At the Frankfurt Motor Show this week Robert Bosch CEO Franz Fehrenbach announced that the company will cut a total of 10,000 jobs this year. This news ranks as the number-one story this week on aftermarketNews. In his remarks at the event, Fehrenbach said that another 100,000 employees who remain with the company will be asked to work fewer hours, as the company deals with the continuing economic struggles in the auto industry. Fehrenbach did offer a note of encouragement however, stating that he is seeing the first signs of recovery as group sales were expected to rise in the first quarter.
A big part of attending the annual AAPEX Show in Las Vegas involves looking ahead and aftermarket executives can get a glimpse of the future at AAIA’s AAPEX booth (#2866) where the “Shop of Tomorrow” will be on display. The Shop of Tomorrow will feature products from ALLDATA, Garage Operator and Hunter Engineering, using the current Web services of i•SHOP to seamlessly share work orders, customer and vehicle information, service information and diagnostic results between computer workstations, handheld devices and the service point-of-sale. The objective of the booth is to give those with an interest in running efficient shop operations a way to understand and visualize how i•SHOP technology can be applied in their operations. The Shop of Tomorrow will host live demonstrations at various intervals throughout the show.
In other news, Affinia Group this week announced the launch of a new public awareness Web site, http://www.badbrakes.net. The site is part of the company’s continuing public awareness program on the potential safety risks associated with a class of lighter and thinner brake rotors that do not meet OE specifications. It is the latest element in the manufacturer’s crusade to bring to light the safety concerns related to "lightweight" or "thin-walled" brake rotors. In June, Affinia released a public safety announcement on the issue, followed by a lawsuit against a competitor that it alleges is producing the so-called “lightweight” rotors.
The Obama administration made a significant statement this week regarding the importation of Chinese-made tires when the president signed an agreement to apply an increased duty to all imports of passenger vehicle and light truck tires from China for a period of three years. The measure was passed in order to remedy a market disruption caused by a surge in tire imports, which many in the industry believe to have lead to loss of jobs and revenues for U.S. tire makers. The additional duty to passenger vehicle and light truck tires – complementing the existing 4 percent duty – will be set at 35 percent for the first year, 30 percent the second year and 25 percent the third year.
China did not take kindly to Obama’s actions, however, and has taken the U.S. to the World Trade Organization over the issue. Beijing reacted strongly against the move, saying over the weekend that it would in turn investigate possible unfair practices in U.S. exports of car parts and chicken meat. Xinhua news agency also quoted experts as saying that 100,000 Chinese jobs could be lost as a result of U.S. tariffs and that China’s tire industry would be worse off to the tune of $1 billion.
