Tenneco Automotive to Buy Mexican Catalytic Converter And Exhaust Pipe Assembly Maker
7 August 1997
Tenneco Automotive to Buy Mexican Catalytic Converter And Exhaust Pipe Assembly Maker
DEERFIELD, Ill., Aug. 7 -- Tenneco Automotive announced today
that it has reached agreement to buy Autocan, a Mexican catalytic converter
and exhaust pipe assembly manufacturer. Terms were not disclosed.
Located in Puebla, Mexico, Autocan currently supplies catalytic converters
and "downpipe" exhaust assemblies for Volkswagen, the largest passenger car
producer in that country, as well as for Chrysler and BMW. Passenger car
production in Mexico is growing significantly to meet domestic demand, as well
as for export.
With 250 employees and anticipated 1997 sales of $25 million, Autocan
operates a 60,000-square-foot facility that opened in 1993 to serve the nearby
Volkswagen assembly plant. Tenneco Automotive already operates an exhaust
system manufacturing plant in Queretaro, Mexico, primarily serving Chrysler
and General Motors. That plant employs approximately 150 workers. In
addition, the company has ride control product manufacturing facilities in
Celaya and Reynosa, which together employ 435 workers.
"As original equipment manufacturers increase production in assembly
plants around the world, we will be there with world-class facilities to
support our customers locally," said Thomas E. Evans, Tenneco Automotive
president. "In Puebla, we will fulfill Autocan's contract to supply exhaust
system products for Volkswagen's platforms as we ramp up for just-in-time
parts delivery for their new Golf, Jetta (A-4) and Beetle models that were
awarded to Tenneco Automotive in 1996."
In the past two years, Tenneco Automotive has made 12 acquisitions and
entered five joint ventures worldwide. Tenneco Automotive supplies virtually
every original equipment automotive manufacturer on the globe. Its products
are on 11 of the world's 15 top-selling car models.
With annual sales exceeding $3 billion, Tenneco Automotive is the leading
worldwide manufacturer of ride control and exhaust systems for both original
equipment and replacement markets. The company manufactures and markets its
products under the Monroe(R) and Walker(R) brand names. Headquartered in
Deerfield, Ill, Tenneco Automotive operates facilities in North America,
Europe, South America, Africa, Australia and the Asia-Pacific region.
Its parent company, Tenneco is a $7 billion global
manufacturing company headquartered in Greenwich, Conn., with 50,000 employees
worldwide. Tenneco also has a significant business interest in packaging.
Tenneco Packaging is one of the world's leading and most diversified producers
of packaging products.
For more information about Tenneco, visit the Tenneco website at
http://www.tenneco.com.
SOURCE Tenneco Automotive