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EXHIBIT 99.1
NEWS RELEASE [TENNECO AUTOMOTIVE LOGO]
For immediate release:
Contact: Jane Ostrander
Media Relations
(847) 482-5607
jane.ostrander@tenneco-automotive.com
Leslie Cleveland Hague
Investor Relations
(847) 482-5042
lchague@tenneco-automotive.com
TENNECO AUTOMOTIVE TO REDUCE WORLDWIDE SALARIED WORK FORCE
LAKE FOREST, ILLINOIS, JANUARY 31, 2001 - Tenneco Automotive (NYSE: TEN)
announced today that it intends to eliminate up to an additional 405 salaried
positions worldwide in response to increasingly difficult industry conditions.
This reduction includes the immediate elimination of 215 positions.
This action is in addition to the cost-reduction plans announced by the company
in October 2000 that included eliminating up to 700 salaried positions worldwide
by the end of 2001. Today's cost-reduction plans are expected to be fully
implemented by the end of the first quarter 2002, at which time the company
anticipates it will have reduced its worldwide salaried workforce by 22 percent
as a result of the two initiatives.
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Like many others in the automotive supply sector, the company continues to be
negatively impacted by a persistent weakness in the global aftermarket, cutbacks
in North American light vehicle production, and a sharp decline in North
American heavy-duty truck production.
"We regret the impact on our people as we eliminate more positions," said Mark
P. Frissora, chairman and CEO, Tenneco Automotive. "However, we are facing very
tough industry conditions which, coupled with our highly leveraged structure,
make it absolutely necessary to respond as quickly as possible by continuing to
aggressively cut costs and reduce spending."
Tenneco Automotive estimates that this cost reduction plan will generate
approximately $27 million in annual savings when fully implemented. The company
anticipates taking cash charges of up to $14 million in 2001 related to the
reductions announced today. All work force reductions will be done in compliance
with all legal and contractual requirements including obligations to consult
with worker committees, union representatives and others.
The annual savings are expected to be in addition to the approximately $45
million in annual savings the company anticipates it will realize when the
workforce reduction plans announced in October 2000 are completed at the end of
2001.
Tenneco Automotive is a $3.5 billion manufacturing company headquartered in Lake
Forest, Ill., with 23,000 employees worldwide. Tenneco Automotive is one of the
world's largest producers and marketers of ride control and exhaust systems and
products, which are sold under the Monroe(R) and Walker(R) global brand names.
Among its products are Sensa-Trac(R) and Reflex(TM)
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shocks and struts, Rancho(R) shock absorbers, Walker(R) Quiet-Flow(R) mufflers
and DynoMax(R) performance exhaust products, and Monroe(R) Clevite(TM) vibration
control components.
This press release contains forward-looking statements regarding, among other
things, the company's cost reduction plans (including without limitation the
anticipated timing, charges and savings related thereto). Words such as
"expects," "anticipates," "estimates," "will" and similar expressions identify
these 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) the general political, economic and competitive
conditions in markets and countries where the company and its subsidiaries
operate, including currency fluctuations and other risks associated with
operating in foreign countries; (ii) governmental actions, including the ability
to receive regulatory approvals and the timing of such approvals; (iii) changes
in capital availability or costs, including increases in the company's costs of
borrowing (i.e., interest rate increases); (iv) 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; (v) 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; (vi) the cost of compliance with
changes in regulations, including environmental regulations; (vii) workforce
factors such as strikes or labor interruptions; (viii) material substitutions
and increases in the costs of raw materials; (ix) the company's ability to
integrate operations of acquired businesses quickly and in a cost effective
manner; (x) the company's ability to execute restructuring and other cost
reduction plans and to realize anticipated benefits from these plans; (xi) 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; (xii) further changes in the distribution channels for the
company's aftermarket products, and further consolidations among automotive
parts customers and suppliers; (xiii) changes by the Financing Accounting
Standards Board or other accounting regulatory bodies of authoritative generally
accepted accounting principles or policies; and (xiv) the timing and occurrence
(or non-occurrence) of transactions and events which may be subject to
circumstances beyond the control of the company and its subsidiaries. The
company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement to
reflect events or circumstances after the date of this press release.