as there are many free resources online that can show you how to do and practice meditation. Just do a search for ‘how to do meditation’ and you should be able to find something useful. Transcendental meditation has been researched at the university level and has been found to have many benefits including stress reduction so look into that too.

Getting a dog can be a great way to reduce stress as pets have been shown in many studies to be very effective at reducing stress. Take part in a sport like golf or tennis and stay physically active. Do more exercise like aerobics and weight training, you may even consider joining a gym or purchasing a quality piece of fitness equipment. All these approaches can be great at reducing stress.

Wash Your Face Using The Right Products And Purify Your Water
You do not need to wash your face every hour but it is important to keep the skin clean. Twice a day is usually enough, once in the morning and then once before bed. A great natural soap is glycerin soap which you can find at most health food stores. It has very little odor and is very gentle on your skin and will not dry it out excessively.

A great natural moisturizer is almond oil and again it can be found at most health food stores. It makes good sense to apply food based products on your skin because what you put on your skin can also end up in your bloodstream so stick with natural food based ingredients.

Another useful tip to follow is to drink the purest water you can. Water that comes out of a faucet can contain all kinds of chemicals such as chlorine as well as particulates that you cannot see. These chemicals and particulates can have an effect on your acne. The best water is pure distilled water as that is 100% H2O with nothing else in it. You can get distilled water at many supermarkets, they usually come in the large 20 liter jugs.

Also consider getting a shower filter. When you shower, significant amounts of water get absorbed into your skin so you want this water to be as pure as possible. A whole house distiller is the absolute ideal but this can be costly. Use some of these strategies to help you reduce your acne.