Delphi (auto parts)

Delphi is an automotive parts company headquartered in Troy, Michigan, USA. Delphi is one of the world's largest automotive parts manufacturers and has approximately 169,500 employees (50,000 in the United States).

With offices worldwide, the company operates 156 wholly owned manufacturing sites, 44 joint ventures, 53 customer centers and sales offices, and 33 technical centers in 38 countries.

History

• 1994: General Motors forms Automotive Components Group.
• 1995: ACG is renamed Delphi Automotive Systems.
• 1997: GM and Hughes Electronics Corporation spin-off of Hughes Defense electronics business and transfer Delco Electronics from Hughes to Delphi.
• 1999: Delphi Automotive Systems becomes fully independent publicly held corporation.
• 2001: 11,500 jobs were cut worldwide(Bischoff 1A).
• 2002: Delphi Automotive Systems is renamed Delphi Corporation reflecting its diversified business direction.
• 2004: Delphi is subpoenaed by the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) in July for irregular accounting practices and financial transactions.
• 2005: Delphi discloses irregular accounting practices. A number of executives, including CFO Alan Dawes, resign. Delphi Chairman J.T. Battenberg III retires. Delphi files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection to reorganize its struggling U.S. operations. As a result of this action, the Securities and Exchange Commission granted an application by the New York Stock Exchange to delist Delphi's common stock and bonds. The stock now trades over the counter on the Pink Sheets electronic exchange.
• 2005: Twenty-four plants closed down in the U.S.
• 2006: Delphi announced it would sell off or close 21 of its 29 plants in the United States. The eight plants it intends to keep are located in Brookhaven, Mississippi; Clinton, Mississippi; Grand Rapids, Michigan; Kokomo, Indiana; Lockport, New York; Rochester, New York; Warren, Ohio; and Vandalia, Ohio, though even these plants will endure wage cuts and suffer workforce reductions.

Corporate structure and leadership

Delphi is structured into the following groups:

• Consumer Products
• Manufacturer Products
• Aftermarket & Dealer Products

The company is focusing the organization on the following core strategic product lines:

• Controls & Security (Body Security, Mechatronics, and Displays);

• Electrical/Electronic Architecture (Electrical/Electronic Distribution Systems, Connection Systems, and Electrical Centers);

• Entertainment & Communications (Audio, Navigation, and Telematics);

• Powertrain (Diesel and Gasoline Engine Management Systems);

• Safety (Occupant Protection and Safety Electronics); and

• Thermal (Climate Control & Powertrain Cooling).

Chapter 11 Reorganization

During the Chapter 11 cases, Delphi has made substantial progress in identifying and implementing the sale (or receiving Bankruptcy Court approval to sell) or wind down of those facilities and business lines that do not support the company’s future strategic framework, including:

• The sale of the brake hose manufacturing business in Dayton, Ohio to Harco Manufacturing Group, announced in January 2007.

• The settlement of a social plan in the "Concurso," or Spanish insolvency proceeding, of Delphi Automotive Systems Espana S.L.

• The sale of the Mexican brake components business, including a manufacturing plant in Saltillo, Coahuila, Mexico, to Robert Bosch LLC and its affiliate Frenados Mexicanos, S.A. de C.V., announced in June 2007.

• The sale of substantially all of the assets of MobileAria, Inc. to Wireless Matrix USA, Inc.;

• The sale of the U.S. Battery operations in New Brunswick, New Jersey to Johnson Controls, Inc. in 2006.

• The wind-down of a Delphi Medical Texas facility in Houston, Texas

• The consolidation of fuel injector production in Rochester, New York during 2006-2007, which allowed the Debtors to wind down a manufacturing facility in Coopersville, Michigan

• The sale of the catalyst business to Umicore Group, completed in October, 2007.

• The sale of the Wheel bearings business based in Sandusky, Ohio to Kyklos, Inc., which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Hephaestus Holdings, Inc., in February 2008.

• The sale of the Global Steering and Halfshaft Business to Steering Solutions Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Platinum Equity, LLC, announced in December 2007. The Steering business was based in Saginaw, Michigan, and was formerly known as the Saginaw Steering Division of General Motors.

• The sale of the Interiors and Closures business was announced in October, 2007, to The Renco Group. This includes facilities in: Gadsden, Alabama, Cottondale, Alabama, North Kansas City, Missouri, Orion, Michigan, Adrian, Michigan, Woerth, Germany, Matamoros, Mexico, the SDADS Joint Venture in Shanghai, China and the KDS Joint Venture in Daegu, South Korea.

• The sale of certain North American Brake Component Machining and Assembly Assets to TRW Automotive Holdings, which includes sites in Saginaw, Michigan, Springhill, Tennessee, and Oshawa, Canada, announced in September 2007.

• The company will continue with its stated plans to sell or wind-down additional non-core product lines and manufacturing sites through 2008.

Current members of the board of directors of Delphi are: Martin E. Welch, John H. Walker, Craig G. Naylor, Raymond J. Milchovich, David N. Farr, John D. Englar, Robert H. Brust, Oscar De Paula Bernardes Neto, John D. Opie, Rodney O'Neal, and Robert S. Miller (chairman).

Rodney O'Neal is also the chief executive officer of the company (since January 1, 2007), replacing Robert S. "Steve" Miller.

• The investment bank, Rothschild, Inc., is currently advising Delphi in its Chapter 11 restructuring

Environmental record

Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst identified Delphi corp. as the 21st-largest corporate producer of air pollution in the United States in 2002. According to the study, the manufacturer's most toxic emissions include asbestos (542 lb/yr), chromium compounds (1,082 lb/yr), lead compounds (8,466 lb/yr), and sulfuric acid (17,600 lbs/year), while the most massive emissions are glycol ethers (111,520 lbs/year) and hydrochloric acid (80,000 lb/yr).

Corporate issues

In February 2007 the multinational Delphi Automotive Systems Holding Inc. announced the closure of its plant in Puerto Real, Cádiz, Spain, with a loss of 1600 direct jobs and more than 2500 indirect jobs. despite having agreed to continue its manufacturing operations until 2010 and receiving more than EUR 25 million from various public administrations in order to guarantee its workers' jobs.

The Andalusian autonomous government announced it would begin legal action against the company for breach of local labor laws.

On October 8, 2005 Delphi filed for bankruptcy due to the lack of money to pay the employees. Slowly, cutting jobs and shutting down many plants around the Dayton area and nationally (Roberson). The increased competition between the U.S. and other countries in the automobile industry has been a factor in Delphi’s bankruptcy (Wehrman D1). Due to the economic slump, all but five of the plants in the Dayton area have closed.

In May 2008, Delphi filed a lawsuit against investors. The lawsuit seeks to impose payment by investors in the amount of $2.55 billion in securities to aid Delphi as it seeks to come out of bankruptcy. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Drain in New York ruled to allow Delphi to seek payments through a contract against Appaloosa Management LP as well as denying investors' request for a cap of $250 million for damages.

Consumer electronics

Delphi is a major player in the XM Satellite Radio and GPS market. Among their most widely recognized (and advertised) products are:

• Mobile Navigation
• NAV200 (portable GPS)
• TNR800 (in-dash GPS)
• Mobile Video
• Satellite Radio

Myfi family

• MyFi (portable XM)
• Myfi 2 (3rd generation of XM2go)

Roady Family

• Roady (XM)
• Roady 2 (XM)
• Roady XT (XM)
• Roady XT 2 (XM)

Skyfi Family

• Skyfi (XM)
• SkyFi2 (XM)
• SkyFi3 (XM)

XM Signal Repeater

Manufacturer Products

Delphi designs, engineers and manufactures a wide variety of components, integrated systems and modules on a worldwide basis, and is the largest and most diversified supplier of automotive parts. In January 2000 Delphi acquired the diesel systems business of Lucas TRW, making Delphi the world's second largest manufacturer of Diesel Fuel Injection equipment. Delphi Diesel owns the brands of CAV/Simms/RotoDiesel and Condiesel, the division also runs 10 subsidiary distribution companies in Brazil, China, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Mexico, Turkey, UK and USA. The diesel aftermarket company is headquartered in Warwick UK.

Delphi also manufactures the MagneRide magneto rheological dampers, which use magnetorheological fluid to adjust the damping rate of the shock absorbers based on road conditions, to offer an effective compromise between ride and handling . These can be found on the Audi R8 , Audi TT, Chevrolet Corvette C5, Cadillac Seville STS, Ferrari 599 and select E Series HSV cars in Australia.

References

External links

• Delphi website
• SEC Litigation Release
• Slate article on bankruptcy
• Website concerning Delphi's ongoing bankruptcy case
• Delphi Monsoon Premium Audio for automobiles