Auto Parts

Services for Joseph W. Shuley, retired vice president of Federal Auto Parts Inc., will be held at 10 a.m. today at St. John's Lutheran Church, 300 W. Maple Road, Linthicum.Mr. Shuley, who was 73 and lived for more than 35 years on Lynvue Road in Linthicum, died Monday of heart disease at North Arundel Hospital.He retired more than five years ago as one of the owners of the family auto parts store in Baltimore. He became associated with the store after serving in the Army during World War II. He reached the rank of master sergeant in the Army.

A collapsed roof at an auto parts store in Lochearn at about 12:30 p.m. Wednesday remains under investigation and resulted in no injuries. Baltimore County firefighters remained on the scene at 7003 Liberty Road for several hours and county building engineers continue to work at determining the cause. They will also attempt to secure the building and determine if the structure is structurally sound. Most of the damage was to the back of the building, officials said. There were no customers at the Salvo Auto Parts store at the time and employees were able to evacuate without injury.

WASHINGTON - Auto suppliers, struggling along with the entire industry in the face of the deep recession, will receive up to $5 billion in federal aid, the Treasury Department said yesterday. The financing is intended to give suppliers confidence that they will be paid for shipments they make to automakers, including General Motors Corp. and Chrysler, both of which are teetering near bankruptcy as federal officials review their restructuring plans. GM and Chrysler have delayed their payment schedule to vendors as their woes deepened.

"Cash-for-clunkers" may be a hit with consumers and a boon to the struggling auto industry, but it's no bonanza for junkyard operators, who say they're being left quite literally with the scraps of the federal economic stimulus program. While some salvage businesses are eagerly buying traded-in gas-guzzlers from auto dealers for parts and scrap metal, others are steering clear of the government program, with some complaining that it comes with more red tape than it's worth. "We just ain't getting involved in it," says Roland Reiser, manager of Glory Days Auto Salvage in Hanover.

A Hampstead man was sentenced yesterday in Carroll County Circuit Court to 18 months in jail for his role in four unrelated thefts last year.James Howe, 38, of the 1400 block of N. Main St. was sentenced to 10 years in prison with all but 18 months suspended for stealing a $30 jigsaw from Kmart in Westminster in May 1997.Judge Raymond E. Beck Sr. imposed a concurrent five-year sentence for Howe's theft of $610, which he collected in cash for auto parts he delivered to customers as a parts driver for Condon's Auto Parts in Westminster between April and June 1997.

CHICAGO - A man who was fired from his job at an auto parts company six months ago returned yesterday with a handgun and shot six former co-workers, killing them all, before being mortally wounded in a gunbattle with police, authorities said. Salvador Tapia, 36, who had been arrested a dozen times on weapons, assault and other charges, died after being taken to a hospital, police said. Four of his victims were pronounced dead at the scene, shot down among a maze of engine parts, crates and 55-gallon drums at Windy City Core Supply Inc. The two others died at local hospitals, officials said.

DETROIT - Delphi Automotive Systems Corp., the world's largest auto parts manufacturer, said yesterday that it will eliminate 11,500 jobs this year, mainly through attrition, and will close nine factories and distribution centers. Delphi, which was spun off from General Motors Corp. two years ago and has 211,000 employees worldwide, also warned that it would break even or record a small loss in the first quarter and would take an after-tax charge of up to $400 million, instead of earning a substantial profit as financial analysts had expected.

DETROIT -- Robert S. Miller started off as the Oracle of Delphi, handing down dire pronouncements about the auto industry from his lofty post as chief executive of the parts supplier. But with the Delphi Corp. now in bankruptcy proceedings, Miller, known as Steve, has come charging down from the mountaintop to confront Delphi's unions in a way that Detroit has rarely seen. Miller seems to be relishing his combatant's role, at least for the attention it is bringing to the crisis facing his industry.

Does the recession hurt or help my shares of AutoZone Inc.? B.R., via the Internet On the one hand, the retailer of auto parts and accessories benefits from cash-strapped motorists fixing up their cars rather than purchasing new vehicles. The age and mileage of cars on the road continues to rise. On the other hand, if the economy gets bad enough, they also will defer spending on their existing vehicles. That's why the firm has begun a consumer education campaign to encourage proper vehicle maintenance.

Charles A. Sheidy Sr., an employee of the AAA Maryland automobile association and former auto parts store manager, died Wednesday at Franklin Square Hospital. He had been unconscious since having what appeared to be a heart attack Monday morning on Interstate 95 near White Marsh.Services for Mr. Sheidy, who was 62 and lived in Aberdeen, will be held at 11 a.m. tomorrow at the Evans Chapel of Memories, 8800 Harford Road.A native of Baltimore and 1946 graduate of Towson High School, Mr. Sheidy was a chemist years ago and sold real estate before a career with Western Auto as a store manager and as a district manager in Rockville.

WASHINGTON - Auto suppliers, struggling along with the entire industry in the face of the deep recession, will receive up to $5 billion in federal aid, the Treasury Department said yesterday. The financing is intended to give suppliers confidence that they will be paid for shipments they make to automakers, including General Motors Corp. and Chrysler, both of which are teetering near bankruptcy as federal officials review their restructuring plans. GM and Chrysler have delayed their payment schedule to vendors as their woes deepened.

Ralph N. "Bo" Willis, who owned a wholesale distributorship of automobile and truck parts, died of complications from pulmonary fibrosis Wednesday at his home at the Brightwood retirement community in Lutherville. He was 77. Born in Baltimore and raised in Mount Washington, Mr. Willis attended Friends School and Gilman School, where he helped the lacrosse team win three Maryland Scholastic Association championships and also played football and basketball. He was the C. Markland Kelly Award winner in lacrosse and was voted All-State by local sportswriters.

Does the recession hurt or help my shares of AutoZone Inc.? B.R., via the Internet On the one hand, the retailer of auto parts and accessories benefits from cash-strapped motorists fixing up their cars rather than purchasing new vehicles. The age and mileage of cars on the road continues to rise. On the other hand, if the economy gets bad enough, they also will defer spending on their existing vehicles. That's why the firm has begun a consumer education campaign to encourage proper vehicle maintenance.

Rayloc, an auto parts remanufacturer, will lay off 260 workers at its Western Maryland plant when it ends production there in mid-March, according to local officials. Rayloc, which a year ago employed more than 360 workers at the Hancock plant, is owned by Atlanta-based Genuine Parts Co. Rayloc remanufactures and distributes parts through the National Automotive Parts Association system, according to the company's 2006 annual report. Calls to the parent company were not returned yesterday.

WASHINGTON --The heat on China is not letting up. In a rare coordinated move, the United States and the European Union filed a complaint yesterday with the World Trade Organization, accusing China of imposing discriminatory tariffs on foreign suppliers of auto parts. The action came 10 days before the beginning of a round of high-level trade talks between the United States and China, and less than three weeks before a visit to Washington by President Hu Jintao of China. Coming amid heightened concern over China's large and growing trade surpluses, the complaint was seen as part of a broader attempt to address the growing criticism against China's trade policies.

DETROIT -- Robert S. Miller started off as the Oracle of Delphi, handing down dire pronouncements about the auto industry from his lofty post as chief executive of the parts supplier. But with the Delphi Corp. now in bankruptcy proceedings, Miller, known as Steve, has come charging down from the mountaintop to confront Delphi's unions in a way that Detroit has rarely seen. Miller seems to be relishing his combatant's role, at least for the attention it is bringing to the crisis facing his industry.

TOKYO -- In tones reflecting the increasingly combative exchanges between Japan and the United States, the head of a Japanese auto group said yesterday it was "incomprehensible" that Detroit had not accepted Tokyo's offer to buy $19 billion more in U.S.-made auto parts.Yutaka Kume, president of Nissan Motor Co. and chairman of the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association, said top Japanese executives "have no intention" of discussing the issue again with the Big Three U.S. automakers.His comments virtually erased any hopes of continuing discussions among the world's biggest automakers about how to close the trade gap between the countries.

The Clinton administration appeared headed last night toward a nasty trade showdown with Japan, after three days of intense negotiations over American access to the Japanese automobile market ended in failure.The last day of talks in Vancouver, British Columbia, were finished off last night with a terse statement from U.S. Trade Rep. Mickey Kantor."The government of Japan has refused to address our most fundamental concerns in all areas," Mr. Kantor said. "Discrimination against foreign manufacturers of autos and auto parts continues."

DETROIT - Visteon Corp. and Delphi Corp., the largest U.S. auto-parts makers, posted a fourth straight quarter of losses yesterday as the result of Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Corp. cutting production in the first half. Visteon's second-quarter net loss was $1.19 billion, including $1.1 billion in noncash expenses to write down the value of plants it is shedding. Delphi posted a $338 million loss and said its third-quarter sales will be down from a year ago. Delphi and Visteon have turned to their former parents, GM and Ford, respectively, for help in reducing losses after sales declines in the first five months of the year prompted carmakers to cut output by a combined 9.6 percent.

At an auto auction a few years ago, the best-selling adventure author Clive Cussler stared at a classic DeLorean and asked an acquaintance why people still seem so fascinated with the car. "I see the same thing in these cars that I see in your books," replied James Espey, vice-president of Houston-based DeLorean Motor Company, which owns the rights to the brand and restores and sells the cars. "It's just a great story." The March 19 death of visionary automaker John Z. DeLorean, best known for developing the sleek 1980s sports car with the stainless-steel skin and gull-wing doors that bore his name, marks the final chapter in one of the most riveting sagas in automotive history.