Alliance Parts Warehouse Announces Appointment of Dean Toole
Dean Toole has been appointed as vice president and general manager of Alliance Parts Warehouse in Little Rock, AR. Richard H. Morgan, chairman of the board of APW, announced that Toole is scheduled to assume leadership of APW on Sept. 1, 2005.
Venture has New Team of Executives
Auto-plastics supplier Venture Corp. has begun its path toward exiting bankruptcy after 26 months. The banks and investment firms to which the struggling supplier owed money have taken control of it and put in a new management team.
Executive Interview with Steve Marks, Chairman, National Car Care Month Committee
Steve Marks, senior vice president of marketing and advertising for Aftermarket Auto Parts Alliance, is currently serving as chairman of the National Car Care Month Committee, the group charged with the task of promoting and organizing National Car Care Month in conjunction with the Be Car Care Aware campaign. Here, Marks give us an update on the progress of this year’s National Car Care Month initiatives and some background on his involvement in the campaign.
Executive Interview with Guy Bargnes, Director of Marketing, North American Operations for BASF Corp. Refinish Group
Guy Bargnes has spent his entire life in the collision repair industry. He was born and raised in Buffalo, NY, where his father ran a family business, V. H. Bargnes Co., Inc., which distributed automotive paints, supplies and equipment to area collision shops. In 1992 Bargnes joined BASF full-time, and he is now director of marketing, North American Operations, for the Refinish Group. Bargnes recently sat down to a phone interview with aftermarketNews and shared with us some of the insights from his lifelong career in the industry. Join us as Bargnes talks about BASF’s four leading principles, trends in the refinish business and the return of paint companies to industry trade shows.
Venture’s Bankruptcy Plan Out; Auction Likely
The murky future of troubled auto supplier Venture Industries got murkier as a bankruptcy judge denied the company’s plan to exit bankruptcy after nearly two years. Most likely the Fraser, Mich.-based company — which makes plastic parts such as bumpers and instrument panels for the auto industry — is headed for the auction block with it being sold off all at once, or piece by piece. Venture is one of the world’s largest auto-plastics suppliers and at its peak employed about 13,000 worldwide, including about 2,000 in metro Detroit.
Magna Subsidiary Decoma to Close Toronto-Area Plant, Post $36 Million in Charges
Decoma International, a subsidiary of auto parts giant Magna International, is shutting down its anodizing plant just north of Toronto and posting $36 million in special charges for that move and restructuring in Europe. Decoma did not immediately disclose job cut numbers in a release Monday. Separately, Magna International said it expects the charges to reduce its own diluted earnings per share by about 22 cents in the fourth quarter.
Hi-Tech Engine Components to Supply the Alliance Group
Hi-Tech Engine Components has been selected as an official supplier of engine kits for the Aftermarket Auto Parts Alliance. According to Dick Morgan, president and CEO of the Alliance, while the group already has a strong engine parts program in place, the addition of Hi-Tech will complement the existing component coverage and more than double the number of engine kits currently available.