Parts Suppliers Submit Additional Assistance Request to Treasury; Cite Immediate...

Parts Suppliers Submit Additional Assistance Request to Treasury; Cite
Immediate Threats to Supplier Industry and Domestic Vehicle Manufacturing

WASHINGTON, June 10 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- On behalf of the motor vehicle
parts supplier industry, the Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association
(MEMA) and its affiliate, the Original Equipment Suppliers Association (OESA),
submitted a formal plan to the U.S. Department of the Treasury which outlined
immediate actions needed to stabilize the increasingly deteriorating situation
in the country's supply base. For a copy of the submission, please click
here.

"The aid provided to suppliers in March addressed only a finite set of
issues," said Bob McKenna, MEMA's president and CEO. "The crisis suppliers
are facing has only grown worse since that time, and the industry remains on
the verge of collapse."

The submission cited a continued lack of available credit, severely reduced
vehicle production levels, and planned summer shutdowns relating to the GM and
Chrysler bankruptcies as all worsening the financial state of the supplier
industry. The submission also cited a Roland Berger study which warned of 49
supplier insolvencies -- not just bankruptcies -- in 2009 and additional 60
supplier insolvencies in 2010 if the current situation prevails.

"The supplier industry is witnessing a very rapid and dangerous decline," said
Neil De Koker, OESA president. "Further losses would exacerbate the
devastation within the supplier industry, threaten the ability to support a
domestic vehicle manufacturing industry, and worsen the economic conditions in
communities across the country."

To alleviate the situation, the submission calls for 1) expanding current
federal loan guarantee programs, 2) developing incentives to spur commercial
lending, including re-programming unused Auto Supplier Support Program funds,
and 3) initiating the study of long-term program initiatives to support a
stable U.S. automotive supply base. "The most optimistic estimate would
indicate that $8 to $10 billion is necessary," the submission stated.

ABOUT MEMA AND OESA

MEMA represents motor vehicle parts suppliers, the nation's largest
manufacturing sector, employing 686,000 people across the country. Suppliers
are also the largest manufacturing employer in eight states. These jobs
contribute to 3.29 million private sector jobs across the country. Suppliers
manufacture the parts and technology used in domestic production of new cars
and trucks produced each year, and the aftermarket products necessary to
repair and maintain more than 247 million vehicles on the road today.

MEMA supports its members through its three affiliate associations, Automotive
Aftermarket Suppliers Association (AASA), Heavy Duty Manufacturers Association
(HDMA), and Original Equipment Suppliers Association (OESA). OESA represents
more than 400 member companies having global automotive sales exceeding $300
billion and 65 percent of North American automotive supplier sales. For more
information on the motor vehicle parts supplier industry, please visit
www.mema.org or www.oesa.org.

SOURCE Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association

Ann McCulloch of the Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association,
+1-202-494-7988, amcculloch@mema.org; or Jeff Laskowski of the Original
Equipment Suppliers Association, +1-248-952-6401, jlaskowski@oesa.org