The AMN Week in Review (Nov. 7-11, 2011)

The AMN Week in Review offers a snapshot of the most highly read stories of the week as seen on aftermarketNews. To access the complete stories, simply click on the highlighted links. If you missed reading one of our daily news emails, just click on the link that says "News Archives" at the bottom of the page to begin catching up on the latest industry news.

BREAKING NEWS: Just prior to press time, we learned that CARDONE Industries will be acquired by TPG Capital. For more on this late-breaking story, click here.

Our weekly look back at the top industry news focuses on quarterly financial results for several notable industry players.

In its most recent quarterly report, U.S. Auto Parts announced sales of $78.6 million for the third quarter ended Oct. 1, 2011, compared with third quarter 2010 net sales of $72.3 million.

Advance Auto Parts reported that total sales for the third quarter increased 4.2 percent to $1.46 billion, compared with total sales of $1.41 billion during the third quarter of fiscal 2010.

Meanwhile, Exide Technologies this week issued preliminary fiscal 2012 second quarter and year to date financial results for the periods ended Sept. 30, 2011, after learning of allegations of intentional misstatements of production and inventories at its Portugal recycling facility. While the matter is being investigated, the company offered preliminary sales figures for the quarter, including second quarter 2012 net sales of $773 million, up $105 million versus the prior year second quarter and up $28 million sequentially.

In other financial news, New York-based private equity firm Harvest Partners has acquired heavy-duty parts distributor TruckPro Inc. from funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management LP. Oaktree will maintain a significant ownership stake in the company. In connection with the transaction, Steve Riordan will join TruckPro as chairman and CEO. Riordan previously served as president and CEO of Communication Supply Corp., a former Harvest portfolio company.

Last in our weekly recap, we learn that Epicor’s AConneX is headed for the cloud. Epicor recently announced plans to launch a cloud-based version of its AConneX Internet-based auto parts trading solution, called Epicor AConneX CL. The company says this new cloud-based solution will facilitate adoption by thousands of additional aftermarket businesses while significantly enhancing network reliability and performance.

Despite a tough commercial tire market in 2023 due to overstock and the effects of a rubber-banding supply chain, some tire manufacturers are expressing a cautious optimism for stabilization and gradual recovery through the rest of 2024 and into 2025.

"The economy is not showing signs that it’s going to slow down, but I don’t think the situation’s going to improve dramatically by the end of this year. It’s more likely next year," said Pierluigi Cumo, Vice President of B2B products, at Michelin North America. "We can see the light because the beginning of 2023 was very bad. I think now we’ve found the bottom, and I don’t think we’re going to get much further from the bottom in 2024."