AK Steel Becomes Founding Investor in Build-To-Order, Inc.
AK Steel Becomes Founding Investor in Build-To-Order, Inc.
| AK STEEL CORPORATION LOGO
AK Steel Corporation logo. (PRNewsFoto)[DM] MIDDLETOWN, OH USA 09/01/1999 |
MIDDLETOWN, Ohio, July 11 AK Steel Corporation
said it has become a founding investor in Build-To-Order, Inc., the world's
first automotive company that will deliver true build-to-order vehicles
directly to consumers. AK Steel said it contributed $5 million for an equity
position in the company. BTO was formed in May through a merger of the former
Model E Corporation and Flint Incorporated.
(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/19990901/AKSLOGO )
BTO's founders include Scott Painter, founder and former chief executive
officer of CarsDirect.com, the country's leading online new car retailer, and
William Santana Li, founder and former chief executive officer of the former
Model E Corporation and a former Ford Motor Company executive. BTO intends to
deliver a portfolio of new vehicles by 2004 utilizing a singular modular
platform, computer-aided design, contract engineering and manufacturing and a
direct distribution channel.
"As one of the most innovative suppliers to the traditional automotive
industry for nearly 100 years, our association with BTO represents AK Steel's
visionary commitment to the building blocks of a second generation of
automotive manufacturing," said Richard M. Wardrop, Jr., chairman and chief
executive officer of AK Steel. "We are eager to apply AK Steel's renowned
carbon and stainless automotive steel expertise to the product design and
manufacturing innovation that will define BTO's niche in the industry."
"BTO's founders and contributors comprise an all-star list of automotive
luminaries and leaders that have unique insight into the auto industry and a
comprehensive understanding of the impact of technology on design, product
development and manufacturing," said Mr. Painter. "Having AK Steel, the
premier automotive steel supplier, as a founding investor of BTO further
validates the vision we have for this company."
AK Steel has worked for several years to develop prototype vehicle
components, including a stainless steel space frame that offers superior
strength and considerable weight savings to traditional automotive designs.
The resulting space frame has the potential to improve ride and
crashworthiness while reducing the frame weight by about 50 percent. In
addition, AK Steel has developed stainless steel body panels, suspension
parts, gas tanks and bumpers that increase strength and reduce weight.
AK Steel is the largest steel supplier to the U.S. automotive industry,
with approximately half of its annual output going to car and light truck
manufacturing. AK Steel has earned numerous quality, service and delivery
awards from virtually every vehicle manufacturer, foreign and domestic,
operating in the United States. The awards include General Motors Supplier of
the Year, Ford World Excellence Award, DaimlerChrysler Commodity Award, Toyota
Superior in Quality and Superior in Delivery Awards, Subaru-Isuzu Supplier
Presidential Award and Nissan Quality Master Award. AK Steel also has earned
quality awards from OEM automotive suppliers such as the Tenneco Preferred
Supplier and ArvinMeritor Supplier Excellence awards. AK Steel is also ISO
9002 registered and QS 9000 certified.
AK Steel is headquartered in Middletown, Ohio. It employs about
11,200 men and women in plants and offices in Middletown, Coshocton,
Mansfield, Warren and Zanesville, Ohio; Ashland, Kentucky; Rockport, Indiana;
and Butler, Sharon and Wheatland, Pennsylvania. AK Steel also produces snow
and ice control products, and operates a major industrial park on the Houston,
Texas ship channel. Additional information about AK Steel is available on the
company's web site at http://www.aksteel.com . BTO's web site is http://www.btoauto.com .