Parts Suppliers Face Rocky Road
About one-third of the automotive parts industry is probably headed for bankruptcy. The chilling prediction comes from Sean McAlinden, chief economist at the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, MI. He spoke at a conference for automotive writers Saturday, a week before the North American International Auto Show opens to the public Jan. 14 at Detroit’s Cobo Conference and Exhibition Center.
Workers Bring Fight to Auto Show: UAW Faction, Backers to Protest Cuts
Droves of out-of-town workers angry with General Motors Corp. and Delphi Corp. are chartering buses, forming caravans and booking hotel rooms in preparation to protest Sunday outside the opening day of the Detroit auto show media preview. The city’s police force has been tapped to monitor potentially as many as 3,000 protesters at Cobo Center. But the protest is not expected to impede attendees. Although the protest is scheduled only from noon to 4 p.m., it could overshadow the excitement domestic automakers need to generate as they fight to regain lost market share.
BBB Industries Acquires Garner Automotive Products
BBB Industries, LLC, a leading U.S. remanufacturer of replacement alternators and starters for domestic and imported vehicles, has acquired certain assets of Garner Automotive Products, Inc. Garner Automotive Products makes new and remanufactured starters and alternators under the Garner name as well as for private label brands.
AMN Top Ten Week: The Top 10 Newsmakers of 2005
Now in its second year, aftermarketNews, together with its sister publication Counterman magazine, present the Top 10 Newsmakers list. While it is difficult to whittle down the number of influential leaders who are making an impact on this industry today, our editorial team has carefully compiled a list of individuals whom we believe to have left a distinct impression on the marketplace in 2005, and perhaps for years to come.
Herzog’s Automotive: Still Weathering the Storm
New Orleans-based WD works to put back the pieces of its business following hurricanes Rita and Katrina
Modine Employees, Company Match Raise More Than $150,000 for Hurricane Relief Efforts
Modine Manufacturing Co. announced this week that its charitable foundation and employees worldwide have now donated more than $150,000 to hurricane relief agencies to help those devastated by the recent storms. The money donated will be used to help the hundreds of thousands of people in Louisiana, Mississippi, Florida and Alabama, who are trying to rebuild their lives after Hurricane Katrina, Rita and now Wilma.
Galaxy, Dynamic Merger Completed
The merger of Galaxy Tire & Wheel, Inc. and Dynamic Tire Corp. has been completed, resulting in the creation of GPX International Tire Corp. The Boston-based Galaxy Tire and Toronto-based Dynamic Tire announced their merger plans this past June.
R. L. Polk & Co.’s Ask The Industry Learns How Hurricane Katrina Affected the Aftermarket
For this edition of Ask The Industry, we asked members of the industry who were affected by Hurricane Katrina how they are handling their recovery efforts. We talked to O’Reilly Automotive CEO and Co-President Greg Henslee, whose area stores sustained much damage, and Automotive Aftermarket Association of the Southeast (AAAS) President Randal Ward, whose members in the Alabama and Mississippi region were directly affected as well.
BASF Provides $1 Million in Aid to Hurricane Katrina Relief Efforts
BASF has announced that it will donate $1 million to agencies supporting Hurricane Katrina relief and recovery efforts in the company’s site communities in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Texas.
ASA Creates Web Site to Help Industry Victims of Hurricane Katrina
The Automotive Service Association (ASA) has launched a Web site designed specifically to help mechanical and collision shops that have been affected by the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. The Web site is accessible at asashop.blogspot.com or through ASA’s home page at asashop.org.