6 March 2006| Source: Dana Corporation
NEU-ULM, Germany, March 6 /PRNewswire/ --
The European operations of Dana Corporation (NYSE: DCN) opened for
business as usual today, even though their parent company in the United
States commenced a chapter 11 reorganization case last Friday, March 3, 2006.
Dana Europe is not part of the U.S. chapter 11 case, nor are any of Dana
Corporation's operations in Latin America, Mexico, Canada, and Asia Pacific.
The U.S. chapter 11 process is not intended to have any effect on these
international operations.
"We have the ability to stand on our own, independent of what happens in
the U.S.," said Ralf Goettel, President of Dana Europe. "We will continue to
act in a coordinated and global way to meet the needs of our customers
worldwide. Here in Europe our customers can continue to rely on Dana for
quality products -- delivered on time and to exact specification. Our
suppliers can expect to continue to be paid on time for all the goods that
they have shipped or will ship to us. Nothing has changed."
Prior to the filing of the U.S. chapter 11 case, arrangements were made
to provide Dana's international subsidiaries -- including those in Europe --
with uninterrupted access to financing for their day to day operations, as
well as access to working capital to enable them to continue to meet their
obligations to customers, suppliers, employees, taxing authorities, and all
other constituents in a timely manner.
"Almost one third of our business comes from specialty construction,
agricultural and other specialty vehicles. Much of the rest comes from
working closely with European manufacturers. This is a completely different
market quite separate from the problems facing the U.S. automotive supplier
industry, Dana's operations in Europe continue to be profitable and
financially strong," added Mr. Goettel. "We look forward to even greater
success in the future."
Dana people design and manufacture products for every major vehicle
producer in the world. Dana is focused on being an essential partner to
automotive, commercial, and off-highway vehicle customers, which collectively
produce more than 60 million vehicles annually. A leading supplier of
drivetrain, chassis, structural, and engine technologies, Dana employs 46,000
people in 28 countries. Based in Toledo, Ohio, the company reported sales of
US$9 billion in 2004. Dana's Internet address is http://www.dana.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
Statements in this release which are not entirely historical constitute
"forward-looking" statements within the meaning of the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements represent Dana's expectations
based on our current information and assumptions. However, forward-looking
statements are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties and Dana's
actual results could differ materially from those that are anticipated or
projected due to a number of factors. These factors include the cyclical
nature of the vehicular markets we serve, particularly the heavy-duty
commercial vehicle market; changes in the competitive environment in our
markets due, in part, to outsourcing and consolidation by our customers;
changes in national and international economic conditions that affect our
markets; potential adverse effects on our operations and business from
terrorism or hostilities; the strength of other currencies in the overseas
countries in which we do business relative to the U.S. dollar; increases in
our commodity costs (including steel, other raw materials, and energy) that
we cannot recoup in our product pricing; our success in implementing our
cost-savings, lean manufacturing and VA/VE (value added/value engineering)
programs; changes in business relationships with our major customers and in
the timing, size and continuation of their programs; the ability of our
customers to maintain their market positions and achieve their projected
sales and production levels; the ability of our suppliers to maintain their
projected production levels and furnish critical components for our products,
as well as other necessary goods and services; competitive pressures on our
sales from other vehicle component suppliers; price reduction pressures from
our customers; and other factors set out in our public filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission. Forward-looking statements in this
release speak only as of the date of the release. Dana does not undertake to
update such forward-looking statements.
CONTACT:
Chuck Hartlage
Dana Corporation
+1-419-535-4728
Web site: http://www.dana.com
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