Adient’s separation from JCI was not painless. The new company was saddled with $3.5 billion in debt to fund a $3 billion cash payout to JCI. Bruce McDonald, Adient CEO, has said the new company has a debt load of 1.9 times earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization. He expects to whittle that ratio to 1-to-1 within three years.
Competitors see that leverage as an opportunity to reach for Adient business.
Matthew Simoncini, CEO of Lear Corp., one of Adient’s main rivals, has been critical of the new company. He has said Lear expects that the “irrational, unsustainable price quotes coming out of Johnsons” will have no impact on Lear.
Speaking in a recent interview, Simoncini said: “Whenever there is uncertainty, that’s usually bad for a supplier. When a competitor’s future is uncertain, or highly leveraged, that is usually a benefit to a stronger company. I can’t wait until Adient comes out. I want to compete with them head to head.”
With projected consolidated revenues of $17 billion in this fiscal year, Adient would be about No. 11 on the Automotive News list of top 100 global suppliers, just behind Lear and ahead of Valeo. When it was still JCI, it finished No. 9 on the list with worldwide parts sales to automakers of $20.07 billion in fiscal 2015.
Adient will operate 230 locations in 33 countries with about 75,000 employees. Adient has said it will deliver 25 million seating systems used on 330 vehicle nameplates around the world.
The new company is counting on its leading market position in China, where it had $7 billion in unconsolidated revenues. Adient is counting on its non-North American revenues — 70 percent of the total — to help it weather a possible North American downturn. The company is particularly dominant in China.
Though “Adient” is a new name, don’t expect an avalanche of ads to promote it.
Says Foster: “You’ll see a little bit more publicity advertising around the Adient brand as we launch. The industry knows us. The industry has caught on to our story very quickly.”
Rezension 2021 Lexus ES 350 – 2021 Lexus ES 350
