Question-and-Answer Session
Operator
(Operator instructions) We will pause for just a moment to compile the Q&A in a roster. Please hold for your first question. Your first question comes from Kathryn O'Connor with Deutsche Bank.
Kathryn O'Connor – Deutsche Bank
Good morning.
Gordon Ulsh
Good morning, Kathryn.
Kathryn O'Connor – Deutsche Bank
I was just wondering, listening to the commentary about the end markets in the US versus Europe transportation. It seemed like you guys were saying that volumes in Europe slow down before North America. I’m just trying to figure out why that would be just given the fact that North America has been slowing down for quite sometime and I feel like Europe is lagging North America. Is there a difference in the customers you’re serving? Or are there any explanations to what the differences there?
Gordon Ulsh
I think that’s a fair comment, and certainly the North American OE market have slowed down more dramatically and more quickly than that that we saw in Europe. Our comments may be reflective of both seeing that slow down come, Kathryn, in Europe and OE and the results of some of the customer rationalization that we’ve done in Europe as we have done in North America over the last couple of years. So we didn’t mean to imply that it’s slowed down ahead. We’re just seeing the implications of that certainly later than we saw in North America.
Kathryn O'Connor – Deutsche Bank
Okay. So maybe there was some of that customer pairing in the US as sort of masked because we weren’t having such a decline in terms of North American OE whenever you did those customer kind of bettings?
Gordon Ulsh
Well I think that’s fair reflective.
Kathryn O'Connor – Deutsche Bank
Okay. And then just thinking about the end markets going forward, can you just give us a little bit of guidance in terms of where you think these end markets could go and where they have been in the past that? And we’ve been dealing with the kind of the downturn. If you could just give us some color on where you think transpo OE could go and after market end also industrial motive and network?
Gordon Ulsh
Why certainly. I’m nearly afraid to comment on any sort of forecast for the OE markets as the economy continues to sort of tighten. Not only is the economy coming down, but the availability of credit. I believe that the OE business is going to be soft or maybe facing further decline in North America in line with the trend that we’re seeing. You will wait and see how the credit markets play out the availability of purchasing power of the consumer. But I think that’s going to be a tough market in North America and Europe.
- To read the full transcript on Seeking Alpha, click here »
