Leading off our top stories this week is our AMN Executive Interview with Michael Proud, director of marketing, North America, for Federal-Mogul Corp. In this exclusive interview, Proud talks about the supplier’s new "Smart Choice" campaign to promote the use of premium brand products at the consumer level. The year-long, multi-brand campaign was launched earlier this month. The campaign was designed to reinforce the company’s message that longer-lasting, better-performing premium replacement products are today’s best option for professionals and do-it-yourselfers performing virtually any common automotive repair.
Another widely read news item on AMN this week was the report that certain offices of Denso International, Tokai Rika America and Yazaki were raided on Thursday as part of an antitrust probe launched by federal authorities. The investigation into alleged price-fixing among automotive electrical and electronic component suppliers is a joint probe being conducted by the U.S. Department of Justice, the European Commission (EU) and other competition regulators around the globe. Late yesterday, Lear Corp. announced that it was notified by the EU that it is also part of the investigation. Reports yesterday initially linked Denso, Tokai Rika America and Yazaki as Toyota suppliers, however no connections have been made between this global investigation and the current issues regarding Toyota vehicle recalls. The raids, which have been expanded to other suppliers in Japan and Europe, are now believed to be centered on companies that make wire harnesses.
Within the retail and distribution segment, Pep Boys this week announced it will hold “Open to Buy” days in March. The company invites both current and new merchandise suppliers to its headquarters in Philadelphia March 24 and 25 to present any innovative, hot products for on-the-spot buying consideration. Interested suppliers can register for a 20-minute appointment to present new products or product lines to Pep Boys’ category managers. Pep Boys says it will make order commitments on both days.
Back on the manufacturing side of the business, Bosch has announced the launch of a comprehensive new battery program in the continental U.S. The lineup includes three new passenger vehicle lines and a high-tech AGM passenger vehicle line for extreme conditions and start/stop applications. The new passenger car batteries include the S5 premium performance battery, the S4 quality-performance battery, the S3 value-performance battery and the S6 high-performance AGM battery. In addition to the passenger car battery program, Bosch will also launch truck battery as well as lawn and garden battery programs.
Rounding out our recap of the week’s top news, we come back again to Federal-Mogul, which this week released its fourth quarter and full year 2009 sales numbers. This was the third consecutive quarter in which the company increased earnings and significant cash flow. Federal-Mogul, on a year-over-year basis, reported fourth quarter 2009 sales of $1.4 billion versus $1.3 billion in fourth quarter 2008. For the full year 2009, the company reported sales of $5.3 billion or a decline of about $1.5 billion versus full year 2008. Net income was $43 million in fourth quarter 2009 versus a net loss of $(530) million in fourth quarter 2008. The company achieved an all-time record quarterly cash flow of $251 million in fourth quarter 2009, a $70 million increase over fourth quarter 2008. As a result, Federal-Mogul has $1.5 billion of liquidity with more than $1 billion of cash and an unused revolver of $0.5 billion.
