Federal-Mogul Corporation is an American developer, manufacturer, and supplier of products for automotive, commercial, aerospace, marine, rail, and off-road vehicles, as well as industrial, agricultural, and power-generation applications. It was acquired in February 2022 by Apollo Global Management.[2]
Federal-Mogul operated two independent business divisions, Federal-Mogul Powertrain and Federal-Mogul Motor-Parts. The two divisions each had their own chief executive officer.
History
Origins
Federal-Mogul was founded in 1899 in Detroit by J. Howard Muzzy and Edward F. Lyon as the Muzzy-Lyon Company.[3] Muzzy and Lyon went into business together, producing mill supplies and rubber goods.[3] In addition, the partners formed a subsidiary called the Mogul Metal Company, where they launched bearing innovations.[4][5] Muzzy Lyon began producing bearings made from their own Babbitt metal called Mogul, an alloy of tin, antimony and copper.[6][3][7] The product was trademarked under the names "Mogul" and "Duro".[6][3][7] In addition to Babbitt metal, Muzzy and Lyon invented a process of custom die-casting bearings.[7]
The Muzzy-Lyon Company's bearings business proved successful in the early 1900s and became the pair's main concern, with Buick as one of their earliest customers.[3] In 1924, the Muzzy-Lyon Company and Federal Bearings and Bushing, an engine bearings and bushings manufacturing company founded in 1915 by a group of Detroit businessmen,[6] merged to become the Federal-Mogul Corporation.[7] The combined company also manufactured bronze bearings, a product the Muzzy-Lyon Company had not supplied previously.
Federal Mogul established a research division in 1929, with the help of Battelle Memorial Institute.[7] In 1931, during the Great Depression, Federal-Mogul started its Equi-Poise propeller division.[7]
In 1932, the company developed a new alloy called C-100, one of the first new bearing materials since the discovery of Babbitt metal.[7] The Federal-Mogul research team revamped the C-100 in 1934 to create a C-50 alloy.[7]
Post-WWII expansion
In 1955, the company acquired National Motor Bearing Company, and the company name was changed to Federal-Mogul Bower.[8]
In the late 1950s, the company opened business operations in Switzerland,[7] and in 1962, the company established an overseas service center in Antwerp, Belgium.[9] In 1963, Federal-Mogul Bower's Arrowhead division manufactured components for NASA's Saturn launch vehicle.[9]
In April 1965, Federal-Mogul Bower merged with Sterling Aluminum Products. The combined company was renamed the Federal-Mogul Corporation.[8][10]
In 1966, Federal-Mogul Corporation relocated its corporate headquarters from downtown Detroit to Southfield, Michigan.[9]
In 1981, Federal-Mogul Arrowhead parts were implemented in the NASASpace Shuttle launch.[9]
In 1998, the company acquired the Automotive Products division of Cooper Industries, with brands including Anco wiper blades, Champion ignition, MOOG chassis, and Wagner and Blazer lighting.[12] It also acquired Cooper's Abex Friction products business, which included asbestos-containing products.[13] That same year, Federal-Mogul acquired Turner & Newall, a building materials company based in Manchester, UK. Turner & Newall was one of the world's largest manufacturers of asbestos-related products, including those made with blue crocidolite asbestos mined in South Africa. Turner & Newall was responsible for the Armley asbestos disaster in Leeds, UK. After the acquisition, Federal-Mogul set aside approximately $2.1 billion to cover asbestos-related claims but that amount proved insufficient.[14] The large number of products liability claims that came with the Turner & Newall acquisition were largely responsible for Federal-Mogul's federal Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing in 2002.[15]
During the company's restructuring, Federal-Mogul Corporation acquired multiple companies including Robert G. Evans Co., Hanauer Machine Works, Inc.metalic Inc., Mather Co. and Fel-Pro, Inc.[16] The company emerged from Chapter 11 reorganization in January 2008, and in April 2008, the company listed Class A common stock on NASDAQ under the trading symbol FDML.[16]
In June 2010, Federal-Mogul expanded further into Asia by opening a headquarters and technical center in Shanghai, China.[17] The Asia Pacific headquarters and technical center facility contains powertrain dynamometers and vehicle braking test cells among other processes.[17] The location allows for increased technical support to powertrain and vehicle customers as well as technology development.[17]
Federal-Mogul acquired Daros Group in June 2010, a privately owned supplier of pistons for large bore engines used in industrial energy generation and commercial shipping.[18] The acquisition of the group included operations in China, Sweden and Germany.[18]
The purchase of draco added two-stroke and four-stroke piston ring products to Federal-Mogul's portfolio of industrial piston rings.[18]
In December 2010 the company's Barcelona warehouse was shut down and moved to Madrid.
In March 2012, Federal-Mogul's board of directors modified the company's corporate structure to create separate Powertrain and Vehicle Components segments, each with its own CEO.[19] Rainer juckstock former senior vice president of the company's Powertrain Energy business, was named CEO for the Powertrain segment effective April 1, 2012.[19] In February 2014, Daniel A. Ninivaggi was appointed CEO of the Federal-Mogul Vehicle Components segment (VCS).
In July 2012, Federal-Mogul announced a definitive agreement to purchase the BERU spark plug business from BorgWarner Inc.[20]
In September 2014, the company formally announced the long-awaited modification to its corporate structure - a split into two separate companies: Federal-Mogul Powertrain and Federal-Mogul Motor-Parts. The Powertrain division will focus on manufacturing and selling OEM auto parts, while the Motor-Parts division will be responsible for selling aftermarket parts. Each company will have its own CEO and corporate-level staff, who will continue to report to the board of directors of Federal-Mogul Holding Corporation. The company expects the split to be completed in the first half of 2015, pending regulatory approval.[21]
In 2014, Honeywell completed a $155 million sale of its friction materials business to Federal Mogul.
In December 2016, Federal-Mogul completed the acquisition of the Beck/Arnley brand and certain associated assets. Based in Smyrna, Tennessee, Beck/Arnley is a provider of parts and fluids for foreign nameplate vehicles in North America.[citation needed]
In January 2017, majority shareholder Carl Icahn completed a $300 million deal for all of Federal-Mogul's stock, after which he changed the company from a public company to a private company.[15]
In April 2018, Tenneco announced that they had purchased Federal-Mogul in a deal worth approximately US$5.4 billion.[22] On October 1, 2018, Tenneco Inc. completed its acquisition.[2]
Federal-Mogul Motor-Parts sells and distributes products under more than 20 brands in the global vehicle aftermarket, including ANCO wiper blades; Bentley-Harris protection solutions; Champion spark plugs, wipers and filters, BERU glow plugs; AE, Fel-Pro, Goetze, Nural, Glyco and Payen engine products; MOOG steering and suspension parts; and Ferodo and Wagner brake products.[24]
Awards
Federal-Mogul has received 16 Automotive NewsPACE Awards.[25] The awards are for automotive suppliers that show innovation, technological advancement and business performance.[26] Federal-Mogul received their first PACE Award in 2003; their most recent PACE Award was awarded in 2016.
^"Federal-Mogul Goetze". www.openbusinesscouncil.org. January 19, 2024. Retrieved January 20, 2024.
^ abcdKlier, Thomas H; Rubenstein, James N. (2008). Who really made your car? Restructuring and geographic change in the auto industry. Kalamazoo, MI: W. E. Upjohn Institute. pp. 68–69. ISBN978-0-88099-333-3.
