U.S. Steel Market in Crisis: MEMA Report
A new research report by the Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association (MEMA) suggests that government intervention in the U.S. steel market has caused a cost crisis that is hurting automotive and heavy-duty suppliers across the country. The MEMA report says that the result has been “unprecedented bankruptcies and job losses.”
Diversify Your Customer Base at MEMA/JAMA 2005 Supplier Symposium
The Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association (MEMA) and the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association (JAMA) will hold their first-ever MEMA/JAMA North American Automotive Supplier Symposium Thursday, April 21, at the Hyatt Regency in Dearborn, Mich. The goals of the event, “Diversifying the Customer Base by Understanding and Meeting New Domestic Customer Expectations,” are to assist North American suppliers as they diversify and expand their customer bases with the Japanese vehicle manufacturers and help suppliers better understand the OEMs detailed requirements in quality, cost, development and delivery (QCDD).
MACS Worldwide to Sponsor Women’s Board Scholarship Program
The Car Care Council Women’s Board announced the Mobile Air Conditioning Society (MACS) Worldwide has added its name to the growing list of aftermarket organizations who will sponsor its 2005 scholarship program. This year, the Women’s Board will award five scholarships to female students pursuing educations in automotive technology, with plans to enter the automotive field upon graduation.
Mike Lambert and Mike Kamal Share Details on ADN
On Jan. 14, aftermarketNews.com broke the news of the merger between the Parts Plus and IAPA programmed distribution groups. This major news follows closely on the heels of the merger between Quebec’s Uni-Select and New York-based MAWDI, which seems to confirm the sea change that has been taking place over the past few years — with strong but small groups merging to form even stronger collaborations, in an effort to ensure their future in the automotive aftermarket distribution market. Mike Kamal, executive director of IAPA and Mike Lambert, president of Parts Plus, will serve as co-presidents of the new group, to be called the Automotive Distribution Network (ADN). Yesterday, Kamal and Lambert spoke at length with aftermarketNews.com about the merger – how it came together, the synergies involved and thoughts on the future of The Network.
Congress Introduces Anti-Counterfeiting Legislation
Yesterday, Rep. Joe Knollenberg (R-Mich.) introduced the “Stop Counterfeiting in Manufactured Goods Act,” H.R. 32 into the 109th Congress. The legislation is intended to strengthen the U.S. criminal statute against production and trafficking in counterfeited goods. This is great news for the automotive supplier industry, providing the industry an important tool in fighting product counterfeiting, according to the Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association (MEMA). The American automotive parts and components industry looses an estimated $12 billion in sales on a global basis to counterfeiting.
The Year in Review – A Look at the Top 10 News Stories of 2004
Whether you believe 2004 was a good or bad year for the aftermarket, no one can argue this was a big news year for our industry. The year included noteworthy shifts in leadership, mergers, acquisitions and more, most of which will significantly impact the industry for many years to come. Here’s a month-by-month look at what aftermarketNews.com considers to be biggest news events that happened in our industry in 2004.
Visteon Among Companies to Successfully Stop Patent Infringement at AAPEX
Yesterday it was announced that organizers for this year’s Automotive Aftermarket Products Expo (AAPEX) were extremely successful in their efforts to crack down on counterfeiters and other intellectual property violators at the recent trade show held in Las Vegas Nov. 2-5. Among the companies that requested action at this year’s show was Visteon, which reported an infringement on a patented design used in its aftermarket products.
Fine-tuning the Midas Touch
Alan Feldman, president and CEO of Midas Inc., may not share the ability of his company’s fabled literary counterpart, King Midas, to turn whatever he touches to gold, but much of what Feldman has touched in his 21-month tenure at the automotive aftermarket giant has had a golden effect on the company.
Auto Supplier Profits Dwindle
Although new car and truck sales rose more than 2 percent during the first 10 months of 2004, many of the companies that supply parts to big automakers have little to celebrate. Their profits are shrinking as raw-material costs rise and production falls at General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. Already the nation’s two largest suppliers, Delphi Corp. and Visteon Corp., which had combined sales of $45.7 billion in 2003, have warned of lower-than-anticipated earnings this year. They cite higher materials expenses, particularly for steel, and plans by top U.S. automakers GM and Ford to turn out fewer vehicles.
Metal-Stamping Plants that Supply Auto Parts Face Bleak Future, Experts Warn
Up to half of the U.S. metal stamping plants that supply parts for the automobile industry could be out of business in six years, an industry attorney and trade group warned Thursday.