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Executives at Goodyear are objecting to being placed on the Standard & Poor’s “CreditWatch with negative implications” list along with 12 other automotive industry suppliers – including wheel maker Hayes Lemmerz – that are heavily involved with sales to financially fragile Ford, General Motors and Chrysler.
“We’re disappointed in Standard & Poor’s action. There are fundamental differences between our business and the companies whose businesses are heavily tied to the Michigan-based auto manufacturers,” says Darren R. Wells, Goodyear’s executive vice president and chief financial officer.
“Of approximately $20 billion in total sales in 2007, less than 8 percent was with the global operations of the three Michigan-based automakers. This number will be lower given weak OE volumes in 2008. Our OE customers are important to us, but more than 80 percent of our sales are to the replacement market for consumers who already have vehicles,” he explains.
Wells says the near-term impact of the financial challenges faced by the Big Three “is not expected to be material to Goodyear’s liquidity.”
For more information, visit www2.standardandpoors.com and www.goodyear.com.
