When the U.S. auto industry collapsed in 2009, many people weren't certain that it would be able to recover. Chrysler and GM went through structured bankruptcies, while Ford made significant internal cuts – all with the hopes of recovery. But uncertainty loomed as light vehicle sales fell to their lowest levels in nearly three decades.
“The fact that we’re even talking about recovery is remarkable,” says Mike Hamzey Jr., president of the R.M. Wright Company in Farmington Hills, MI, and president of the Fluid Power Distributors Association. Hamzey spoke with me for the article Auto Industry’s Return from Collapse, available in the latest issue of MDM Premium.
The decision by the government to move ahead with assisting GM and Chrysler kept the story from being very different, he says. That said, the industry is very different than what it was a few years ago.
Read more about the current U.S. auto industry and how distributors who serve that market responded in the latest issue of MDM Premium.
Also available in the Nov. 25, 2013, issue:
- Where Managers Blunder – This article from William McCleave includes findings from a two-year study on where distributor industry managers falter and how they can do better.
- MDM Interview: Giving Up Control of Your Business – Author and lawyer Lawrence Gold addresses the difficulty of starting succession planning and how to overcome those issues.
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