Tenneco Spins Off New OE, Aftermarket Supplier

Automotive supplier Tenneco announces it will separate into two independent companies in the year’s second half, following its October 2018 acquisition of Federal-Mogul.

The remaining Tenneco businesses will focus on powertrain and exhaust technology and will retain the Tenneco name. The new business will be called DRiV, a publicly traded aftermarket and ride performance company to be headquartered in the Chicago area.

DRiV will serve as one of the largest global multiline, multibrand aftermarket suppliers and one of the largest global original-equipment ride-performance and braking suppliers to aftermarket, light-vehicle and commercial-vehicle customers, Tenneco says in a news release.

DRiV’s aftermarket business will be known as Motorparts, while its OE business will be called Ride Performance. The latter will develop, manufacture and supply leading global OEMs with shock absorbers, struts, NVH performance materials and brake friction.

DRiV’s principal product brands will include Monroe, Walker, Clevite Elastomers, MOOG, Fel-Pro, Wagner, Ferodo and Champion. DRiV would have 2017 pro-forma revenues of $6.4 billion, with 56% of those revenues from aftermarket and 44% from original equipment customers, Tenneco says.

Brian Kesseler, co-CEO of Tenneco and future chairman and CEO of DRiV, says the new business’s “stable of well-respected and enduring aftermarket brands and our longtime partnerships with the world’s leading original-equipment manufacturers give us a significant competitive advantage.

“We are strategically positioned to capitalize on secular trends such as the expansion of vehicles in operation globally, as well as growth in intelligent suspension, new mobility models and the evolution of autonomous driving.”

The new Tenneco will serve OE markets worldwide with engineered solutions addressing fuel economy, power output and criteria pollution requirements for gasoline, diesel and electrified powertrains. Its 2017 pro-forma revenues were $10.7 billion, serving light-vehicle, commercial truck, off-highway and industrial markets.

Tenneco says it had 2017 revenues of $9.3 billion and approximately 32,000 employees worldwide, while Federal-Mogul had nearly 55,000 employees globally and 2017 revenues of $7.8 billion.