Delphi wins $220 million Volkswagen parts contract

LOCKPORT, New York November 14, 2002, Jeff Green writing for Bloomberg News reported that

Delphi Corp., the world's largest auto-parts supplier, won a $220 million contract to make heating and cooling units for Volkswagen AG models, including the Touareg, Volkswagen's first sport-utility vehicle.

The contract, expected to run for five or six years, ranges from basic heaters to combination air conditioning and heating systems that can be adjusted by passengers in Volkswagen commercial vans and the Touareg, spokeswoman Barbara Barkley said.

Delphi has said it wants to expand business with customers besides General Motors Corp., its former parent and largest customer. General Motors last year accounted for 68 percent of Delphi's $26.1 billion of sales.

The units will be built in Ostrow, Poland, and other European Delphi plants, and shipped to support Volkswagen plants in Hanover, Germany; Poznan, Poland; and the new Touareg plant in Bratislava, Slovakia, Delphi said in a statement. Delphi's Harrison Thermal Systems division, based in Lockport, New York, makes the parts.