Automotive News - May 5, 2008 - (Page 55)

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Go to http://www.wealthandfuture.com $19K PROFIT MY 1st MONTH working from home in less than 25 hrs per week! $1K-$8K profit per sale. This is Not MLM! FREE Training & Support Provided. Call 1-888-880-1317 * 24 hrs Faurecia: We’ll break even in N.A. After years of losses, CEO says, ‘We are in calmer waters now’ When he took over as Faurecia CEO in February 2007, Yann Delabriere inherited a company that had just reported a 2006 net loss of 447.9 million euros, or $696.8 million at current exchange rates. Delabriere helped narrow that loss to $369.5 million last year. A big reason for the improvement has been changes Faurecia has made to its money-losing North American operations. Delabriere, who previously was CFO at Faurecia’s majority shareholder, PSA/Peugeot-Citroen, admits the North American unit grew too fast but says costs are under control now. Delabriere, 57, met with Automotive News Europe News Editor Douglas A. Bolduc and reporters Bettina Mayer and Lawrence J. Speer at Faurecia’s headquarters near Paris. global recovery plan is to get an annual savings of $155.6 million on the parts that we purchase from the suppliers that we manage directly. Are you looking to grow through acquisitions? Not at the moment because we are in the middle of our recovery plan. We must turn around Faurecia’s profitability as quickly as we can. Plus, we are among the top three globally in our core businesses, so we don’t need an acquisition for strategy purposes. How much is Faurecia spending on r&d? We are spending more than 4 percent of our revenues on r&d. That’s more than $933.9 million. I want to invest more in innovation, which means we have to reduce development costs globally. If you want to increase “r” you have to reduce “d,” but reducing development costs does not mean that we must reduce the number of projects we are doing for automakers. It’s the opposite. We need to grow and to develop more by improving efficiency and leveraging Faurecia’s global network. We have established a good base in China, but we have to add 200 more engineers for local projects and to contribute to Faurecia’s global efforts. We also have more than 200 engineers in Pune, India. We will do more than 25 percent of our design and development work in emerging markets and get more than 70 percent of our tooling done in low-cost countries by 2010. What advantage do you have over your rivals? One of the key strengths of Faurecia is that it is not in the commodity trap. The products that we offer are strategic parts. Faurecia is ideally placed at the crossroads of two major automotive trends. The first is improving fuel economy and reducing emissions by reducing weight and improving the efficiency of the exhaust system. The second is the value for customers of the interior in terms of comfort, perceived quality, modularity and safety. Were you a victim of an overall economic downturn in North America? I would not say that. First, we have continued to grow rapidly in the United States. Our sales volume was up 42 percent in North America in 2007. I expect to continue to grow in North America this year. Why? Because we are not in the light-truck business, which is the most exposed to the recession in North America. The car business is less exposed to volume reductions. Second, we are positioned with very exciting business such as the Chevrolet Malibu, the Cadillac CTS and the BMW X5 and X6. Our market environment is not the same as many of our competitors’. How hard will you be hit by production cutbacks at Chrysler? Obviously we are concerned by the Chrysler volume evolution. We will manage this with our friends at Chrysler. As I mentioned, we also supply many successful vehicles. Therefore, I do not expect a reduction in our volume in North America this year.c COMPUTER SOFTWARE FOR SALE WINDOWS F&I SYST. 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Contact: Tom Wene 1-800 888 1237 or twene@mileschevrolet.com QUEBEC BASED Wholesaler / Exporter / importer of recent autos & trucks, 56 yrs in same location is looking for dealers to buy his products 2006 - 2008 cars & trucks. Call Charles @ 514-332-7777, email charlessir@gmail.com Pre Emission Trucks Faurecia has been accused of taking on a lot of unprofitable business in North America to build up its presence there. Is that what happened? I am not sure if this was on purpose, but that was the situation. When I arrived, we were losing $127.3 million in North America, which is a lot of money. We took drastic actions to reduce that and to make our North American business profitable as quickly as possible. Where are you today in that process? We have drastically reduced our losses in North America. In the second half of last year, we lost $18.2 million in North America (down from $85.3 million in the second half of 2006). My goal is to reach breakeven in North America by the second half of 2008. Having achieved what we did in the second half of 2007 makes me believe we will reach that goal. We will be profitable soon in North America. How important is that market? North America is a key strategic market for all of Faurecia’s businesses. Faurecia will continue with its development in North America, but on a profitable basis. To develop business with a client on an unprofitable basis does not make sense for anyone in the long term. How did you turn things around there? We were struggling with the startup of too many programs and too many plants at the same time. We are in calmer waters now, so we can better manage our performance. Second, we worked hard to improve the performance of our plants. All our plants now achieve a level of efficiency that matches Faurecia’s global standards, which was not the case 18 months ago. Third, we have made improvements in program management in order to deliver the best performance in terms of quality, cost and delivery. Before your arrival, Faurecia was in Faurecia CEO Yann Delabriere: “My goal is to reach breakeven” in 2008. trouble because some employees had bribed automaker purchasing executives to win contracts. What has been done to prevent that from happening again? We have entirely reworked our code of ethics and adjusted procedures wherever it was necessary. Our new code of ethics encourages anyone who knows anything about unethical behavior to come forward. My direct colleagues and I are responsible for ethically managing this company. We have the right processes in place. I will be very strict toward any kind of deviation from the code of ethics. Are you able to reduce the importance of raw materials in your production by changing your products? In the short term, I would say no because you cannot just change the materials in your products. In the long term, I think that we are all pushed in the same direction, which is to reduce cost and weight because of pressure on OEMs to reduce fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. All the automakers are seeking ways to reduce the weight of their cars. Is Faurecia concerned? Yes, because if we take all the parts offered today by Faurecia — such as the seats, cockpits, door panels, bumpers and exhaust systems — they represent an average of 16 percent of the weight of a car. Have you set a target for weight savings that you would like to offer automakers? We can offer solutions that save up to 20 percent compared with our current products. - LUC PERENOM Read an expanded version of this interview at www.autonews.com autonews.com NEW 2008 Mitsubishi Evo’s at Triple Net Pricing Call For Immediate Delivery OVER STOCKED 352-684-7200 - ask for Sean Walsh CARS WANTED How much weight is that? If we account for 16 percent of the weight of a car and the car weighs 1.2 tons, then our products represent about 419 pounds. If we reduce this by up to 20 percent, that means about 84 pounds. Will you use more aluminum? This is not the direction we are taking, because replacing materials such as steel with aluminum can provide weight reduction but at a high cost. Our priority is to rethink the way we develop the architecture of the parts themselves. Could you give us an example? We are reviewing the architecture of the seat’s metal st http://www.DLW-Enterprises.com http://www.thousanddollarprofits.com/102239 http://www.wealthandfuture.com http://L-master.com http://autonews.com http://www.autonews.com http://www.automotivenews.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Automotive News - May 5, 2008

Automotive News - May 5, 2008 Dodge dealers battle to bust Ram logjam Used-car price slump slams luxury makes INDUSTRY IN DISTRESS Tesla opens first dealership in L.A. Los Angeles Top auto execs to talk marketing at seminar Nader and the Corvair: GM edition tells whole story Dealers take Tundra to the people UAW official expects American Axle buyouts Ford plans more UAW buyouts at 2 plants Honda to some dealers: Upgrade or else Hyundai: Powertrains will take us halfway to mpg target Diesel dynamo Daimler cuts Chrysler value, again Ford domestic dealer count dips below 4,000 Seems like old times: More cash on the hood Toyota sister car poses a challenge for Subaru Suzuki to offer standard navigation in $16,000 car Mpg plan fuels states-rights battle Kerkorian interest buoys Ford stock Henderson: GM will keep tight rein on inventory Is it real, or is it just temporary? Ford Motor must stay focused on recovery 'Have you lost your mind?' Dealers are victims of Axle strike Federal oversight? Good heavens, no Geoff Polites: A salute Save a board seat for the UAW A car for everyone or cut, cut, cut, cut? Think of Buick as part of B-P-G Costs up in China, but bargains still abound Mexico sales fall 17% in March Obituary Hyundai reworks Sonata sooner rather than later Nissan's Dominique gets to the big dance Dana seeks new business with Japanese companies ZF will supply Nissan Certified Tool closes a plant German engineering company plans Ala. factory Dealers A Lexus colossus Used-vehicle leasing boosts showroom traffic Certified buyers opt for extended service contracts Repossessed vehicles offer dealers a profit opening Prepaid plans spark service visits beyond oil changes Key to managing floorplan costs: Be realistic Long-term loans: Convenience or bad deal? Dealers hunt upside-down buyers with leases, incentives and long-term loans Where have all the investors gone? Dealer rebounds from contract mess Dealers must choose: Reynolds, GM — or start over AutoTrader.com makes big pitch to bump up new-vehicle sales CAW, Ford reach extensive early labor deal Infiniti asks: Do you smell something? Sure, Nissan GT-R is impractical — but what a rush Faurecia: We'll break even in N.A. Suppliers join carmakers' charge into Russia Chrysler small cars, Jeep crossovers are hot A dreary April in Detroit Penske earnings rise in 1st quarter Lithia posts $1.9 million loss GM makes 2nd ethanol deal Group 1's earnings slip Magna profits down; sales rise AIADA picks dealer of the year Vox(wagen) populi — plus a sales pitch Wagoner's pension shift: More earlier, less overall COMMENT: Bargaining barbs will sting for a long time Bugging the boss: Who's listening to Porsche CEO? New models from the post office Critics have kind words for Pontiac's G8 Ford can't picture kids at design studio

Automotive News - May 5, 2008

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