AutoMOTIVE 5 - (Page 90)

metaldyne.qxd 24/11/06 12:13 pm Page 90 A NEW ERA IN US/JAPANESE COOPERATION Metaldyne Corp., the Michigan-based supplier of engine and chassis components, has agreed to be acquired by Japanese giant Asahi Tec in a $1.2 billion deal. Alan Cartwright looks at the significance of the move. The complicated deal, which is expected to be completed The company's order book will see its Asian turnover by the end of this year, may foreshadow more consolidation increase to around 17 percent of its turnover by 2009 but in the troubled auto supplier industry. Metaldyne will Metaldyne's chairman and CEO, Tim Leuliette, has become a wholly-owned higher numbers in mind. We want to achieve 30 to subsidiary of Asahi Tec, but the 40 percent of our business in Asia, and by that $2 billion turnover US company I mean with Asian OEMs will keep its name and has no anywhere in the plans to cut North American world or with jobs or close factories. traditional Asian- The acquisition comes as many based US auto suppliers are being hit by manufacturers, he production cuts by the Big Three says. We had looked Detroit-based car manufacturers, at partnerships to get rising material costs and global us there, because pricing pressures. Amidst this organic growth would somewhat depressing scenario, just not achieve those Metaldyne has been conspicuous for kinds of numbers. There its successes, having grown its is a long history of US business in each of the last five years. consolidation and Left to Right: Primarily a North America-focused business US/European partnerships Shoichiro Irimajiri and Tim Leuliette

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AutoMOTIVE 5

Editors Note
News
Here For The Long Haul
Halewood. Rebirth of a Car Plant
Safety First
Focus on Flexibility
A Prophet Without Honour?
Chrysler Cuts It Four Ways
A MINI For All Reasons
Porsche Plans Continuous Logistics Improvement
Flawless, Consistent Execution
Ford's European Supplier Parks Deliver Lean Manufacturing Efficiencies
Cheap and Cheerful
Onwards and Upwards
Schrader and Siemens Electronics Assembly Systems Take the Pressure
No Faults Forward
A Long Way From Wheelbarrows and Bath Tubs
A New Era in US/Japanese Cooperation
A Dialogue of the Deaf

AutoMOTIVE 5

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