Icahn Enterprises L P 's Comment on Competition and Industry Peers
The global vehicular parts business is highly competitive. Federal-Mogul competes
with many independent manufacturers and distributors of component parts globally.
In general, competition for sales is based on price, product quality, technology,
delivery, customer service and the breadth of products offered by a given supplier.
Federal-Mogul is meeting these competitive challenges by developing leading technologies,
efficiently integrating and expanding its manufacturing and distribution operations,
widening its product coverage within its core businesses, restructuring its operations
and transferring production to best cost countries, and utilizing its worldwide
technical centers to develop and provide value-added solutions to its customers.
A summary of Federal-Moguls primary independent competitors by its businesses
is set forth below.
Powertrain. Primary competitors include AGM Automotive, Art Metal, Bergmann, BinZou,
Bleistahl, Bosch, Daido, Dana, Dana-Reinz, Delfingen, Denso, DongYang, ElringKlinger,
FNOK, Freudenberg, Kaco/Sabo, Kolbenschmidt, Mahle, Miba, NGK, NOK, NPR, Relats,
Sinteron, SKF, Taiho, and Vitrica.
Motorparts. Primary competitors include Akebono Brake Corporation, Autolite, Brake
Parts Inc., Bosch Group, Centric Parts, Crowne Group LLC, Delphi Automotive LLP,
Denso Corporation, Dorman Products, Inc., GRI Engineering and Development LLC
(MAT Holdings, Inc.), Mahle GmbH, Mevotech Inc., NGK Spark Plug Co., Ltd., NTN
Bearing Corporation, Neapco Inc., Old World Industries, LLC, Phillips Industries,
Pylon Manufacturing Corporation, Rain-X (ITW Global Brands), SKF Group, Osram
Sylvania Ltd., The Timken Company, Valeo Group, Dana Corporation (Victor Reinz
brand), and ZF TRW Automotive Holdings Corp.
IEH Auto and Pep Boys operate in a highly competitive environment. IEH Auto
and Pep Boys encounter competition from national and regional chains, automotive
dealerships and from local independent service providers and merchants.
The petroleum business competes primarily on the basis of price, reliability
of supply, availability of multiple grades of products and location. The principal
competitive factors affecting its refining operations are cost of crude oil
and other feedstock costs, refinery complexity, refinery efficiency, refinery
product mix and product distribution and transportation costs. The location
of the refineries provides the petroleum business with a reliable supply of
crude oil and a transportation cost advantage over its competitors. The petroleum
business primarily competes against five refineries operated in the mid-continent
region. In addition to these refineries, the refineries compete against trading
companies, as well as other refineries located outside the region that are linked
to the mid-continent market through an extensive product pipeline system. These
competitors include refineries located near the Gulf Coast and the Texas panhandle
region. The petroleum business refinery competition also includes branded, integrated
and independent oil refining companies, such as Phillips 66 Company, HollyFrontier
Corporation, CHS Inc., Valero Energy Corporation and Flint Hills Resources LLC.
The nitrogen fertilizer business has experienced and expect to continue to
meet significant levels of competition from current and potential competitors,
many of whom have significantly greater financial and other resources. Competition
in the nitrogen fertilizer industry is dominated by price considerations. However,
during the spring and fall application seasons, farming activities intensify
and delivery capacity is a significant competitive factor. The nitrogen fertilizer
business maintains a large fleet of leased and owned railcars and seasonally
adjusts inventory to enhance its manufacturing and distribution operations.
The nitrogen fertilizer business major competitors include Agrium, Inc.; CF
Industries Holdings, Inc., including its majority owned subsidiary Terra Nitrogen
Company, LP.; Koch Nitrogen Company, LLC; and Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan,
Inc. Domestic competition is intense due to customers sophisticated buying
tendencies and competitor strategies that focus on cost and service. The nitrogen
fertilizer business also encounters competition from producers of fertilizer
products manufactured in foreign countries. In certain cases, foreign producers
of fertilizer who export to the United States may be subsidized by their respective
governments.
The North American railcar manufacturing industry has historically been extremely
competitive. ARI competes primarily with Trinity Industries, Inc. ("Trinity"),
The Greenbrier Companies, Inc., National Steel Car Limited, FreightCar America
Inc. and Union Tank Car Company ("Union Tank"). Competitors have expanded
and may continue to expand their capabilities in ARIs core railcar markets.
The railcar leasing industry has also historically been extremely competitive.
Both ARI and ARL compete primarily with Wells Fargo Rail Corp., GATX Corp.,
CIT Group, Trinity and Union Tank in the railcar leasing market.
Our Gaming segment owns land-based and riverboat casino facilities in six states
and one hotel, timeshare and casino resort located on the island of Aruba. Our
Gaming segment competes with numerous casinos and casino hotels of varying quality
and size in the markets in which its properties are located and with other forms
of legalized gaming, including internet gaming, state-sponsored lotteries, racetracks,
off-track wagering, video lottery, video poker terminals and card parlors. Our
Gaming segment also competes with other non-gaming resorts and vacation areas,
and with various other entertainment businesses. The casino entertainment business
is characterized by competitors that vary considerably by their size, quality
of facilities, number of operations, brand identities, marketing and growth
strategies, financial strength and capabilities, level of amenities, management
talent and geographic diversity.
In most markets, our Gaming segment competes directly with other casino facilities
operating in the immediate and surrounding market areas, including casinos located
on Native American reservations. In some markets, our Gaming segment faces competition
from nearby markets in addition to direct competition within its market areas.
Our Gaming segment believes competition in existing markets has intensified
over the last several years, due to new markets opening for development, new
properties opening in existing markets, and challenging economic conditions
in certain markets. Many casino operators have invested in expanding existing
facilities, developing new facilities, and acquiring established facilities
in existing markets. The expansion of casino entertainment at existing properties,
the increase in the number of properties and the aggressive marketing strategies
of many of our competitors has increased competition in many markets in which
our Gaming segment competes, and it expects this intense competition to continue.
Our Gaming segments operating results can be adversely affected by costs associated
with advertising, promotions and complimentary services to patrons, the amount
and timing of which may be affected by the advertising and complimentary policies
and actions of its properties competitors and its efforts to keep pace with
them. If our Gaming segments operating revenues are insufficient to allow it
to match the promotions of competitors, the number of its casino patrons may
decline, which may have a material adverse effect on our Gaming segments financial
performance. In addition, some of Gaming segments competitors have significantly
greater financial resources than it does, and as a result our Gaming segment
may not be able to successfully compete with them in the future.
The home fashion industry is fragmented and highly competitive. Future success
will, to a large extent, depend on WPHs ability to be a competitive low-cost
producer. WPH competes with both foreign and domestic companies on, among other
factors, the basis of price, quality, design and customer service. WPH may also
face competition in the future from companies that are currently third-party
suppliers to WPH. Future success depends on the ability to remain competitive
in the areas of marketing, product development, price, quality, brand names,
manufacturing capabilities, distribution and order processing.