Lake Forest, Illinois, Oct 18, 2012 –Tenneco (NYSE:TEN) announced today that it is supplying key emissions and ride control technologies for the 2012 Ford Focus compact car in China. Together with its joint venture partner Changan Ford Mazda Automobile (CFMA), Ford began production of the Focus earlier this year at its state-of-the-art passenger car plant in Chongqing, China.

 

 

Tenneco is a strategic supplier to Ford, supporting the Focus platform with global manufacturing and engineering capabilities in key regions around the world, including the United States, Europe, South Africa, Mexico and Russia. Together, Ford and Tenneco engineers have worked together to develop common global designs, testing, and manufacturing parameters to minimize development time, cost, and complexity. The Focus launch represents one of the largest and most globally-integrated programs that Ford has undertaken.

 

Tenneco is supplying the cold end exhaust system and front and rear shock absorbers for the Focus. The exhaust system is manufactured at the company’s Chongqing, China plant, and the shock absorbers at the company’s facility in Beijing. Tenneco’s technical centers in Edenkoben, Germany; Sint Truiden, Belgium; Monroe, Mich. and Grass Lake, Mich. are providing engineering support and system integration on the Focus.

Tenneco is a $7.2 billion global manufacturing company with headquarters in Lake Forest, Illinois and approximately 24,000 employees worldwide. Tenneco is one of the world’s largest designers, manufacturers and marketers of emission control and ride control products and systems for the automotive and commercial vehicle original equipment markets and the aftermarket. Tenneco markets its products principally under the Monroe®, Walker® and Clevite® Elastomer brand names. 

 

This press release contains forward-looking statements. Words such as “anticipate,” “expects,” "will", "continue" and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on the current expectations of the company (including its subsidiaries). Because these forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, the company's plans, actions and actual results could differ materially. Among the factors that could cause these plans, actions and results to differ materially from current expectations are: (i) changes in automotive manufacturers' production rates and their actual and forecasted requirements for the company's products, including the company's resultant inability to realize the sales represented by its awarded book of business; (ii) changes in consumer demand and prices, including decreases in demand for automobiles which include the company's products, and the potential negative impact on the company's revenues and margins from such products; (iii) the general political, economic and competitive conditions in markets where the company and its subsidiaries operate; (iv) workforce factors such as strikes or labor interruptions; (v) material substitutions and increases in the costs of raw materials; and (vi) the company's ability to develop and profitably commercialize new products and technologies, and the acceptance of such new products and technologies by the company's customers. The company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this press release.