New AUTOFACTS European Supplier Report Analyzes Global Trends

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich., Aug. 6, 2003 -- AutoBusiness will release its new AUTOFACTS European Supplier Report this month, according to the firm's director of research Colin Whitbread.

The report is a comprehensive profile of the top 200 automotive suppliers based in Europe. It focuses on the current state of the European automotive economy and the growth of these suppliers in the North American market, in comparison to other markets such as China and Eastern Europe.

European suppliers sold $40 billion worth of parts to the industry in North America in 2002. Whitbread expects this to rise to over $50 billion by 2006. Some of the growth reflects continuing acquisitions -- such as Behr's purchase of Chrysler's Dayton Thermal Products operations and Autoliv's acquisition of Visteon's restraint systems business in 2002 -- but most is through new contract wins.

The report includes extensive profiles of the working culture of European companies and its influence on their North American operations.

"It's a snapshot of how the largest suppliers in Europe are performing," said Whitbread. "The report looks at recent business developments and also identifies key suppliers to each of the major automakers in Europe for more than 120 products."

North American car markers are turning to European suppliers for their technologies and modular competencies as alternatives to their traditional supply base, says Whitbread. Even smaller European suppliers like MANN+HUMMEL expect to double sales in North American in the near future.

AutoBusiness, in conjunction with PricewaterhouseCoopers, also publishes the AUTOFACTS North American Supplier Report, focusing on suppliers based in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

According to Whitbread, in addition to the North American report, the just-released European report expands supplier coverage by 30 percent to include some of the smaller brands and integrate "who supplies whom" data from new model launches of the last 18 months.

AutoBusiness is a business research company focused on automotive supply base issues and provides accurate and timely information about emerging trends in the industry. Clients include all major automotive manufacturers and more than 250 of the world's leading suppliers.