| After three straight years in second place, Rod Lache speeds into the winner’s circle. The Deutsche Bank Securities researcher holds a cautious view on the sector, which in the coming year will be “challenged by very slow growth in the U.S., no growth in Europe and rising overcapacity in key emerging markets such as China,” he says. Even so, Lache has buy ratings on several stocks: American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings, a Detroit-based components maker that has “one of the strongest backlogs” of new business in the industry; Detroit’s General Motors Co., which is “on the cusp” of an upturn in its North American product cycle that will see “roughly 50 percent of the company’s portfolio refreshed or renewed”; and Akron, Ohio’s Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., which is exhibiting “much stronger levels of profitability at all points in the cycle,” he says. Lache “can break down the complexities of global cost structure, auto sales and other key variables, and simplify the issues for you,” marvels one backer. The 42-year-old joined Deutsche Bank in 1994 from Mabon Securities Corp. (now Banca IMI Securities Corp.) and was a pollution-control analyst until 1998, when he switched to covering the autos sector. He holds a bachelor’s degree in finance from New York University’s Stern School of Business. |
Consumer – Autos & Auto Parts: First
October 16, 2012
