Jose Maria Alapont Chosen as President and CEO of Federal-Mogul
Federal-Mogul Corp. has just announced that Jose Maria Alapont has been chosen to be the new president and CEO of the company. The appointment was authorized by the court presiding over Federal-Mogul’s Chapter 11 proceedings. Alapont also will join the board of directors of Federal-Mogul. Alapont, who served as CEO of IVECO, the commercial vehicle company of the Fiat Group, will replace Robert “Steve” Miller, who has been serving as interim CEO of Federal-Mogul since January 2004. Miller will continue to serve as chairman of Federal-Mogul’s board of directors.
Manufacturer to Establish U.S. Headquarters in Toledo, Ohio
After considering a number of competitive sites within a two-hour driving radius of Detroit, Egelhof Controls Corp., a German-based manufacturer serving the automotive and heating industries, has selected Toledo, Ohio, to house its U.S. headquarters and manufacturing operations. Cornel Broenner, currently at Egelhof’s production facility in Breitenbach, France, will relocate to Toledo to become the plant manager. Sales and engineering activities, which were established in metro Detroit in 2000, will also relocate to the new facility in Toledo.
ACDelco Expands Its Ignition And Emissions Product Lines
ACDelco plans to add nearly 2,000 new part numbers to its ignition and emissions product offerings by year-end. This is part of a larger two-year expansion that will introduce a total of nearly 10,300 new parts.
Delphi Appoints President, COO and New Vice Chairman; Donald Runkle to Retire
In what is described as an effort to streamline operations and sharpen its focus on stronger growth, Delphi’s board of directors announced several executive appointments Friday. Rodney O’Neal has been named president and COO, with responsibility for Delphi’s three operating segments, its three regional operations, Global Supply Management and Sales and Marketing. This appointment marks the first time a single officer other than founding chairman, CEO and President J. T. Battenberg III will be responsible for all of Delphi’s global business units. O’Neal will continue to report to Battenberg, who remains chairman and CEO and also chair of the Delphi Strategy Board, the company’s top policy-making group.
Tower Automotive Appoints President of North American Operations
Tower Automotive has announced Bill Pumphrey will join the company as president of North American operations, effective January 3. Pumphrey will report to President and CEO Kathleen Ligocki. Pumphrey brings to Tower Automotive more than 20 years of global senior management experience with automotive OEMs and suppliers. Previously, he spent five years at Lear Corp., where he headed several business units. Most recently, Pumphrey was president of Lear’s Asia Pacific Division, responsible for revenues of $1.8 billion. He also led the company’s European Ford Division and the Global DaimlerChrysler Division. He has an extensive domestic and international automotive industry background and has been responsible for a wide array
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.
COMMENTARY: More Lean, Mean Machines
On a landmark Tuesday in which stock car racing rubbed wheels with Formula One in Dearborn, Mich., leaders of five auto racing sanctioning bodies agreed their sport faced some of its biggest challenges in years. Their message to a packed room of automotive engineers and racing industry veterans was clear: There must be a meaningful connection between race cars and production vehicles, or racing might be seen by manufacturers as too costly to continue to support.
Research Firm Publishes Automotive Suppliers Benchmarking Yearbook
Research and Markets, an international market research provider, recently released “Automotive Suppliers: 2004 Global Best Practices Statistical Yearbook,” a report on automotive supplier benchmarking. The report provides automotive supplier benchmarking data enabling Tier 1-2-3 and aftermarket suppliers to pinpoint how they perform against industry best practices in areas such as cost control, quality, human resource management and R&D.
Chinese Automakers Urged Not to Copy Western Automotive Consumer Culture
Despite growing demand, Chinese automakers should be careful to promote the automotive industry and develop a related culture and not simply clone American or European automotive consumer cultural models, said an expert. Liu Gang, a doctor of scientific and technological philosophy at Northeast China University based in Shenyang, capital of Liaoning Province, said the automotive consumer cultural concepts now prevailing in the U.S. and Europe are characterized by stimulated consumption or forced waste at the automobile buyers’ expense.
On the Soles of Goodyear
On your car, a tire tread is all about ride, traction and handling. On your shoe, it’s all about looking cool.