Kicking off our round-up of the week’s top news is information just announced this morning by Uni-Select. The Boucherville, Quebec-based distribution outfit announced several new appointments within its senior management team. Among them, William Alexander has been named president and COO of Uni-Select’s U.S. Aftermarket Division. Daniel Courtney has been appointed president and COO of FinishMaster, the paint and body equipment subsidiary of Uni-Select in the U.S., which it acquired last year.
Other top news this week included the release of Federal-Mogul’s second quarter results, which featured the announcement of a $60 million restructuring. The restructuring, which began in the second quarter, was undertaken to further shift production of brake friction and wiper products to lower-cost locations within the company’s global manufacturing network, including a recently acquired brake friction facility in Mexico. Federal-Mogul said the restructuring program will involve the closure or substantial downsizing of selected brake friction and wiper manufacturing sites over the next 18 months. For its second quarter results, Federal-Mogul reported total sales were $1.7 billion, down 5 percent versus the second quarter of 2011, but up 1 percent on a constant dollar basis versus the second quarter 2011.
O’Reilly Automotive’s second quarter results also were among the most-viewed items on AMN this week. Sales for the second quarter increased $84 million, or 6 percent, to $1.56 billion from $1.48 billion for the same period one year ago. Gross profit for the second quarter increased to $780 million (or 49.9 percent of sales) from $719 million (or 48.6 percent of sales) for the same period one year ago, representing an increase of 9 percent. Net income for the second quarter ended June 30, increased $12 million, or 9 percent, to $146 million (or 9.3 percent of sales) from $134 million (or 9 percent of sales) for the same period one year ago.
News that Chris Kern has rejoined the ranks at Beck/Arnley also made it to the top five this week. A 35-year industry veteran, returns to Beck/Arnley after an 11-year hiatus and fills the position that was left vacant with the recent retirement of John Murphy. In addition to spending 27 years with Beck/Arnley, he also served as director of distribution sales for IMC as well as a general manager with AutoPartsSource.
Last in our weekly recap, we learn that Driven Brands is implementing a new "Hub and Spoke" business strategy in the U.S. Driven Brands is the parent company to six franchised automotive brands, including Meineke Car Care Center and Maaco. The company’s new hub and spoke model will allow franchise owners to service a smaller market of about 200,000 registered vehicles with four Meineke and one-to-two Maaco locations. Maaco, one of the nation’s leading paint and collision service providers, will serve as the hub supported by surrounding Meineke centers, which provides full-service automotive maintenance and repair, specializing in brakes, maintenance services and general repair. The initial investment for this model will be about $1.2 million, according to Driven Brands.
