Laurie Harbour-Felax to Address Society of Automotive Analysts on Survival of Auto Industry

ANN ARBOR, Mich., Dec. 2, 2005 -- The Society of Automotive Analysts (SAA) welcomes Laurie Harbour-Felax, one of the automobile industry's foremost global automotive manufacturing consultants, to its networking breakfast on Tuesday, December 6.

The title of Ms. Felax's presentation will be "What The Automotive Industry Needs To Do To Survive."

The landscape of the automotive industry has dramatically changed and will continue to evolve over the coming years. What will the next few years bring to this industry, and what do the domestic automakers and suppliers need to do to survive these difficult times?

With news of continued loss of market share, more incentive programs, supplier bankruptcies and OEM struggles -- what are the key elements of change that need to occur for the industry to survive? What are the biggest gaps between the best in the world and those that are struggling? What changes and in what areas of the business are necessary for companies to thrive?

Renowned auto analyst Laurie Harbour-Felax will discuss these issues and try to answer the question of what the industry needs to do to survive in the coming years.

Laurie Harbour-Felax was formerly vice president and a company officer at Harbour Consulting. She was involved in numerous consulting projects with many global automotive manufacturers, tier one suppliers, and the defense industry. She worked closely with both global clients at all organizational levels in areas such as operations improvement, product and process development, competitive research and benchmarking studies.

One of Laurie's principal responsibilities was management of The Harbour Report globally, which included presentations to global manufacturers, issue resolution, data analysis, verification, methodology training and definition. She personally toured over 30 automotive manufacturing operations worldwide each year. In addition to serving as one of the principal authors of The Harbour Report, Laurie was responsible for the report's continuous improvement, strategic planning and future growth to other areas of the world.

Laurie was also responsible for overall management of Harbour Consulting and managed the creation and maintenance of Harbour's automotive industry databases, while performing overall operations management.

Laurie is currently doing independent consulting in operations improvement, strategic planning and benchmarking for automotive and non- automotive clients.

Laurie utilizes her expertise in the auto industry and manufacturing to serve on various boards, present at major conferences such as SAA, OESA, APMA, Autotech, Traverse City Auto Briefing and others as well as being regularly quoted in local and national publications as an experienced analyst.

Laurie has a bachelor's degree in Operations Management and Human Resources from the University of Michigan.

The event will take place at the Westin Southfield Hotel, in the Southfield (MI) Town Center. The networking breakfast will begin at 7:00 a.m., with program to run from 8:00 to 9:30 a.m. Registration fees for SAA members at $25, non-members at $40, working press complimentary. Additional details including map and secure on-line registration are available at http://www.cybersaa.org/ ; Visa, MasterCard and American Express cards welcomed.

For additional information, contact SAA headquarters at 800/704-0051; fax 734/677-2407; e-mail to info@cybersaa.org

The Society of Automotive Analysts is dedicated to providing outstanding educational programs and superior networking opportunities to its members. SAA offers conferences, programs, its website and other forums in which to discuss, debate, and learn about a broad variety of subjects and timely industry issues.