Dana reiterates vow to diversify portfolio

9/10/2009

Dana Holding Corp.'s top executives laid out their global strategy to diversify their geographic footprint as well as their sales portfolio yesterday in a presentation to analysts at the 2009 Credit Suisse Automotive and Transportation Conference in New York.

The auto parts maker, which last week moved its headquarters from its longtime home on Dorr Street in Toledo to its technology center in Maumee, reiterated plans to dilute its sales concentration in car and light-duty trucks, which comprise about 60 percent of its annual revenues.

Commercial trucks and off-highway machinery such as mining equipment comprise the balance of Dana's sales portfolio.

Dana executives predicted the company's sales in North America are likely to remain relatively flat through 2012, while sales in South America, Asia, and Europe are poised to grow dramatically over the same period.

In 2000, North America made up 77 percent of Dana's annual sales, with Europe, South America, and the Asia-Pacific region making up 15, 5, and 3 percent of the remainder respectively.

Today, 51 percent of Dana's sales are tied to North America, while Europe, South America, and Asia are responsible for 25, 14, and 10 percent of sales annually.

Dana, which had $8.1 billion in sales last year, shrank its global work force to 22,500 by July 1, the company told analysts, a 35 percent reduction since 2007. In total, Dana plans to cut 5,800 jobs globally through the remainder of this year.