Auto supply firms share the slump
| Cleveland
How are the firms which supply parts and components to the nation's automakers faring? Not surprisingly, with Detroit's sales slumping badly, they've been backed into a corner, Industry Week magazine reports.
Earnings of suppliers are dropping and many are posting sizable losses. Nearly 480,000 workers have been laid off in supplier firms.
Companies are trying to fight back in various ways. One way is to broaden or switch the markets which the company serves. Firms are looking for non-automotive business. A major tiremaker is giving more emphasis to the replacement tire market.
