ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, July 16, 1996 TAG: 9607160047
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
DETROIT - Ford Motor Co. confirmed Monday that it raised prices earlier this month on its two biggest sellers - the Explorer sport/utility vehicle and the new F-150 pickup - $200 to $425. The increase, first reported Monday in the industry journal Automotive News, was announced to dealers only.
Effective July 1, the base price of the Explorer went up $200 on all models. F-150 prices increased $385 to $400, depending on model, with an additional $25 increase in the pickup's destination charge to $640.
The F-150 is the nation's top-selling vehicle; the Explorer is ranked No. 2 in Ford sales and third industrywide. Together, they have accounted this year for about a quarter of Ford's total sales through June.
The No.2 domestic automaker has been struggling to match the profit growth of No.3 Chrysler Corp. and No.1 General Motors Corp. Its earnings in the past two quarters have fallen 58 percent from the year-ago periods. Ford plans to report its second-quarter earnings Wednesday.
The July 1 increases bring minimum base prices for the Explorer to $19,770 and the F-150 to $14,815, excluding destination charges, Ford spokeswoman Joy Wolfe said.
``These prices are applied to vehicles that are ordered by dealers after the date of the increase,'' she said. |-Associated Press Future of coal
highlights '96 show
RICHLANDS - Sam Napolitano from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Dan Carson of American Electric Power and John Paul of the Center for Energy and Economic Development will discuss the future of the coal business at the 1996 Richlands Coal Show, which starts Wednesday at 9 a.m. on the Southwest Virginia Community College campus with a meeting of the Virginia Coal & Energy Commission's Coal Subcommittee.
State Sen. Jack Reasor, D-Bluefield, will address the luncheon meeting. Papers will be presented during the day by Malcolm McPherson and Carl Zipper of Virginia Tech, Benny Wampler of the Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals & Energy and others on such topics as innovative mining methods, coal reserves and reclamation.
A joint meeting of the Virginia Coal Council, Richlands Area Chamber of Commerce and the Committee on the Future of Southwest Virginia's Economic Development Subcommittee is scheduled for 5-8 p.m.
Thursday will include presentations on international coal markets and coal technology exports. The show will conclude Friday with the Governor's Cup Mine Rescue contest from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Further information is available by calling 964-6363. |-Staff report
Singer worker wins
harassment suit
A North Carolina jury on Friday awarded a former Singer Furniture Co. employee $307,500 in damages after finding the furniture maker negligent in a sexual harassment lawsuit.
Grecia Fox Barlowe, who worked at one of Singer's Lenoir factories, alleged that plant foreman Frank Rice made unwanted sexual advances beginning in November 1992 and continuing for about a year, according to court documents and a report in the Lenoir News-Topic. She said she took her complaints to Singer management but was ignored.
The jury found Singer negligent in retaining and supervising the foreman, and said both Singer and Rice caused Barlowe severe emotional distress. Rice was transferred to another Singer plant in the fall of 1993.
Barlowe and another former Singer employee, Kim Rich, first filed suit against Singer and Rice in Caldwell County (N.C.) Superior Court nearly two years ago. Rich and her husband dropped their suit in early June; Barlowe dropped Rice from her suit a few weeks later.
Singer is based in High Point, N.C., and has administrative offices in Roanoke. The company closed its Roanoke plant in June. |-Staff report
GE Medical to sell
its PET operations
GE Medical Systems of Milwaukee, a business of General Electric Co., has agreed to sell the assets of its Positron emission tomography (PET) development and production operations, including its Sweden-based cyclotron division, to Position Corporation of Houston, Texas. PET technology has been used for more than 20 years in the early detection of cancer and certain cardiology and neurology applications.
Terms of the sale are $25 million cash plus 10 percent of Positron's outstanding common stock and a three-year option to buy an additional 15 percent of Positron common stock. GE will sell and distribute PET products provided by Positron, and continue to provide service and application support to GE's installed PET base and future installations. |-Associated Press
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