BorgWarner Expands Chinese Operations
BorgWarner has opened a new operation in Ningbo, China, for the assembly of turbochargers and transmission solenoids. The manufacturing facility is the first of several operations planned for a campus that comprises BorgWarner Automotive Components (Ningbo) Co., Ltd., the company’s wholly foreign-owned enterprise in the Ningbo Yinzhou industrial zone. A new office building there houses employees of BorgWarner Turbo & Emissions Systems, BorgWarner Morse TEC and BorgWarner Transmission Systems, as well as a shared services group of finance, information technology and human resources professionals who will support all of BorgWarner’s business units in China.
Penray Honors Three Longtime Company Execs
Penray is honoring three individuals who are celebrating milestone anniversaries with the company in 2006. Bill Wicker has been selling chemicals to the automotive industry for 40 years, “Uncle” Darrell Hicks has been with Penray for 25 years, and has been selling to truckers, fleets and OEs for more than 40 years. Jim Ritchey has represented the Penray heavy-duty chemicals line for 25 years.
First CVSN Board Officers Named
The Commercial Vehicle Solutions Network (CVSN), the new association created out of a merger between the Council of Fleet Specialist and The National Wheel and Rim Association, has announced its inaugural set of officers and board of directors. The board recently met in Chicago and voted on the slate of officers.
Chris Patterson, President and CEO, Freightliner to Speak at MATS Breakfast
Attendees at the 16th Annual Breakfast & Briefing on March 24 at the Mid-America Trucking Show (MATS), in Louisville, KY, can get a jump-start on the day and hear the insights of Chris Patterson, president and CEO of Freightliner LLC. Patterson will present his experiences from more than 25 years in the heavy duty industry. He provides vision and direction for DaimlerChrysler’s NAFTA Truck Operations, as well as managing Freightliner LLC and affiliated companies; Sterling Trucks, Western Star Trucks, Thomas Built Buses, Freightliner Custom Chassis Corp., Detroit Diesel Corp. and Axle Alliance Co.
AMN’s Top Ten Week: Top Ten News Stories
If nothing else has been made clear by the events taking place in the automotive industry over the past 12 months, this much is true: The automotive aftermarket is changing — in dramatic ways. Here, the editorial staffs of Counterman and aftermarketNews takes a month-by-month look at the key events that have shaped this industry’s destiny over the past year.
DST Debuts TurboParts 2006
DST Inc. debuted TurboParts 2006 at AAPEX 2005 last week. TurboParts 2006 is a parts selling and ordering system that opens new communication lines between WDs and their customers in the automotive, performance and heavy-duty parts markets.
DST Unveils DSTWare 2006
DST Inc., an IBM Optimized Business Partner and provider of end-to-end parts supply chain solutions, has unveiled DSTWare 2006, a new parts distribution business solution. DSTWare 2006 was created with the goal of “unlocking the value of your business,” according to the company.
Editor’s Ink: Making Progress Through Partnership
Consider all the challenges our industry faces. And then consider that the solution to them just might be in your own hometown.
Executive Interview with Charles E. Johnson, President, Chief Executive Officer and Director of Proliance International
Charley Johnson is president, CEO and director of Proliance International, Inc. based in New Haven, CT. Johnson joined Proliance (which was formed by the July 2005 merger of Transpro, Inc. and Modine Aftermarket Holdings) in March 2001, ending a broad search for a new CEO of Transpro. The company’s customers include the leaders in aftermarket automotive distribution, such as AutoZone, NAPA, Advance, Pep Boys, O’Reilly and CARQUEST, among others. AftermakretNews.com spoke with Johnson about the origins of the merger, the challenges ahead and how the name Proliance came to be.
KS Bearings and Miba Bearings Form Joint Venture
Kolbenschmidt Pierburg’s KS Bearings division and Miba Bearings US LLC have created a 50-50 joint-venture company in Indiana to produce materials that are needed to manufacture plain bearings for the automobile and commercial vehicle industries.