A Message from the CEO

How to sum up a year as tumultuous as 2009? That's the question many of us are contemplating as we develop our year-end messages to employees, customers and suppliers.

One approach is to point out, as the saying goes, that what doesn't kill us makes us stronger, and then look for hopeful signs that a global economic recovery is taking hold. Indeed, there are hopeful signs.

• Asia appears to be leading the global recovery and China is at the epicenter. Jerry Huang, who manages our Greater China production forecasts, probes this subject in detail in this issue of CSM Insights;
• Ford Motor Company was profitable in 3Q;
• General Motors announced that it would begin repaying its government loans earlier than expected;
• Delphi finally emerged from its long bankruptcy;
• Scrappage programs in Europe and the United States brought buyers back to showrooms.

There's more, but you get the idea. Most companies did survive and many - but not all - are emerging stronger.

As you can read in Mike Wall's excellent article on the health of the supply base, many companies are finding it harder to manage the recovery stage than the downturn. That's because they have little or no working capital or access to credit. If you're in this camp, there are ways to work through these challenges and our team stands ready to assist you in identifying and implementing them.

The OEM and supplier companies that do emerge stronger, as Michael Robinet and Paul Haelterman discuss in separate articles, will be those that successfully leverage their global economies of scale in the most focused way possible while differentiating themselves using technology.

The final piece of the recovery equation is to have the most robust business planning process, tools and data possible. Because this drives to the heart of what we do at CSM Worldwide, we never stopped investing in new products and services during the downtown and now we are ready to share two major developments with you.

First, Henner Lehne and his team have developed the new CSM Advanced Light Vehicle Sales Forecast, which is powered by new methodologies and offers a level of product detail and commentary unavailable anywhere else.

Second, unlocking the full potential of this new forecast, and all of our other forecast products, will be easier than ever, thanks to the new CSM AutoBase 4.0 tool.

As you become familiar with our Advanced Light Vehicle Sales Forecast and AutoBase 4.0, I'm confident you will find that each is indispensable.

Let me close by thanking you for your support of CSM, and on behalf of our entire global team, I'd like to wish you happy holidays and best wishes for a prosperous 2010.

Thanks for reading,

Craig Cather
President & CEO

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