If you throw all the products we buy and the services we use in one basket, then add up the price tag, that's the Gross Domestic Product, which is the primary metric economists use to assess the economic health of a country or region.

The easy part of calculating GDP is the calculation itself: C+I+G+(X-M)=GDP. Got it? No? Well, add Consumption, Investment by companies, Government purchases, and then take the product of eXports (calling it 'E' would lack sexiness) minus iMports ('I' was taken). Viola! GDP.

Still don't get it? Well, knowing the components helps. Consumption is the biggest component, and it's a tally of the cost of all the goods and services we buy. Investment is what companies spend on the real assets they own, plus the value of the inventory that we haven't gobbled up through consumption. Government purchases are what the Feds pay money for (whether it be highways or fighter jets, though big social programs, like welfare, aren't counted). And then we calculate the difference between the goods and services we¿re sending to other countries and the stuff we're bringing in.

Good. That explains it, except there's a catch. Inflation has a habit of distorting the numbers, so economists talk about either Nominal GDP or Real GDP. In fact, Real GDP isn't necessarily "real" for most folks, since it takes any inflation out. Nominal GDP includes the effects of inflation. (There's something called the implicit price deflator which is a calculation using the two, but we'll spare you the details.)

So, now that we know GDP, why do we want to? Well, it's good to compare different markets. And watching the trend shows whether a given economy is growing (good), stagnating (not so good), or shrinking (very not so good). When GDP goes down two quarters in a row, we're officially in a recession.

For the record, GDP is released at the end of each month, with most reporting ¿preliminary¿ data for the previous month. But you won't get final GDP numbers for the fourth quarter of a year until the very end of the first quarter of the next year. After all, it's not an easy number to calculate.

Home / Markets / Industries / Industrials

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

WABCO-TVS Wins Best Quality Award From Tata Motors, India's Largest Manufacturer of Commercial Vehicles

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Comtex

BRUSSELS, July 16, 2008 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ ----WABCO Holdings Inc. (NYSE: WBC) today announced that WABCO-TVS (India) Ltd. has earned a "Zero PPM" quality award (zero defective parts-per-million) from Tata Motors, the largest manufacturer of commercial vehicles in India and the world's second largest bus manufacturer as well as fourth largest truck manufacturer. Tata Motors has now increased worldwide sales of commercial vehicles by 46 percent over a three-year period to more than 312,000 units annually.

WABCO-TVS provides Tata Motors with pneumatic anti-lock braking systems and complete air brake systems for commercial vehicles. This award commends the consistently excellent quality and reliability of the products supplied by all of WABCO-TVS's manufacturing facilities located in India. The award focuses on a performance period over the past three years. Mr. T. Rajagopalan, WABCO-TVS General Manager Original Equipment Sales, accepted the award from Mr. S.B. Borwankar, Plant Head, Tata Motors, Jamshedpur Plant, at the "Vendor Awards Ceremony 2008" recently held in Jamshedpur.

"As a leading global manufacturer of commercial vehicles, we are committed to setting and sustaining the industry's highest requirements for quality and reliability," said Anil Singh, General Manager, Materials, Tata Motors, Jamshedpur Plant. "WABCO-TVS has demonstrated a track record of superlative results over a prolonged period of production volume growth. Our "Zero PPM" quality award acknowledges that WABCO-TVS has achieved the ultimate goal of supplying defect-free products on a continuous basis."

"This award from Tata Motors marks our ability to deliver products with top-notch quality at increasingly higher volumes, year in, year out," said Nikhil Varty, WABCO Vice President, Compression and Braking. "Tata Motors has an aggressive roadmap for defect-free products and we are passionate about sustaining our mutual success through excellence in quality."

As recently reported, WABCO-TVS has expanded its global capabilities in India by opening a new manufacturing facility in Jamshedpur and another one in Mahindra World City, near Chennai where the company owns its third factory located in India.

WABCO-TVS (India) Ltd. is an affiliate of WABCO and its joint venture partner, members of the TVS Group.

About WABCO

WABCO Vehicle Control Systems is one of the world's leading providers of electronic braking, stability, suspension and transmission automation systems for heavy duty commercial vehicles. Customers include the world's leading commercial truck, trailer, and bus manufacturers. Founded in the U.S. in 1869 as Westinghouse Air Brake Company, WABCO was acquired by American Standard in 1968 and spun off in 2007. Headquartered in Brussels, Belgium, WABCO employs more than 7,700 people in 31 countries worldwide. In 2007, WABCO's total sales were $2.4 billion. WABCO is a publicly traded company and is listed on the New York Stock Exchange with the stock symbol WBC. Website: http://www.wabco-auto.com

About the TVS Group

The TVS Group, one of India's most respected business conglomerates, is a leading supplier to the automotive sector. Founded in 1911 as a transport company, it aligned business opportunities with steady growth, expansion and diversification. Today the Group comprises over 30 operating companies with strong presence in manufacturing Motorcycles, Scooters, Automotive Components, Automotive Dealerships, Logistics, Finance, Insurance and Electronics. These diverse business entities have taken the Group's presence across the globe and employ more than 40,000 people. http://www.tvsiyengar.com.

   Media contact Tobias Mueller, +49-69-7191-6834, tobias.mueller@klenkhoursch.de Investors and financial analysts contact Mike
   Thompson, +32-2-663-9854, mike.thompson@wabco-auto.com Jason Campbell, +1-732-369-7477, jason.campbell@wabco-auto.com

SOURCE WABCO Holdings Inc.

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