Federal-Mogul Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President Jose Maria Alapont shares his strategic vision for the company after Chapter 11.

By Amy Antenora

Yesterday during the AAPEX Show, Counterman/aftermarketNews Publisher Jon Owens and aftermarketNews Editor Amy Antenora had the chance to sit down with Federal-Mogul Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Jose Maria Alapont for an exclusive interview. Continuing a conversation that began at last year’s AAPEX show, Alapont shared the latest news about Federal-Mogul’s impending emergence from bankruptcy protection and talked about future plans for the company. A leading manufacturer and marketer supplying both the original equipment and replacement parts industries, Federal-Mogul is currently awaiting approval for its Final Plan of Reorganization under the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the District of Delaware. 

Now completing his second year at the helm of Federal-Mogul, Alapont has worked to transform the supplier into what he describes as a ‘truly global’ company. To be a truly global business, Alapont said, it’s not about simply manufacturing product overseas for importation into high-cost countries; companies must globalize engineering and sourcing operations.

Enthusiastic about the fresh start that the company will soon make, Alapont described his strategy to leverage the strength of Federal-Mogul’s North American brands to help establish new brand opportunities in other regions of the world, such as Asia-Pacific. Also in the interview, Alapont talked about the factors that lead to the significant improvements Federal-Mogul showed in its most recent quarterly report. The company reported a third quarter net income of $14 million, up from $3 million in the third quarter of 2006.

This exclusive interview will be published in its entirety next month on aftermarketNews .