Suppliers Feel Pinch from Auto Industry
Workers at the Timken Co. can spin magic with bearings, crafting superb tapered bits of metal tinier than grains of sand and 9-ton sculptured steel behemoths. The friction-reducing bearings let cars, sport utility vehicles, railroad engines, space satellites, computer disk drives and even missile guidance systems function. But for all that specialized engineering, the $3.8 billion Canton manufacturer is caught in the same pythonlike economic squeeze as businesses large and small across the world: how to cut costs and do more with less, because if they don’t, someone else eventually will.
Edelbrock Reports Improved Sales and Earnings for Third Quarter
Edelbrock Corp. has reported an improvement in sales and earnings for its fiscal 2004 third quarter and nine months which ended on March 25. For the quarter, revenues increased 11.3 percent to $28,551,000 from $25,658,000 in the comparable period of fiscal 2003. Net income for the third quarter of fiscal 2004 increased to $905,000, or 16 cents per diluted share, from net income of $210,000, or 4 cents per diluted share, in the third quarter of fiscal 2003.
Retooling a Pool of Talent: Michigan Reaches Out from Brawn to Brains
Diego Rivera’s famous mural of Detroit’s industry depicts big, muscular men pulling on steel and manipulating heavy machines as they mold new cars. But if Rivera were here today, how would he see the city? Probably not muscling steel girders around. He’d see MBAs and computer geeks creating the modern automotive world in front of their computers.
Visteon has 1st profit since ’02
Auto-parts maker Visteon Corp. said Thursday that it turned a quarterly profit for the first time since mid-2002 and surpassed earnings expectations, largely due to new business from the automakers and lower health-care costs for employees. The Dearborn, Mich.-based supplier reported first-quarter net income of $30 million, or 23 cents a share, compared with a loss of $15 million, or 12 cents a share, in the same quarter a year ago.
Cooper Tire Reports All-Time Record Sales
Cooper Tire & Rubber has reported all-time record high sales of $974 million and a 56 percent increase in net income for the quarter, which ended on March 31. The record sales represent a 23 percent increase compared to the same period a year earlier. Net income increased by 56 percent, to $24 million, compared to $15 million in the first quarter of 2003.
Jill Bookman Named CEO of American Collectors
Jill Bookman has been named CEO of American Collectors Insurance, Inc. (ACI). Bookman, who has been with the company for more than 10 years, will fill the newly created position immediately. ACI is a national specialty provider of collector car, truck and motorcycle insurance.
Indiana Auto Body Association Joins SCRS Affiliate Ranks
The Indiana Auto Body Association (IABA), a new organization founded to address a gap in the professional needs of the state’s repairers, has announced its affiliation with the Society of Collision Repair Specialists (SCRS). Founded on January 15, the IABA currently includes more than 60 members, consisting mostly of collision repair professionals and a small number of suppliers.
ASA Calls for Support of AHP Legislation
The Automotive Service Association (ASA) is asking automotive repairers to help support Association Healthcare Plans (AHP) legislation that allows associations to band together to purchase health care insurance for employees. The AHP legislation, H.R. 660, has passed the U.S. House of Representatives and is supported by President George W. Bush, but the U.S. Senate has not acted on its companion legislation, S. 545. With the Senate set to adjourn on Oct. 1, ASA is encouraging repairers to contact their senators and ask them to support and co-sponsor S. 545.
Auto Supplier Venture: Money Diverted Before its Bankruptcy
One of Michigan’s largest private corporations has taken the extraordinary action of suing the man who founded it, saying he, his family and side businesses owned by them siphoned more than $314 million from the corporation before it declared bankruptcy.
Florida Senate Committee Passes Insurer-Owned Repair Facility Legislation
By a vote of 8 to 1, the Florida Senate Committee on Banking and Insurance has passed Senate Bill 2692, which prohibits insurer-owned shops in the state of Florida.