Tim Wright03.06.09
Ms. Niekamp, you recently joined PPG's automotive coatings business at a challenging time. How would you characterize the state of the global automotive OEM coatings market and how is the bad economy affecting PPG's automotive OEM coatings business? How would you characterize regional markets (NA, Western Europe, EE, Asia, etc.)?
Yes, it certainly is a challenging time for the auto industry. The automotive sector is clearly one of the hardest hit during this economic crisis, and PPG automotive coatings business has not been immune. Luckily, we have a global presence and a balanced portfolio of customers, so we aren't as hard hit as many other U.S.-based automotive suppliers. Plus, PPG has taken some very aggressive action to take out cost, including the closing of our Canadian coatings facility and some significant reductions in our workforce worldwide. As you know auto sales in the westernized economies have been falling since the middle of last year, and we have now seen a similar impact in Eastern Europe and Asia. We see China continuing to grow this year, but at a reduced rate.
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Yes, it certainly is a challenging time for the auto industry. The automotive sector is clearly one of the hardest hit during this economic crisis, and PPG automotive coatings business has not been immune. Luckily, we have a global presence and a balanced portfolio of customers, so we aren't as hard hit as many other U.S.-based automotive suppliers. Plus, PPG has taken some very aggressive action to take out cost, including the closing of our Canadian coatings facility and some significant reductions in our workforce worldwide. As you know auto sales in the westernized economies have been falling since the middle of last year, and we have now seen a similar impact in Eastern Europe and Asia. We see China continuing to grow this year, but at a reduced rate.
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