S&P issues warnings about auto suppliers
Staff, wire reportNEW YORK - Standard & Poor's cut its ratings on two auto parts suppliers and warned several others - including Lear Corp. and Stoneridge Inc. - could be next, citing the steep downturn in the auto industry.
The credit-ratings agency cut its long-term corporate credit ratings on Dana Holding Corp. to ''B+'' from ''BB-,'' sending it deeper into noninvestment grade territory. It also cut the same ratings on Magna International Inc. to ''A-'' from ''A,'' both of which are investment grade.
S&P said both companies have ''negative implications,'' meaning further downgrades could be forthcoming.
The credit-ratings agency also assigned negative implications to 13 other parts suppliers, including such prominent names as BorgWarner Inc., Johnson Controls Inc. and Lear, which employs 60 to 70 union workers at its Lordstown factory that supplies parts to General Motors Lordstown Complex.
Howland-based Stoneridge Inc., which makes electrical and electronic sensors and switches for vehicles, also wound up on the S&P list for potential problems as domestic automakers gobble up their cash.
Others were ArvinMeritor Inc., Cooper-Standard Automotive Inc., Federal-Mogul Corp., Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., Hayes Lemmerz International Inc., MetoKote Corp., Shiloh Industries Inc., Tenneco Inc. and Visteon Corp.
Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., which was among the companies S&P said it may cut, said in a statement it was disappointed in the ratings agency's decision. It said its exposure to the Detroit automakers was less than 8 percent.
S&P said its outlook reflects ''the increasingly beleaguered state of the Michigan-based automakers and the multiple scenarios - almost all of them negative - that could play out over the next few weeks or months.''
