Financially struggling Collins & Aikman Corp. has won a multi-billion dollar contract to supply much of the interior for the 2006 Ford Futura sedan, Automotive News reported.
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The newspaper said contract is a big win for the supplier, which lost a total of $US38.7 million in 2001 and 2002 and $15.5 million in the first six months of this year. Its stock price has been pummelled in the past two weeks on reports it was on the verge of losing contracts with the Chrysler group, its largest customer at 30% of sales, the report added.
Automotive News said Collins & Aikman will provide the design, engineering, purchasing and other responsibilities for most of the Futura’s interior, including the instrument panels, integrated cockpit systems and front and rear door panels and appears to have grabbed all but the overhead systems and seats, parts it does not produce – production will begin in 2005.
Automotive News said the Ford win could help Collins & Aikman offset the loss of business from Chrysler after a dispute with the supplier over pricing, quality, delivery and other issues prompted the car maker to begin putting much of its business with the Troy, Michigan, company up for bidding by other firms.
Ford represented about 20% of Collins & Aikman’s sales last year and the company ranked No. 12 on the Automotive News list of the top 150 suppliers of original equipment parts to North America last year with sales of $3.15 billion, the paper said.
Automotive News said Stockman declined to detail the value of the contract but industry experts estimate that the Futura interior contract represents $1,000 of content.
The paper noted that Ford has said the Hermosillo, Mexico, plant where the Futura will be built will have an annual capacity of 300,000 vehicles so, if production at Hermosillo meets that number, the Collins & Aikman contract could be worth more than $2 billion in a seven-year production period.
Collins & Aikman will be a lead supplier in the Tier 1 industrial park adjacent to the plant, where interior components and systems will be manufactured, assembled and shipped just in time for final vehicle assembly, Automotive News added.
