Several of this week’s top stories are focused on the distribution segment, which is still growing in the face of financial struggles elsewhere in the automotive industry. This growth is evidenced by our most-viewed news item of the week from Aftermarket Auto Parts Alliance, which recently welcomed Speed Warehouse Inc. to its membership. Based in Hayward, Calif., Speed Warehouse has two distribution centers that serve California, Arizona, Nevada and Oregon. The company will convert its seven parts stores into Auto Value locations.
Another Texas-based program group also added a new shareholder to its membership this week. National Pronto Association has added MacKenzie Warehouse to the Pronto group effective, May 1. MacKenzie Warehouse started as a battery distributor in the 1930’s and is now a large, family owned business. MacKenzie Warehouse is located in the heart of San Francisco, Calif., and serves the counties of San Francisco through San Mateo.
In other distribution news, parts retailer O’Reilly Automotive has announced a new service for customers this week. O’Reilly Auto Parts said it is now the only national auto parts retailer to offer its customers the option to buy products online and pick up in store. With “Buy Online, Pick-Up In Store,” customers can shop with ease from their home computer or anywhere Internet access is available. This new feature pairs the convenience of browsing and shopping online at OReillyAuto.com, with the benefit of quick, efficient access to the parts ordered via any one of O’Reilly’s more than 3,200 stores in 38 states.
Also in our top news items of the week, General Automotive reported its 2008 financial results for the 12-month period ended Dec. 31, 2008. The Florida-based parts supplier reported a revenue increase of 6.5 percent, to $12.4 million for the 2008 fiscal year. This compares to $11.6 million for the same period in 2007. The company said this increase in revenue was primarily due to larger scheduled customer orders for the company through the first nine month period ended Sept. 30, 2008.
The final news item in our round-up of the week’s top stories draws a less promising picture for nearly half of China’s auto suppliers. A new report from global advisory firm AlixPartners says that more than 40 percent of Chinese suppliers are facing severe liquidity issues in 2009. Research of the overall industry shows that several of China’s suppliers may fail in the next 12 to 18 months, unless they implement aggressive cash-conservation measures. According to the firm’s research, China’s auto suppliers were both unprepared for, and slow to react to, the dramatic automotive slowdown both domestically and globally last year.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Amy Antenora has served as Editor of aftermarketNews since 2002. She is also Managing Editor of sister publication Counterman magazine.
