Last year Tesla Motors scored a nice coup with former Chrysler executive Mike Donoughe as Tesla’s new Vice President of vehicle engineering and manufacturing. Now they’ve scored big again with the hiring of highly-respected and former GM, BMW and Audi exec, John Walker.

The electric-car company also hired an exec in the communications department from YouTube, Ricardo Reyes. Finally, a spokesperson from Tesla recently said they will be looking to hire 150 more employees–most in engineering from the automotive industry.

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TRAVERSE CITY, MICH. — While the North American auto industry may have been taking a series of economic hits, international auto suppliers are still looking to the U.S. for future growth.

Mexico’s Grupo Bocar is building a third injection molding plant for its Plastic Tec group, and headed north to the auto industry’s Management Briefing Seminars, being held Aug. 4-7 in Traverse City, to promote its capabilities.

The Mexico City-based company already is a direct supplier to U.S., European and Japanese-based carmakers. It has three business units producing aluminum die cast parts, machined parts and plastics. It came to Traverse City to boost its profile and show off its capabilities.

Plastic Tec currently has plants in Mexico City and Lerma, Mexico, with a combined 80 injection molding presses, ranging in size from 25 to 1,600 tons. The new plant, which is now under construction in San Luis Potosi, will add another 25 to 30 presses.

“We are not a shoot and ship company,” said Jaime Puente, office manager. “We have state-of-the-art equipment and facilities.”

Plastic Tec made the first in-mold application of a textile skin for an auto interior part in North America for Volkswagen AG’s Jetta. It makes air vents for BMW AG’s assembly plant in Spartanburg, S.C., replacing parts previously made in Europe, Puente said.

Italian auto suppliers, meanwhile, are touting their knowledge of Fiat SpA — a relationship that takes on added importance now that Fiat has purchased a controlling interest in Chrysler Group LLC of Auburn Hills, Mich.

“[Fiat and Chrysler] are in an early limbo stage now but there are opportunities it is going to happen,” said Luigi Giachino, business development manager for Mecaprom Technologies Corp., of Bergamo, Italy, in an interview at the Management Briefing Seminars in Traverse City.

Mecaprom recently opened its first Detroit-area office, in Plymouth, Mich., and it is looking for a partner in the region that it can team with to combine its knowledge on small engine development with Fiat.

The company is just part of an outreach from auto suppliers in Italy through the Italian American Alliance for Business and Technology. The alliance of auto suppliers located around Turin, Italy — which is home to Fiat — wants to make connections with Chrysler and its supply base.

Many of the alliance companies have had business in North America in the past, but expect to build on that now that Fiat will be working with Chrysler on future small vehicles, said Alliance President Massimo Denipoti.

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Judge allows GM to buy Delphi assets to help supplier emerge from bankruptcy
by Bree Fowler | The Associated Press

NEW YORK — A bankruptcy judge on Monday approved a deal that could shift some of auto parts supplier Delphi’s assets to General Motors Co., which emerged from bankruptcy protection last week.

U.S. Judge Robert Gerber, who is overseeing the liquidation of Motors Liquidation Co., the collection of assets and liabilities left over after the sale of prized GM assets to a new company, gave his approval to the deal, allowing GM and an affiliate of Platinum Equity to buy the bulk of Delphi’s assets and help the auto supplier emerge from bankruptcy protection.

All of the assets and costs related to the agreement will transfer to the new GM and not effect the finances of “Old GM” or the possible returns for the old company’s creditors, GM attorney Robert Lemons told the court.
AP PhotoThis is an undated photo released by United States Bankruptcy Court Tuesday, June 2, 2009, of Judge Robert Gerber.

The agreement could help save Delphi Corp. from liquidation, but still hinges on the consummation of a deal between the Troy, Michigan-based auto supplier, the new General Motors and Platinum.

As part of deal reached in June, Beverly Hills, California-based Platinum will be allowed to operate Delphi’s businesses both in the U.S. and abroad. Detroit-based GM will contribute a total of about $3.9 billion, including a $2 billion equity investment in Platinum, to help finance the deal. Platinum will contribute a maximum of $500 million in financing.

In exchange, GM will get certain parts of Delphi, including its Saginaw, Michigan-based steering business, and assurance of a steady supply of many of the parts it needs to produce its cars and trucks. Other “noncore” plants and assets will be sold off over time.

Delphi, which was GM’s parts division before being spun off in 1999, filed for bankruptcy protection in October 2005. It still produces about 10 percent of the parts used in GM’s global production and its components go into nearly all of GM’s North American production lines.

At the same time, GM is Delphi’s largest customer and the automaker’s business is crucial to its survival.

But some Delphi lenders, who have been funding the company’s operations under bankruptcy protection, have objected, calling the deal with Platinum a “secretly negotiated transaction” that violated Delphi’s obligations to maximize the value of the lenders’ investment.

Meanwhile, Platinum has maintained that Delphi was forced to look for funding elsewhere because the lenders didn’t provide enough, and that its offer remains the best option for Delphi.

No other parties have stepped forward with a bid to buy Delphi, but the lenders have until Thursday to submit their own bid. If they do, an auction will take place the next day in front of U.S. Judge Robert Drain, who is overseeing Delphi’s case, to determine which bid is superior.

A hearing on the sale of Delphi’s assets is scheduled for July 23. If a sale is approved, the company has said it could emerge from bankruptcy later this summer.

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Chrysler Financial pays off $1.5B in TARP loans
by The Associated Press

FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich. — Chrysler Financial, the former financing arm of automaker Chrysler LLC, said Tuesday that it has repaid in full its $1.5 billion in government loans.

The funds used to repay the TARP loans were obtained through the completion of an automotive asset-backed securitization. Chrysler Financial said its original TARP loan contained provisions that increased its costs over time, motivating the company to pay off the loan quickly.

Amid tight credit markets, Farmington Hills, Mich.-based Chrysler Financial secured the Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP, funding in January so it would be able to offer more loans to more consumers.

The hope was that by doing so, the increased loan availability would spur more vehicle sales at Chrysler and help keep the Auburn Hills, Mich.-based automaker out of bankruptcy protection.

Chrysler Financial said it used the TARP money to fund more than 85,000 consumer loans for purchases of Chrysler vehicles.

Chrysler Financial served as Chrysler LLC’s preferred lender until the automaker filed for Chapter 11 earlier this year and it was replaced by GMAC Financial Services as part of the government-backed restructuring of the automaker.

As Chrysler’s preferred lender, GMAC is allowed to provide showroom financing to Chrysler dealers and has the right to exclusively offer certain discounted financing rates to Chrysler customers.

Chrysler Financial continues to offer dealership insurance and financial products to consumers. It has a loan portfolio of $45 billion.

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