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Pawley Joins SDC as Board Advisor

18 March 1999

Ex-DaimlerChrysler ``Star'' Pawley Joins SDC as Board Advisor

    PALM BEACH, Fla.--March 18, 1999--SDC International, Inc. (OTC BB:SDCN) today announced that Dennis K. Pawley, known as the manufacturing czar who helped Chrysler Corp. become Detroit's most efficient automaker, has joined SDC as a Strategic Board Advisor. SDC is currently in what it hopes to be the final leg of negotiations with Komercni Banka and Skoda, a.s., both of the Czech Republic, to take over controlling interest and to acquire all bank debt of Tatra, one of the leading specialty truck manufacturers in Europe. Just last week, SDC announced that the Detroit-based automotive manufacturing and management firm, Harbour and Associates, had become a SDC strategic partner for the acquisition. Harbour's client list includes such companies as General Motors, Ford, and BMW. The combination of Harbour and Associates and Dennis Pawley will bring some of the world's best automotive management to SDC and Tatra, according to SDC's board spokesperson.
    Most recently the Executive Vice President of North American manufacturing for DaimlerChrysler AG as well as a member of its Board of Management, Pawley came to Chrysler in 1989 after positions over 34 years with General Motors, Mazda and United Technologies. Pawley tailored the Japanese-style system to American workers and his system became known as the Chrysler Operating System, receiving accolades worldwide. Pawley's systems were largely responsible for Chrysler's turnaround, which included double-digit annual increases in both productivity and profits, a result which SDC hopes to bring to Tatra's operations. In a recent Wall Street Journal article announcing Pawley's early retirement, Jeurgen Schrempp, co-chairman of DaimlerChrysler, hailed Mr. Pawley as "an outstanding professional in manufacturing and labor relations," adding, "I am truly sorry that he is going to leave DaimlerChrysler."
    Tatra manufactures very uniquely-engineered heavy-duty trucks which have wide on/off road applications, especially in construction, mining and agriculture. According to Mr. Pawley, also an SDC shareholder, "the acquisition of Tatra by SDC is a very different opportunity to bring a smaller volume specialty vehicle to markets around the world. Tatra can offer customers a product with capabilities on and off the road that no competitors have. This product advantage will be further enhanced by every improvement made in manufacturing cost, quality and productivity." Founded in 1850 and currently a producer of over 2,000 trucks annually, Tatra's revenues in 1997 were over US$275 million with assets exceeding US$200 million.
    SDC International is a publicly-traded U.S.-based company founded to manufacture, finance and globally distribute high-quality industrial and transportation products manufactured in former Communist countries within Central and Eastern Europe. Upon closing of the acquisition and consolidation of financial statements, SDC would become one of the few NASD Bulletin Board stocks to immediately qualify for the larger US exchanges.