Welcome to the Daily 5 report for Wednesday, June 11.
Following several days of uncertainty, Marelli Holdings Co. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on June 10, marking another failed spinoff of an automaker's parts unit. In this case, it actually represents two failed spinoffs: one from Fiat's legacy within Stellantis and the other from Nissan Motor Co.
Marelli's private equity owner, KKR, in 2019 rolled together the longtime Fiat unit Magneti Marelli with Nissan's Calsonic Kansei. The results from this attempt to merge two far-flung global suppliers with Italian and Japanese cultures speak for themselves.
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It's been tried before. General Motors spun off its technology and parts unit Delphi Corp. in 1999. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in October 2005 and emerged almost exactly four years later. It was ultimately broken into various pieces after the Great Recession.
Not to be outdone, Ford Motor Co. spun off its parts unit Visteon Corp. and its orange polka dot logo in June 2000. The company struggled for years and ended up in Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2009. It emerged from protection 16 months later. It survives today a much smaller and focused technology supplier.
Of course, not all of these spinoffs failed. American Axle & Manufacturing Inc. spun off from GM in 1994 and has survived through numerous challenges for 31 years. Today, it said it landed business with Volkswagen Group's Scout Motors to supply front electric drive units and rear e-beam axles for the electric Traveler SUV and Terra pickup. American Axle also is in the process of completing a $1.44 billion acquisition.
For now, Marelli's fate rests in the hands of creditors and U.S. Bankruptcy Court. It appears there is an orderly plan for moving forward during reorganization.
In other news, Ford said its employee pricing discount aimed at easing consumer fears over import tariffs boosted its U.S. market share at the end of May to 14.7 percent, up 1.9 percentage points year over year.
Finally, many questions remain, but President Donald Trump trumpeted a new trade deal with China. Stay tuned as more details come out.
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— Philip Nussel, online editor
