The Lear Corporation is a leading manufacturer of car interior and electronic systems. Throughout most of the Lear company's history, they have attempted to bring together disparate manufacturers of interior systems both through buyouts and mergers. Their goal with this project was to make a single, unified interior system that could produce every aspect, from the seating to the electronics.
In the last few years, their business model has undergone some changes. With some of the complex and proprietary electronics going into autos, many manufacturers have moved away from the single interior company. Unswayed by this change, the Lear company profile has undergone restructuring but is still a major force in the automotive industry. Consider the following when doing Lear company research:
1. The websites for both Lear and their recent spin-off company have a lot of investment and corporate information.
2. Lear is very open about their supply chain, both where their materials come from and where they are going.
3. Several sources list hard financial information on Lear since it is a publicly traded company.
Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done
Start a Lear company analysis at their website
A few years ago, Lear spun off a company called International Automotive Components (IAC). This new company is a joint venture between Lear and several foreign and domestic companies. The goal of the new company was to turn the less profitable interior division of Lear into a more forceful company. Both Lear and IAC maintain corporate websites with lots of information.
I recommend: Start a Lear corporate analysis at the
Lear website, which has a wealth of information on the brand. Many of the products and services Lear is known for have become part of
International Automotive Components.
Perform some Lear research and become part of their supply chain
Nothing gives more information about a company than the products and services it offers. When examining any part of the automotive industry, it is important to familiarize yourself with the entire supply chain of the company. One company naturally feeds into another which in turn feeds something else.
I recommend: At
Covisint, you can find supplier press releases, sign-up forms and requests lists specifically for the Lear Corporation. Lear also maintains an online catalog of
Lear products.
Find Lear Corporate information
Since Lear is a publicly traded company, you can find a wealth of information on them if you know where to look.
I recommend: Reuters offers financial information about Lear and links to important parts of the Lear homepage. You can also look at the company's current stock price and track changes to it over time. Accessible directly from
Lear, you can look over several reports on Lear, both current and back several years.
Tips & Tactics
Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide
- Since Lear recently broke into two companies, it's important to know which company you want to deal with. Just a few years ago, both retailers and suppliers may have dealt directly with the Lear corporation but now may need to move to IAC.
The official source of Lear is the Lear page at Business.com