Delphi Corp. has reduced its once dominating manufacturing presence in Western New York but is looking to expand in China, the company’s CEO says.
Reuters News Service reports that Rodney O’Neal told it that the Troy, Mich.-based auto parts supplier is on the lookout for acquisitions in the booming Chinese auto market.
“Obviously we’re looking. We’ve got a great balance sheet right now and we’re out looking,” O’Neal told Reuters at the Beijing auto show.
The Chinese auto market has become the world’s largest with growth in 2009 of more than 45 percent. First quarter sales this year have accelerated more than 70 percent.
Delphi, now a privately-held company, has about 200 employees in a tech center at its former Lockport complex where in 1973 under the ownership of General Motors about 11,000 people worked.
At the same Upper Mountain Road manufacturing site, GM currently has about 1,300 employees.
Delphi emerged in 2009 from four years in bankruptcy after slashing about 80,000 workers and divesting or dropping many of its businesses.
http://buffalo.bizjournals.com/buffalo/stories/2010/04/26/daily4.html
