August 15, 2007 -- Lear Corp.'s president and chief operating officer, Douglas DelGrosso, is leaving the auto supplier as the company restructures and pares executive positions to cut costs. Effective Tuesday, Lear Chairman and CEO Bob Rossiter assumed the additional role of president, which includes overseeing the Southfield-based supplier's global business units.
Although Lear made $49.9 million on $4.4 billion in sales in the first quarter of this year, the auto supplier lost $2 billion in fiscal years 2005 and 2006 as a result of slashed production of certain vehicles at auto factories. DelGrosso is leaving Lear by mutual agreement. He joined the company in 1984. "The whole industry is undergoing tremendous restructuring and streamlining," Lear spokesman Mel Stephens said. "This is an ongoing process where you look at a company and try to make it as efficient as possible. This latest move is another step to improve our operational efficiency."
Erich Merkle, an auto analyst at IRN Inc., said he isn't surprised by Lear's decision to eliminate DelGrosso's position. The supplier has been aggressively cutting costs. "Given the challenges that the company has faced and the performance of the company over the last 12 months, change should never come as a surprise," Merkle said. Stephens declined to say if the supplier will make additional job cuts. "We don't comment on those types of things," he said.
The company's board will offer Rossiter a new three-year employment agreement, Lear said in a statement. Vice chairman and CFO Jim Vandenberghe also agreed to stay with the company through 2008. Lear management recently was defeated by a shareholder vote that nixed a proposed buyout of Lear by investor Carl Icahn.
Source: The Detroit News
Source: Factiva
