How business, doctors and journalists prey on your food anxieties I

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Agile brokers are makingfortunes off the spreads
between luxury-car, prices around the world .
Carbitrage
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A'ttrtrnurv .rcrvI lµ/aqllal Irm'( .harnkrcmS4?,972Lm- Saa,hcsass,havcdoublcdinca .hof
ushipinTorontoaC,und(henke intapmhto1S73`0 .Trenzsayshe thcpastlourycars .
LimiredV-8liststoitltecqulvalentit mmri60%othismetaltoGnmans, Thercareplenooff, emupl .ying
US52R,125 .Acrosxrhebordeqintltc thch,ilancetobuccrsinRussia,Po- intciromttn'yrpriespreads .Jlagx-
But}ulnsuburboPWestSeneca,thc I<strong>and</strong>,theCicchRapublic,SuudrA(ri- zineslikeGermam%sAuroMorornmd
samc rnodcl tri¢h identical options ca,'llukev, Zairc <strong>and</strong> Kaeakhstan . 9portorepackedssithadvertixmenu
aan'ies a sdck¢ pricc of 532,590 .
Across tlte ocean, in Munich, Cemtuny,
the price is Yb6,lA)0,
Ondtescspreads dealers rvith inrernadonal
mnnectiuns are rruking a
bundle Tepical is WolWng Tnn2
Bnsed in Weiherlrammer, about 112
miles no¢h of \'tunich, Trenz's
Americyn Morors Trenz GmbH sells dlc Gmnd Chcrokee i
.imircd fisr
aUaut 546,3§2, 17% Ic% than the
official pdcn in Ccrntanp . StocHng
almost e~dueivcly Iccps nnd Vopagar
minitnns. Ticnz latt vcar sold 1,000
nqv curs <strong>and</strong> 200 uscd ars . T¢nc
says he ntadc abaut $3 mfllion, rnt
saks of 536 niilllon .
Hosv can he wdercut thc other
dealas? Trcnz Is a cW'bitrager. Bypacsing
Chryslcr dLstribudon ehanuds,
lie buys ]ceps whcmver thcy arc
cheapest, paytng trtail but knmvmg
he can sell them for much ntore .
These days nccchmpesr placcis Canada,
whcrc tile dautzchc mark has
dirnbcd hv 58%agvnst the Canadian
dollar in the past four ycars .
By tdephonc <strong>and</strong> fax, Tmnz tap
into his neovork ofClnvsLer dealets in
Ontano, Qaubec <strong>and</strong> Nova Scntia .
Latcfy Itc's paid a Carudiar dcalcr
stLcker, or$28,125, forzGr<strong>and</strong> Cberokee
[imited . Transponatinn <strong>and</strong>'
Gcnnunv's 10$durynnd 7 5°A'i s21cs tas
add 510,000 to tlte msc . Trenz irr
stalls nrn' lighrs, adjusrs the elecnical
mtcm <strong>and</strong> chanb's the tires m ntect
C rm:m vchidr- y c-ihcadons <strong>and</strong>
oserodes a mmputcr chip that limits
the North Americvt Chcmkec's prp
sp ee d to 112 miles an hour. Finalp,
Trcnz sats aside S I, L00 pervehicle to
cnrer svarrann , costs .
All this brinp tile nail cost uf
al}'ering rlnterican unliq'rrhidcs <strong>and</strong>
miuinns at big discuunrs .
/4rd'not just Poncncan cars- In
Russia a nmv 52ai purehxscd duoagh
an o1licYal nwv dealcr mns abnur
$73,755, sersus S38,SOf1-beforc
raxcs-in Gcmun)r . Wolfgang Vollath,
managing dimcror of nznv's
Moxow ol&e, says Russia's grav
nrukct BM tVd~ale isntnsplashytelcvisum
ads <strong>and</strong> ouudl his licensed dcaltrs
10-to L
Taiwan is a ha makct for gray
marker Volvos, Maecdes <strong>and</strong> n+nvs .
Thanks tn mriffs<strong>and</strong> caxes omt importcd
luxury cars, a Volvo 850 Turlw
Wagon thatretails at 533,550 in l .os
16001 eely have to eumyete wilh Chryflm Eeelers . I have to be wmething beHr,
uy . WolfgengTrem .Rborerirenr, m .chaniu altar leeysto mM German
dneecv p,oa for $62,535 in T,dpci .
7ne gmc ma*cr broker eiisscrosses
(amde md thc CIS . loaking lor rhe
mudels lie needs schiLe his Taimsi¢se
partner druou up customas . Within
¢n days of an oiilcr coming in, rhe
cars arc delivcred to the dosest port,
r adv Ra shipmcnt ro Tuipei .
"1Ne'ce got this busincss dosvn tn a
scicncq" tile brokcr' says. "I'd buy
ten tlmes as munyMerccdes if I mu/d
pmgram, svhich dupliares Chnslds
oll3eial eanzntr . His serci¢ departmene
in Weihcrhmnmar r'arrics so
many Clnvsler spare pans (purcha>cd
on the gray market) that o/rioal
Gtrysler duulers often cnmt ro Trcnz
flsr part .
Manuf5crwvs arc nving to crack
dmmt on tile gray nraka trade . Last
fall ent instituted a pulio, asking that
Canadian dealers make all pm