Federal-Mogul invests $50 million in champion spark plugs in Europe

SOUTHFIELD, Mich. November 4, 2002; Dan Hart writing for Bloomberg News reports that Federal-Mogul Corp., which is in bankruptcy protection from creditors, decided against selling its Champion spark plug and windshield-wiper businesses and instead will invest $50 million to expand them in Europe.

The company will spend the money over five years to refit factories and develop better manufacturing for steel and ceramic materials used in spark plugs, said Joe Felicelli, Federal-Mogul's senior vice president for worldwide aftermarket operations. Earlier this year, the company had considered selling the product lines.

Federal-Mogul has sold some assets since its October 2001 bankruptcy filing, including today's sale of a camshaft factory in Mexico to Canada's Linamar Corp., and its Signal-Stat emergency and signal lights business in March.

The Champion business in Europe accounted for about $200 million in sales last year out of $5.46 billion overall for the Southfield, Michigan-based company. The European market for such replacement parts is about $750 million, Felicelli said.

Federal-Mogul sells windshield wipers under the Anco name in North America.