Folz has maintained the joint ventures formed by his predecessor with Fiat in light trucks and with Renault in engines, gear boxes and industrial vehicles.

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With the right gear in their tackle-boxes, small businesses are poised to deliver the growth our economy needs to get us back to pre-recession levels.

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The company actually makes its own boxes so that the gear arrives in perfect condition.

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But on some older sections of track in Germany they slow to a crawl, and they must carry seven boxes of expensive signalling gear.

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