Armor All Signs Deal To Offer Cleaning Products
Melling Acquires Dura-Bond Bearing
Parts Prices Flat For Over 20 Years
California Firm to Build Mobile Command Vehicle

ARMOR ALL SIGNS DEAL TO OFFER CLEANING PRODUCTS

Oakland-based Armor All/STP Products Company has signed an exclusive agreement with Mallory Industries Inc., to produce a full line of Armor All(R) branded automotive cleaning accessories.

The Armor All-branded products from Mallory will address a wide variety of vehicle cleaning needs including interior, exterior and specialty auto appearance items.

"We are thrilled to be working with a manufacturing partner such as Mallory. We believe its new line of cleaning accessories will be well received by do-it-yourselfers and car-cleaning enthusiasts. This will be an excellent extension of the Armor All brand," said Steven Silberblatt, Vice President, New Business Development and Licensing, The Clorox Company, which owns Armor All.

The product line is expected to hit retail in 2008.

MELLING ACQUIRES DURA-BOND BEARING

Jackson, MI.-based Melling Engine Parts has purchased the outstanding 50% of Dura-Bond Bearing Company making Melling 100% owner of Dura-Bond.

Dura-Bond manufactures engine camshaft bearings, valve seats, valve shims, and engine hardware kits marketed to the engine rebuilding and performance industries. The company will continue to be located in Carson City, NV., and will keep its current staff including President Charles Barnett.

"It is a great addition to the Melling family of companies," said Mark Melling, CEO of Melling Engine Parts, "and we will be able to do great things together."

The purchase was announced during Automotive Aftermarket Industry Week.

PARTS PRICES FLAT FOR OVER 20 YEARS

Auto parts prices have been flat for over two decades, according to a recent study the by Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association.

"The prices consumers pay for motor vehicle parts and equipment have increased very little since 1982," reported the MEMA, "which has made grown in margins difficult."

The prices for motor vehicle parts and equipment have risen at a rate far lower than inflation and most other consumer products. "While this may be good for the consumer," noted Frank Hampshire, MEMA director of market research, "it is very unhealthy for the financial status of the industry."

"For too long, the industry has concentrated its marketing on being the lowest cost supplier," said Paul Foley, vice president of MEMA's Automotive Aftermarket Suppliers Association. "While being the low-cost manufacturer should be the supplier's goal, it should be more important to build brands, provide outstanding service and high fill rates, and, of course, offer high-quality products."

Foley noted that most aftermarket companies "are currently using pricing strategies based on matching or beating competitor prices or on a certain gross margin requirement," Foley said. "Few consider the full cost of carrying a product, especially a slow-moving product, or understand the value the consumer might place on the convenience of having the product readily available.

"Products are generally priced on an average, not by SKU, which ultimately leads to faster-moving SKUs subsidizing slower-moving products," he continued. "These practices are leading to narrowing profit margins."

CALIFORNIA FIRM TO BUILD MOBILE COMMAND VEHICLE

Mattman Specialty Vehicles has been hired to build a Mobile Command Center for the Los Angeles International Airport Police Department.

San Marcos-based Mattman will create a self-contained vehicle with "complete communications and control functionality for supporting the law enforcement efforts at the airport." The company said, "The mobility provides officers the ability to work at any incident site with all the resources they would have at the police headquarters, but with much faster response time."

Barrie Cropper, CEO of Mattman Specialty Vehicles, said he believes the vehicle will be "the first of its kind with this level of technological sophistication to be delivered to a major international airport."

Originally published in the December 2006 issue of Automotive Booster Magazine.
Copyright 2006 by KAL Publications Inc.