In the latest step in its quest to become a supplier of modular interiors, Lear Corp. will buy Masland Corp. for about $385 million. Masland, which produces automotive carpeting and luggage compartment trim, will give a new dimension to Lear's...
It's bold. It's beautiful. It's a bust. Worse yet, a Dustbuster.General Motors Corp. set out to make a real statement when it introduced its dramatic plastic-bodied all-purpose vehicle (APV) minivans in 1989. To its chagrin, it found that utility...
On paper the plan looks brilliant. Design a van to sell in both North America and Europe, leverage a global supply base that is beginning to feel comfortable with a once-chaotic purchasing system and build them all in one assembly plant with a...
Automotive interior designs have come a very long way in the past 10 years, but trim components such as headliners and package trays still are dullsville. At their best, they simply blend in with the rest of the interior, unnoticed. At worst...
Interior component suppliers have been consolidating for years, but when automotive seating giants Johnson Controls Inc. and Lear Seating Corp. both acquired major companies last summer, tongues started wagging: Was the long-predicted trend toward...
Racing to establish itself as a first-tier supplier of complete automotive interior systems, Lear Seating Corp. announces in mid-July plans to aquire Automotive Industries Holding Inc., a major supplier of interior components.Under the merger...
Forget New York, Los Angeles, or Tokyo, if you want to watch a good battle over real estate; tell a designer of vehicle interiors you I need room for one more cupholder and watch the sparks fly.Government demands for smaller, safer, more fuel...
Just how firm do today's car buyers want their seats? What do minivan shoppers really want in a seating fabric? How do we make an instrument panel that doesn't squeak? Are kids really comfortable in child-safety seats?These are questions that once...
Johnson Controls Inc.'s Automotive Systems Group closes out 1994 with a bang--actually more like a crash. Capping a year in which JCI produces its millionth seat for Chrysler Corp., picks up a complete seat-system contract from Rover and increases...