MARKET INFORMATION

Social commitment:

- To rationalize the consumption of natural resources (petroleum).
- To protect the environment by reducing contaminant emission levels.
- To favor the consumer’s expense budget through effective reduction of car operating costs and overall engine maintenance (including repair) by means of using the Marclais EV.

- To promote and be part of the country´s energy saving programs.

MARKET BEHAVIOR FORECAST

In 2002 the Colombian government empowered by the 1991 national constitution laws enforced the newly created Ministry of Environment in response to citizen collective rights and local environment protection initiatives, thus providing reference guidelines to build ecological awareness for a more promising future for the nation.

As a matter of fact, in regards with motor vehicles enforcement policies the Ministry of Environment updated and implemented a series of mandatory rulings. Also through legal resolution # 864 issued on August 8, 1996, the official entity acknowledged a list of recommended ecological control devices and granted those eligible items with a sales tax exempt warranty clause. Thus Marclais ecology valve which was included in that special tax-exempt list became a strategic option and added value accessory to be incorporated in all imported or assembled vehicles entering the Colombia market.

The recent public awareness campaigns led by the Administrative Office for Environment (DAMA) have been oriented to raise ecological alertness in the population so that each vehicle owner can willingly synchronize his car in order to reduce greenhouse emissions and fuel consumption; failures to correct and reduce vehicle emissions will be subject to fines and sanctions. All violators might be prosecuted for not complying with the minimum contamination limits permitted by the law.

In Colombia there are approximately 1.7 mill automobiles running that perfectly qualify for the Marclais e-valve mechanism. Of this estimate number, those vehicles operating above 1,000 meters altitudes could benefit the most with the use of an altitude compensator EV. This is especially a valid statement in cities like Bogota, Medellin, Cali, Bucaramanga, Tunja and Pasto. However, it is interesting to note that Bogota and Medellin together possess half of the total vehicle fleet in Colombia:
Santafé of Bogotá : 45% 765.000 vehicles
Medellín : 21% 357.000 vehicles
BOG-MDE combined: 66% 1.122.000 vehicles

Therefore the market potential to commercialize our Marclais ecological valve is enormous and challenging. At current prices, sales estimate figures could exceed the US$ 50 million.

To recap, Marclais Company and staff are committed to an ambitious short, medium, and long term project to position EV device as the top vehicle regulator of contaminant emissions in the region. The company has also developed joint initiatives with state-run and private entities to anticipate future item developments through new test and research technology.

The technical management of Ecopetrol, the Colombian Petroleum Agency, has shown special interest in Marclais ecological valve its future developments. To date, Marclais EV mechanism has undergone exhaustive technical assessments audited by the Colombian Petroleum Institute (ICP).

National statistics indicate that the current vehicle fleet in Colombia consumes nearly 170,000 barrels of gasoline a day, which is equivalent to 7,140,000 gallons (1 barrel = 42 gallons). At current local gas prices that consumption volume would cost almost 9,000 million pesos a day. Therefore, it is quite evident that by means of massive implementation of the Marclais EV mechanism for vehicles in the country, the budget saving benefits for both Ecopetrol finances and the nation’s economy in general, would be enormous. Let us a saving level of just 3% nationwide; that would represent more than 270-million peso a day saving for the country´s expense budget. This economy fact has attracted Ecopetrol executive board’s attention and the state company has already expressed its intention in providing not just technical support to Marclais project but also commercial backing through advertising campaigns that would recommend the massive use of Marclais ecological valve at country level.

Likewise in 1990, the Administrative Office for Public Health in Bogota certified the ecological valve efficiency by joint test analysis with the Japanese Cooperation Agency (JICA), hat at the end confirmed Marclais EV effectiveness in reducing pollutant emissions from vehicle exhaust pipes. This technical event helped position Marclais altitude compensation valve an added-value mechanism for air pollution control of emissions like of hydrocarbons (HC) and carbon monoxide (CO). In addition to implementing maximum permitted chart levels for HC and CO vehicle emissions (based on car´s manufacture date) per year, various government enforcement agencies have also regulated limits for gas vapors coming from the gasoline tank in car units entering the local market either from national assembly factories or imported vehicles. Marclais has already made an initial proposal that could be applied to the current local vehicle fleet, based on similar measure parameters to address the canister effect problem by means of a mechanism capable of storing and recycling contained gas vapors. A modified ecological valve model could serve that purpose and it is currently under technical development stage.