Delphi gets $135 million Volkswagen vehicle-electronics order

Detroit January 15, 2003; Dan Hart writing for Bloomberg reports that Delphi Corp. won a $135 million order from Volkswagen AG for electronic controls for windshield wipers, turn signals and other components as the auto-parts maker relies less on former parent General Motors Corp.

The control units, which also govern vehicle functions such as the horn and outside-mirror heating, will be supplied to the German automaker starting in January 2004, said Milton Beach, a spokesman for the Troy, Michigan-based parts supplier.

Delphi has sought to expand business with customers besides General Motors, which in 2001 accounted for 68 percent of the parts company's $26.1 billion in sales. The supplier last year also shortened its name from Delphi Automotive Systems Corp. to reflect a push into electronics and appliance parts as it moves away from less profitable auto components such as spark plugs.

The parts supplier's Kokomo, Indiana-based Delco Electronics division will build the electronic control units for Volkswagen in Hungary, Beach said. He declined to say how many units Delphi will build for Europe's largest automaker. Delphi supplies General Motors with similar controllers, he said.

In November, Delphi won a $220 million order from Volkswagen for heating and cooling units for models including the Touareg, the automaker's first sport-utility vehicle.