Delphi Looks to Expand MagneRide’s Reach

Delphi Corp. says it may be winning the battle to convince auto makers its sophisticated MagneRide suspension control system is worth the cost and the risk. The supplier says it has been awarded five new vehicle applications that will be in production by 2007, including two programs with European marques, broadening penetration for the system to 11 vehicles and additional brands. The list of new models

By David E. Zoia • Oct. 1, 2005

SiemensVDO Wedges Into Brake Sector

FRANKFURT – The brake sector has never been a place for the faint of heart. The world’s largest, most powerful automotive suppliers are entrenched in the segment, battling mercilessly for new business, new technology and, ultimately, survival. Yet, it appears the ranks of Robert Bosch GmbH, Delphi Corp., TRW Automotive, Continental Automotive Systems and Japan’s Advics Co. Ltd. will face a new competitor

By Tom Murphy • Sept. 23, 2005

Explore the Trendline➔

Automotive Manufacturing

Production strategies are changing rapidly as tariffs and shifts in consumer buying patterns affect the industry.

By WardsAuto staff

Delphi’s Miller Assures Customers; Rips C&A

FRANKFURT If Delphi Corp. files for bankruptcy in the next month, its customers will see no interruption in the delivery of parts worldwide and the proceedings will have no impact whatsoever on the supplier's operations outside the U.S., the company's new chairman and CEO says. Robert “Steve” Miller, who accepted the formidable job two months ago to turn around Delphi's unprofitable U.S. operations,

By Tom Murphy • Sept. 16, 2005

Plastic Omnium Proposes Innovative Lightweight Floorpan

FRANKFURT – Plastic Omnium, the global leader for large plastic car parts, presents an idea to expand its module business to the floorpan of cars. One of several innovations the French supplier proposes to the auto industry is a new way of thinking about the body-in-white and the role of the floor. The idea is to have a platform with a common steel front structure running to the back of the front

By William Diem • Sept. 14, 2005

Continental’s Construction Boom

FRANKFURT If brick-and-mortar construction and job creation serve as the litmus test for a company's overall financial health, then Continental Automotive Systems isn't doing too badly. At a time when many major suppliers in the U.S. are downsizing or closing facilities, considering bankruptcy, in bankruptcy or negotiating more attractive terms with major customers, the German-based brake and electronics

By Tom Murphy • Sept. 12, 2005

Suppliers Argue Merits of Private Ownership

TRAVERSE CITY, MI A workshop on supplier strategy for success at the Management Briefing Seminars here implies, perhaps unintentionally, that private ownership is an advantage because it allows long-term decision-making and investment in intellectual property. "At (Robert) Bosch (GmbH), when we talk about quarters, we mean a quarter century," John Moloney, vice-president-strategic planning for the

By William Diem • Aug. 2, 2005

Nuke It

Somebody forgot to tell the Kumar brothers you can't put metal in a microwave. The two scientists, Devendra and Satyendra Kumar, are part of a team at Dana Corp. developing a new technology called AtmoPlas. AtmoPlas was invented by the Kumars in-house and uses a microwave, much like the box found in most household kitchens, to replace energy-draining furnaces in metal heat treatment. Conventional

By John D. Stoll • Aug. 1, 2005

Bigger and Better

Husky Injection Molding Systems Inc. unveils a new plastic injection-molding machine at its technical center in Novi, MI, that is designed to improve aesthetics and boost productivity at Tier 1 suppliers that make large plastic parts. Called the Quadloc-Tandem-Index (QTI) injection molding system, the machine the size of a small building can mold large assemblies incorporating different materials

By Drew Winter • Aug. 1, 2005

Thailand Thriving as Global Auto Export Hub

Thailand's claim as the “Detroit of the East� is an interesting juxtaposition to the genuine Motor City, where the Big Three are in a desperate price war to hold onto shrinking market share and Tier 1 suppliers struggle to stave off bankruptcy. The contrast couldn't be more marked. Most global auto makers are firmly entrenched in Thailand, which has benefited greatly from the 10-member Southeast Asian

By Barbara McClellan • July 13, 2005

The Bosch Chapter

The number of fatal accidents each year in the U.S. has hovered at about 40,000 for a decade. Safety organizations, the government and industry are pushing hard to reduce that number to 30,000. Rollovers account for about 30% of light-vehicle fatal accidents, and several brake suppliers are aggressively applying electronics as they attempt to isolate and prevent lethal rollovers on American roadways.

By Tom Murphy • July 1, 2005

OEMs Won’t Coddle Bankrupt Suppliers

From supplier bankruptcies and soaring raw-material costs to global logistics and the eternal hunt for the best price, purchasing departments have become pivotal to the success – and survival – of North American auto makers. Ward’s 6-part series stems from interviews with the purchasing chiefs of GM, Ford, Chrysler, Toyota and Honda. Today is Part 1.  The “B” word has forced its way into Detroit’s

By Tom Murphy • June 30, 2005

How to Lose 136 lbs.

Hopkinsville, KY, is in the racehorse business. Located in the heart of Kentucky's bluegrass pastures, this city of 31,000 people boasts its share of thoroughbred racehorse breeders. Each day, the pounding of hoof beats lends plenty of rhythm to daily life. In July, that sound will be rivaled by thumping heartbeats at a local 410,000-sq.-ft. (38,000-sq.-m) Dana Corp. frame plant, as it hits full stride

By John D. Stoll • June 1, 2005

Mann+Hummel Bucks Low-Cost Trend

DETROIT Claude Mathieu would like to ease some of the panic that seems rampant here lately. His message: Not all parts for U.S. cars will come from China, and not all the growth in the mature North American automotive market will occur in the southern U.S. or in Mexico. As president and CEO of supplier Mann + Hummel USA Inc., Mathieu speaks from experience. His company has two plants in the industrial

By Tom Murphy • May 3, 2005

Shepherd Solutions Helps Suppliers Sell

DETROIT – Working at broadening Fanuc Robotics America Inc.’s reach in Indiana gave Stuart Shepherd an idea. “My original direction…(was) to find what other business besides General Motors (Corp.) there was (in Indiana),” Shepherd says of his early sales assignment with Fanuc 16 years ago. He was so successful Fanuc eventually brought Shepherd to the Detroit area to figure out how to grow its business

By Christie Schweinsberg • April 13, 2005

Suppliers Get LED Out

DETROIT - Although excessive glare from high-intensity discharge (HID) headlamps remains a point of regulatory debate in the U.S., a new lighting technology soon will be in production that could prove equally controversial. A number of production vehicles - mostly in the luxury sector - already feature light-emitting diode (LED) taillamps and center high-mounted taillights. But by 2008, the first

By Tom Murphy • April 13, 2005

High Gear

After two years on the market, BorgWarner Inc.'s innovative dual-clutch transmission (DCT) technology is on the verge of becoming a formidable force in the gearbox sector, as the supplier says it expects to produce several million units annually within three years. The new technology, known internally as DualTronic, enables a manual transmission to perform like an automatic, without the annoying that

By Tom Murphy • April 1, 2005

Taking it to Dealerships

BAUDETTE, MN Noting that dealership sales personnel remain the first line of information for most consumers, automotive supplier Robert Bosch Corp. is training such staffers to spread the word about electronic stability control (ESC) systems. A well-educated dealership sales force is really the way to go, says Bosch Marketing Director Rich Golitko, who is spearheading a new program called aimed at

By Steve Finlay • March 1, 2005

Magna Starts Building Grand Cherokee

Magna Steyr Fahrzeugtechnik AG & Co. KG, the world's biggest contract-vehicle manufacturer, started serial production of the new Jeep Grand Cherokee in Graz, Austria, in early March. The launch will mark the third generation of Grand Cherokees to be built in Graz since 1994. The agreement with DaimlerChrysler AG calls for Austrian production of the new Grand Cherokee until 2009. European content of

March 1, 2005

Gaining Traction

In the span of a few weeks in November, it appeared the U.S. Big Three auto makers discovered the wonders of electronic stability control (ESC). For years, the top suppliers of the enhanced antilock brake system have marketed the technology for preventing drivers from skidding out of control. Now that the suppliers smartly extol the virtues of the technology in preventing rollovers, it appears auto

Dec. 1, 2004

Continental: Accidents Not Inevitable

PONTIAC, MI Continental Automotive Systems says it has two auto maker customers that plan to integrate elements of the supplier’s new active/passive safety technology into future vehicles. Continental contends its Active Passive Integration Approach (APIA), which links existing active safety devices such as antilock brakes and electronic stability control (ESC) with passive safety systems such as

By Tom Murphy • Nov. 4, 2004

300C Bound For Magna Steyr Plant

Chrysler Group signs an agreement with Magna Steyr Fahrzeugtechnik AG & Co KG to use the supplier's Graz, Austria, facility to support production of the Chrysler 300C for markets outside of North America. Magna Steyr will begin building rear- and all-wheel-drive versions of the Chrysler 300C Touring (wagon) and sedan in second-quarter 2005, while the high-performance SRT-8 and a diesel-powered model

Nov. 1, 2004

Fleet Management Growing Use of Telematics

DETROIT Delphi Corp. uses Convergence 2004 to announce it will co-develop and manufacture the next-generation of transceiver modems for Stellar Satellite Communications Ltd. Delphi will supply two new models of 2-way satellite communicator modems to Stellar. One is a high-volume telematics modem that can be used in vehicles or as fixed equipment. The other will use sensors and software to relay information

By Alisa Priddle • Oct. 18, 2004

Tier 2 Supplier Goes Global, Swallows 50% Price Cut

TRAVERSE CITY, MI – The pressure for suppliers to follow their customers to new markets overseas has been most acute for the big Tier 1 parts producers, but smaller Tier 2s are far from immune. Autocam Corp., a small manufacturer of precision metal components used in brake, steering and airbag systems, was founded 15 years ago with one facility in Kentwood, near Grand Rapids. The supplier has since

By Tom Murphy • Aug. 2, 2004

China Strategy Pays Off

The challenges of doing business in China's booming automotive industry are, without question, overwhelming. There is no network of stable, qualified suppliers for components. Logistics chains are so long that suppliers must stockpile reserves hardly a model of just-in-time efficiency. The Chinese government occasionally institutes rolling blackouts when regional powerplants are nearing capacity.

By Tom Murphy • July 1, 2004

Steyr Targets N.A. for 2008

Magna Steyr Fahrzeugtechnik AG & Co. KG is aiming to establish a vehicle manufacturing presence in the U.S. by 2008, which would function much like its operation in Graz, Austria, where it produces six vehicles for three different auto makers. Magna Steyr additionally aims to launch similar operations in the Asia/Pacific region within the same timeframe, Manfred Eibeck, director-production technology,

July 1, 2004