LIBBY, Mont., April 16, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- Treasury International, Inc. (OTCBB:TRUY) announces it has recently acquired, through one of its wholly owned subsidiaries, American Sports Inc., the operating assets and liabilities of a business venture called Imani Motors.
The new entity will be called Imani Motors USA, Inc. with the operation center, primarily, from a manufacturing and research and development facility in Tiverton, Rhode Island with a new Board of Directors and Officers to be named at a later date. Imani is in the process of completing three luxury brand, high performance, but affordable, models under the brand "Imani," which proposes to be the first, mass-production, hand-made, carbon fiber sport car and truck manufacturer in the U.S.
The first model will be the iSR250 Imani Sport Roadster. The iSR250 will come standard with a 2.5 liter V6 engine and a 5 or 6 speed manual transmission. Each engine is hand assembled, balanced, and blue printed as AMG does for Mercedes. An automatic sequential gear shifting transmission similar to what is found in the Formula racing cars is optional. The iSR250 will deliver 240HP, which will allow the car to outperform most other cars in its class with a 0 - 60 mph in an estimated 4.8 seconds and may reach a top speed of almost 200 mph. Since all the vehicles Imani designs and manufactures utilize carbon fiber, the iSR250 will weigh less than 2,000 lbs and have an estimated 32 city and 40 highway miles per gallon. Similar or competitive cars to the iSR250 include Porsche Boxster, BMW Z4, and Lotus Elise. The iSR250 is anticipated to be unveiled to prospective dealers, select buyers and the press by mid-May 2004. Imani's business model has several advantages over the larger car manufacturers and competitors by having a smaller overhead and thus higher margins with having to sell fewer vehicles. The anticipated Manufacturers' Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) for the iSR250 is $39,900 and will allow Imani Dealers to generate more margin of profit than any other sport roadsters sold in the U.S.
The next vehicle to be completed will be a 4x4 Sport Truck similar to the Porsche 4x4 Cayenne and Hummer H2. This is anticipated to be introduced to Imani Dealers and the Press in July 2004 at an MSRP of $52,900.
The Sport Coupe is anticipated to be available in September 2004 at an MSRP of $89,900 and ready for the Paris Auto Show in September/October 2004. All the vehicles mentioned above will come standard equipped with smart tire monitors, which are required by law in the near future giving the temperature and PSI rating of each individual tire similar to what is currently installed in the prestigious Aston Martin vehicles. As mentioned above these vehicles will be have better than average margins for the Dealers and will be hand-made and primarily utilize carbon fiber.
In addition to making a high performance and affordable line of vehicles, Imani will incorporate all the latest technologies including an OnStar like system, GPS, web tracking and keyless entry alarm systems, heads up display and thermal imaging cameras front and rear, a fully functional Car PC with touch screen and wireless synching with other computers in the house or work. Other technologies Imani anticipates incorporating into its vehicles include being able to have Dealer Service Technicians remotely monitor Imani vehicles and to offer pre-emptive maintenance and biometrics such as using the motorists' fingerprint to open doors and start the vehicles to deter and make it near impossible to be stolen.
The automotive industry is a multi-trillion dollar per year industry. There are over 52 million new cars and trucks sold worldwide last year, 17 million of which in the U.S. alone. In relation to this, in North America, Porsche has its largest market and sales rose in 2003 by 25.6% to 29,024 units, with their 4x4 SUV, Cayenne, accounting for 10,151 units. Imani's overall goal is to achieve 10% of this niche sports car market within 3 years or ramp up to 2,900 vehicles per year. This nets Imani over $29 million. In order to achieve this, Imani expects to set up and limit the number of Dealers to only 100.
Safe Harbor
Certain statements contained herein may be forward-looking in nature and are therefore subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. The Company's recent acquisition history, progress toward completing the integration of its acquisitions, history of operating losses, current expense levels compared with its sales, and the state of development of its product portfolio, coupled with the overall economic and competitive operating environments pose a number of risks investors should take into consideration in connection with assessing our financial and operating results. A more detailed discussion of these and other important risk factors can be found in the documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on forms 10-KSB and 10-QSB.