News of a promotion for Delphi’s Malcolm Sissmore kicks off our recap of this week’s top news. Sissmore, currently Delphi Product & Service Solutions (DPSS) general manager, Canadian Aftermarket and country manager, has been appointed vice president, Sales, North America Independent Aftermarket, Delphi Product & Service Solutions. He replaces Tim Wheeler, who recently announced he will leave Delphi after eight years with the aftermarket division. Sissmore joined Delphi in 2008 from Ultrafit Manufacturing, where he spent nine years as vice president, sales and marketing. Before that he served as vice president of operations for ATK North America. He has also previously held sales positions with Detroit Gasket and Clevite Engine Parts.
In the Original Equipment world, Ford this week unveiled the new Ford Figo, its new nameplate for the Indian car market. Taken from the Italian term for “cool,” the Figo signals Ford’s intention to compete in India’s largest and most important small car market segment. The new Figo will be manufactured at Ford’s expanded integrated manufacturing facility near Chennai, which is undergoing a $500 million transformation to become a regional center of excellence for Ford small car production. Ford Figo models will be produced at the plant for export to international markets. The plant is also being groomed to produce diesel and petrol engines for local vehicle production and export within Ford’s Asia Pacific and Africa region.
Also this week, AutoZone reported net sales of $2.2 billion for its fourth quarter (16 weeks) ended Aug. 29, an increase of 1 percent from fiscal fourth quarter 2008 (17 weeks). Excluding sales from the additional week included in the prior year’s quarter, sales were up 7.1 percent, and domestic same store sales, or sales for stores open at least one year, increased 5.4 percent for the quarter. For the fiscal year ended Aug. 29, sales were $6.8 billion, an increase of 4.5 percent from the prior year, while domestic same store sales were up 4.4 percent.
In other news from the service sector, Monro Muffler Brake today announced two recent acquisitions — Tire Warehouse Central, a privately-owned tire store chain serving five New England states and Midwest Tire & Auto Repair, a small independent tire chain in northwest Indiana. Monro is paying $34 million for the assets of Tire Warehouse, which comprises 40 tire stores and six tire franchise locations. The purchase price includes real estate assets for 12 store locations and a distribution center located in Swanzy, N.H. Monro will pay $2 million for the Midwest Tire business, which consists of four tire locations in northwest Indiana that generated annual net sales of approximately $6 million in 2008. Taken together, the acquisitions will bolster the company’s tire store footprint in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont, Maine and Indiana. Both acquisitions will be funded through the company’s existing line of credit.
The final item in our top five this week comes from Zep Inc., which has announced a new distribution agreement with Advance Auto Parts. With a nationwide presence of more than 3,400 stores and Web site, the retailer will now offer a line of Zep Commercial Auto Aftermarket products through its Commercial Sales program. Zep produces professional strength cleaning products for small businesses. Advance Auto Parts Commercial Sales will initially carry Zep’s Commercial Orange Pumice Hand Cleaner, Commercial Concentrated Cherry Hand Cleaner and Commercial Instant Hand Sanitizer.
