By Amy Antenora
The 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.
This has been a week of shake-ups for the automotive aftermarket.
Global giant Continental was on everyone’s mind this week as it tried to fend off the advances of the Schaeffler Group. On July 16, Continental rejected a nearly $18 billion takeover run from Schaeffler, another German auto parts maker of about half its size. According to the most recent reports, some analysts believe that Schaeffler, which owns about 36 percent of Continental currently, may hold off on the takeover until 2010, when Continental’s financing for the Siemens VDO acquisition expires.
Here are just a few of the reports we’ve gathered on the possible takeover:
Hostile Bid for Conti in the Works?
Conti Takeover Run Takes Twists and Turns
Schaeffler Likely to Take Control of Continental AG in 2010
In other news from the manufacturing sector, Affinia Group is ‘retooling’ its organizational structure. In order to increase efficiency and responsiveness in customer relationships, Affinia has organized global responsibilities under two positions — president of Global Filtration and president Global Brake & Chassis. Reporting directly to Terry McCormack, president and CEO of Affinia, the two group presidents have been assigned operational, sales and financial accountability for their respective groups. In conjunction with this change, the company announced that H. David Overbeeke, a senior executive with an extensive financial and management background, has joined Affinia as president, Global Brake & Chassis. He fills the role previously held by John Washbish, former president of Affinia’s Under Vehicle Group.
On the distribution side, O’Reilly’s forthcoming acquisition of auto parts retailer CSK Auto Corp. may be just around the corner. On Monday, O’Reilly announced that it had completed the purchase of more than 90 percent of CSK’s common stock, paving the way for a short form merger. Following the merger, shares of CSK common stock will no longer be traded on the New York Stock Exchange.
Insights from industry veterans are always popular with AMN readers and this week was no exception. Among our most-viewed features this week was our exclusive Executive Interview with Jesse Jones, director of marketing for MAHLE Clevite. In the interview, Jones brings us up to speed on MAHLE Clevite as the company celebrates nearly one and a half years under the ownership of Stuttgart, Germany-based MAHLE Group.
In addition, the most recent column from popular Babcox contributor Mitch Schneider was also a top pick this week. In “More Than Just Numbers to Me,” Schneider relays the tale of a defective thermostat housing that led him to ask why part failure rates aren’t more readily available whey they are “more than just numbers,” to him.
To view all of the news from the past week, simply click here to view our News Archives.
