Delphi offers Eaton $300 mn for auto switch business

U.S.-based Eaton Corporation, a global maker of highly engineered products, says it will decide by the end of March whether to sell its vehicle switch and electronics division to U.S.-based car components giant Delphi. Part of the deal, valued at some $300 million, would include Eaton's automotive switch production facilities in Poland. Representatives of Delphi say the purchase of the entire division will pay for itself within a year's time, positioning the company to profitably grow its switch business sales in the automotive segment. "This transaction will position Delphi among the top three automotive switch companies in a market that is forecast to have solid growth rates," said James A. Spencer, Delphi's vice president. Delphi estimates the global automotive switch market currently stands at $3.8 billion and forecasts its growth to exceed $7 billion by 2010. Eaton's worldwide automotive switch sales totaled approximately $320 million in 2000. Tczew-based Eaton Truck Components is one of the plants to be taken over by Delphi. According to Delphi Polska President Leszek Waliszewski, Delphi, currently employing some 4,700 in Poland, owns Krakow-based Centum Techniczne, with local investments so far having reached $32 million. (Rzeczpospolita, p.B3) A.Z.