Genuine Parts Co., number-five on this year’s Counterman Top 20 Superstores list, this week appointed a new president for its U.S. Automotive Parts Group. Paul Donahue has been named to the role effective immediately. He was previously responsible for several of the company’s automotive business units, a role he assumed upon election to the position of executive vice president of the company in August 2007. Donahue, age 52, joined S. P. Richards Co., the company’s office products group, as executive vice president – sales and marketing in 2003. Prior to that, he was president of Sanford North America, a division of Newell Rubbermaid.

This week, Affinia Group has followed-up its open letter and public safety announcement concerning the manufacture of ‘lightweight rotors’ with a lawsuit. Affinia on Wednesday filed suit against one of its competitors, Dura International, alleging that the company is competing unfairly by falsely advertising the quality of certain brake rotors for cars and light-duty trucks. According to Affinia, testing by an independent laboratory has shown that certain “lightweight rotors” made by Dura weighed significantly less than OE specifications. However, Affinia said it believes weight is not the only concern. The company’s complaint alleges that these rotors were structurally weaker and significantly more prone than their OE counterparts to crack and fail in performance tests. Affinia seeks to enjoin Dura from making false claims for its brake rotor products or falsely implying that its “lightweight rotors” meet or exceed OE specifications and performance. Affinia is seeking damages and has also asked the court to order Dura to publish corrective advertising disclosing that their “lightweight rotors” intentionally deviate from OE specifications, have not been tested to meet or exceed OE specifications and performance, and have not been subjected to independent engineering validation. Calls to Dura for comments were not returned as of press time.

Those aftermarket executives working in technology should consider attending the 2009 MEMA Information Services Council (MIS) Fall Conference, slated for Oct. 11-13, in Marco Island, Fla. This year’s conference will feature representatives from AutoZone, O’Reilly and CARQUEST discussing how to simplify and quicken the flow of data from suppliers to channel partners, in a presentation titled “Turning on the Data Spigot.” Also during the conference, Brad Duncan, CEO of MindQuest, will discuss the new OptiCat e-catalog application that will be owned by the industry and driven by suppliers. O’Reilly, Automotive Distribution Network and National Pronto Association will hold Customer Roundtables with suppliers. More details, the conference agenda and registration information are available on MIS Council Web site, www.miscouncil.org.
 

Prior to its official emergence from Chapter 11 today, General Motors went to the bankruptcy court asking it to reject contracts with 38 dealers that refused to sign wind-down agreements. About 4,100 dealers accepted agreements, which gave the dealers up to 16 months to close down their businesses and sell off existing inventory. The wind-downs are being paid for by the new GM, which will have about 3,600 dealers in its network, compared to some 6,000 pre-bankruptcy. Court documents clearing the way for GM’s emergence from bankruptcy stated that 99 percent of the dealers not selected to continue with the automaker have signed “Deferred Termination Agreements.” While no word has been issued on the fate of the 38 remaining dealerships, their refusal to sign did not hold up GM’s re-introduction into the marketplace today.

While GM wraps-up its Chapter 11 case, more and more suppliers have announced their own plans for bankruptcy reorganization. The latest to do so is Proliance, which filed voluntary petitions in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code on July 2. In connection with its filing, Proliance has entered into a definitive agreement to sell substantially all of its North American assets as a going concern for $21.5 million, in cash, to Centrum Equities, a Tennessee-based holding company, which includes the Visteon aftermarket business. According to the company, the filing is the result of an exhaustive process to explore every option for financing after the company lost much of its inventory and a warehouse in Mississippi due to a tornado last February.