The Week in Review offers a snapshot of the most read stories of the week as seen on aftermarketNews. To access the complete stories, simply click on the highlighted links. If you missed reading one of our daily news emails, click on any of the dates listed at the bottom of the page to begin catching up on the latest industry news.
Knowing what truly matters to one’s customer base is of utmost importance to marketers. So, it’s no surprise that our most recent Ask the Industry column, sponsored by Polk, was the highest read story on AMN this week. For the bi-monthly column we called a couple repair shop employees to ask: Do Technicians Care Where Parts are Made? For all the executive level discussion about the globalization of the aftermarket, the technicians we spoke with just want the right part at the right price.
And speaking of globalization, global parts maker Federal-Mogul has seen a delay in its bankruptcy proceedings. According to a report from Automotive News, Federal-Mogul Corp. spent four days in bankruptcy hearings this week in Pittsburgh but was unable to gain approval of its reorganization plan. The hearing has been adjourned until the second week of July. The Michigan-based parts maker has been under bankruptcy protection for more than five years.
Another highly read news item this week was our exclusive editorial from Publisher Jon Owens who wrote about O’Reilly’s recent split from Aftermarket Auto Parts Alliance. In the column, Owens writes that, “the evolution of programmed distribution has been the single-most influential phenomenon our industry has ever seen.”
AMN readers were also interested to read our Executive Interview with Tenneco’s Ric Alameddine. In our exclusive interview, Alameddine talks about Monroe’s foray into the brake category and how the company keeps its branding and marketing initiatives fresh.
The latest in a string of recent additions to the company’s list of distribution facilities, WORLDPAC this week announced the opening of a new facility in Boulder, CO. Earlier in the year, WORLDPAC opened new locations in Canada, Massachusetts, California and Texas.
To view all of the news from the past week, simply click on the link for each corresponding day: