Special presentation ceremonies held in the UK and Spain recognise world-class service

Management and staff of Tenneco Automotive Europe are celebrating after winning a total of five awards for quality and service from Nissan for its Monroe products.

At a special ceremony, Tenneco Automotive's original equipment (OE) vice president and general manager, Sandro Paparelli, and Severiano Hernandez, OE sales & engineering, Asia Team director, received the Nissan Supplier Of The Year Award for 1999 from Nissan Motor Manufacturing UK Limited (NMUK). They also collected two Next 21 Awards on behalf of Tenneco Automotive's Monroe facilities in St Truiden, Belgium and Ermua, Spain.

John Cushnaghan, managing director of NMUK, and Peter Hill, vice president - purchasing, Nissan Europe, presented the awards to Tenneco Automotive at the ceremony in Sunderland, Tyne & Wear, England.

In addition, Nissan Spain (NMISA) also recently awarded Tenneco Automotive the Nissan Supplier Of The Year Award for 1999, and the Next 21 accolade for its Monroe Ermua plant. Mr Paparelli and Mr Hernandez, who were accompanied by Gabriel Manso, Tenneco Automotive's quality manager, attended the event, held in Barcelona in April.

NMISA president R. Boronat and NMISA purchasing director M. Friol, along with Nissan Europe purchasing vice president Peter Hill, were on hand to present the awards at the evening ceremony.

Tenneco Automotive was one of only three companies to be named as a leading supplier for outstanding performance by Nissan. Mr Paparelli said: "These awards clearly recognise the strength of the relationship between our two companies and the dedication and hard work of all those concerned with ensuring that Nissan receives the highest levels of customer service and quality."

Tenneco Automotive, under its Monroe brand, is the exclusive supplier of rear shock absorbers and front struts for the all-new Nissan Almera medium-sized family car recently launched across Europe.

The company will also be the exclusive supplier to NMISA of rear shock absorbers and front struts for the new Nissan Tino, a smaller MPV, due to go on-sale in mid-2000.

The relationship between Tenneco Automotive and Nissan Europe is well established. The company's ties with Nissan date back to the 1980s when Nissan in Sunderland was established. In 1986 these bonds were strengthened in preparation for the launch of the Nissan Primera in 1990.

Tenneco Automotive's link with NMISA also began in 1980 when it acquired Motor Iberica, a company that Tenneco Automotive had been supplying since the beginning of the 1970s.

Today, Tenneco Automotive supplies all Nissan models in Europe including Almera, Primera, Micra, Terrano, Patrol, Serena, Vanette, Trade, Cabstar and Atleon truck range. Products include twin tube shock absorbers and struts in several sizes, low-pressure components, and heavy-duty designs for trucks and steering dampers.

The Nissan Supplier Of The Year Award is based on its Supplier Appraisal and Improvement System (SAIS). The Next 21 Award is based on the same SAIS system, but is based on performance within the past four years. The SAIS system assesses performance related to quality, delivery, management, cost and development.