TRW Gets Rolling: After a massive IPO, Supplier Faces Hurdles
John Plant, chief executive of newly independent TRW Automotive Holdings Corp., remembers when his company was a corporate stepchild. As the auto-parts unit of former industrial conglomerate TRW Inc., it didn’t get favorable treatment, even when it generated cash for the business.
Campaign to Bring Back the “Midas Touch”
Midas wants to return to its core value of trust with the resurrection of a marketing campaign first used in Midas advertising in the 1980s. The company’s new national advertising agency DDB Chicago is collaborating with Ogilvy & Mather Toronto on the “Trust the Midas Touch” campaign. The campaign will include commercials that take place in a Midas shop and show a humorous dialog between a customer of Midas and a Midas service employee, who is hooked up to a polygraph machine. The commercials are the first in a long-term campaign to grow Midas’ category-leading shares in brakes and exhaust and to support the expansion of its services, including oil changes and other routine maintenance services.
TI Automotive to Build New Plant in Mexico
TI Automotive, a supplier of fully integrated fluid storage and delivery systems, plans to build its seventh manufacturing plant in Reynosa, Tamaulipas, Mexico. The new 60,000-square-foot facility will employ 400 people and will produce brake and fuel lines for automotive assembly plants in North America. The plant is expected to open this summer.
Restructuring Charges Drive Midas to a Net Loss of $76.2 Million in 2003
Midas reported a net loss of $76.2 million — or $4.93 per diluted share — for fiscal 2003, which ended Jan. 3. Midas said the loss is primarily the result $102.6 million in charges related to its restructuring, completed in April. As part of the restructuring, Midas exited its wholesale distribution business and refocused its resources on retail franchising and real estate businesses.
High Schoolers Earn Certifications from Industry
A diploma isn’t the only important document that some students have in hand when they graduate from high school these days. A growing number of students, educators say, are graduating with specific, industry-defined skills certifications that can have immediate value in the job market. Industries in which such certification is available include computer maintenance, automotive repair, nursing, graphic arts and food service.
Executive Interview with John Washbish, President – Customer Relationship Management, Dana Automotive Aftermarket Group (AAG)
Every other week, aftermarketNews.com offers an interview with a high-profile individual in the automotive aftermarket. We give executives free rein to express their views on anything from the state of their corporations to recent legislative news to future trends in their niche markets. Here you see what matters to the newsmakers themselves.
UAW Organizes at Dana to Shore Up Membership
The UAW has organized about 2,000 workers at five Dana Corp. plants from Michigan to Tennessee as the union seeks to rebuild its active ranks and regain power in the auto industry. Along the way, the union faces opposition not only from workers who don’t want a union but also from those who want a tougher union that would fight and win better wages, benefits and working conditions. To them, the UAW has become too conciliatory as it strives to gain members.
Sarah Fisher and Larry Hoofnagle to be Featured on C.A.R. Show
IRL IndyCar Series driver and Raybestos Safety Campaign spokesperson Sarah Fisher, and Larry Hoofnagle, director of marketing for Brake Parts Inc., will be featured on the C.A.R. Show radio program on Saturday, January 31. The broadcast will air between 9 – 11 a.m. EST. During the broadcast, Hoofnagle and Fisher will discuss the importance of vehicle maintenance and the need to educate consumers about taking proper care of their vehicle’s braking system through annual brake inspections, maintenance and repair.
More Aftermarket Eye Candy at This Year’s North American International Auto Show
Although there’s no shortage of muscle on the main floor at this year’s North American International Auto Show — the 850-horsepower Chrysler ME412 concept is only the beginning — there’s also a subterranean performance theme that’s been missing from previous shows. Once the take-it-or-leave-it realm of marginal players like Daewoo and stillborns like the revival Cunningham sports car, Cobo Center’s downstairs Michigan Hall exhibit area is studded this year with an intriguing array of production vehicles enhanced by aftermarket bolt-on goodies: designer wheels, low-profile tires, oversize brakes, high-performance shock absorbers and more.