Tenneco — BrandWiki

Tenneco

Overview

Tenneco, Inc.

type	Private
industry	Auto parts
foundation	1940
hq location	Northville Charter Township, Michigan, U.S. (Northville address)‡R1R‡‡R2R‡
key people	Jim Voss (CEO) Jeff Stafeil (CFO) Ed Yocum (senior vice president and General Counsel)
products	Ride control, emissions control, elastomer, Powertrain Components, Suspension, Brake pads
revenue	$18.9 Billion
num employees	71,000
divisions	Clean Air, DRiV, Performance Solutions, Powertrain
owner	Apollo Global Management
homepage	tenneco.com
footnotes	‡R3R‡‡R4R‡‡R5R‡

Tenneco, Inc. (formerly Tenneco Automotive and originally Tennessee Gas Transmission Company) is an American automotive components original equipment manufacturer and an aftermarket ride control and emissions products manufacturer. It is a Fortune 500 company that was publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange since November 1999 until it was taken private in November 2022 by Apollo Global Management.[6] Tenneco is headquartered in Northville Charter Township, Michigan.[1][2][7]

History

Tenneco's origin was in the Chicago Corporation, established about 1930.[8]

Natural gas

A shortage of fuel for World War II defense industries in the Appalachian area developed when industrial production was increased. The nuclear development operations of the Manhattan Project at Oak Ridge, Tennessee consumed huge quantities of Tennessee Valley Authority electrical power that would have otherwise been available to other industrial operations. The Chicago Corporation was able to acquire a Federal Power Commission (FPC) license to build a pipeline from Texas to Appalachia, eventually expanding to the largest natural gas pipeline network in the United States. These pipelines were acquired by El Paso Corporation in 1996, and are now owned by Kinder Morgan.

Diversification

In the 1950s, the company acquired existing oil companies, including Sterling Oil, Del-Key Petroleum, and Bay Petroleum.[16] The Tennessee division of the Chicago Corporation acquired Tennessee Gas Transmission Company in 1943 to build a natural-gas pipeline 1265 mi from Texas to West Virginia. The first line was completed in October 1944. It was followed by three additional pipelines totaling 3840 mi during the next 15 years which provide gas to New York and New Jersey.[17]

In 1966, Tennessee Gas was incorporated as Tenneco, Inc.[8] Tenneco expanded into a number of business ventures as a result of diversification. In 1967, the company acquired Walker, Inc., a manufacturer of universal-fit exhaust mufflers and pipes. The year after, they started working on the construction of a universal-fit catalytic converter, that would become a cost-effective alternative to the OE catalytic converters. It took the company 8 years to introduce one. Tenneco bought Houston Oil & Minerals Corporation with two gold mines in Nevada in the late 1970s. Tenneco owned and operated a large number of gasoline service stations, but all were closed or replaced with other brands by the mid-1990s. In the 1970s, Tenneco purchased 53% of J.I. Case when they purchased its owner Kern County Land Company, the agricultural equipment manufacturer based in Racine, Wisconsin, USA.[19] In 1972, Tenneco purchased UK-based David Brown Tractors, and merged it with the J.I. Case business. In 1984, Case parent Tenneco bought selected assets of the International Harvester agriculture division and merged it with J.I. Case. All agriculture products are first labeled Case International and later Case IH. Tenneco purchased the articulated 4WD manufacturer Steiger Tractor in 1986, and merged it into Case IH.

The new corporate direction was to buy failing companies in a variety of industries, and then to develop them into profitable businesses. This worked well with Newport News Shipbuilding, but failed miserably with the various tractor companies, probably due in large part to the economy at the time. By 1988, the company was losing $2 million per day. After being pressured by the banks, it was decided to sell off the oil business. Tenneco Oil Exploration Company was split up and sold off to multiple buyers.[20]

By 1994, Tenneco decided to begin getting out of the agricultural business and agreed to sell 35% of the now named Case Corporation.[21] In 1996, the spin-off of Case Corporation was completed. The company was acquired by Fiat in 1999 and merged with New Holland Agriculture to form CNH Global.[22]

Consolidation

Tenneco Inc. emerged from a conglomerate consisting of six unrelated businesses: shipbuilding, packaging, farm and construction equipment, gas transmission, automotive, and chemicals.[23] The automotive division was spun off from Tenneco, Inc. in 1991 along with the packaging, energy, natural gas, and shipbuilding divisions.[19] All businesses except automotive and packaging were disposed of between 1994 and 1996 (through public offerings, sales, spin-offs and mergers).[23] In 1999, Tenneco Packaging was spun off and renamed to Packaging Corporation of America and Pactiv Corporation.[23]

Since the 1960s, Tenneco Automotive has sold mufflers (UK: silencers) in Europe, including through the Pit Stop chain in Germany. The group bought a German factory in Viernheim in 1969, Swedish Starla at Vittaryd in 1974, French Bellanger at Laval, English Harmo Industries, east of Birmingham

Federal Mogul and Öhlins acquisitions

On October 1, 2018, Tenneco completed its acquisition of Federal-Mogul, a large global supplier to original equipment manufacturers and the aftermarket.[26] The following month, Tenneco bought a majority stake in Öhlins for $160 million.[27]

In February 2019, Tenneco announced that it would spin off its automotive aftermarket suspension components into DRiV Incorporated.[28]

In October 2024, Tenneco agreed to sell Öhlins to Brembo for $405 million.[29]

Acquisition by Apollo Global Management

On February 23, 2022, Tenneco announced that it had entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by Apollo Global Management for $7.1 billion.[30] The acquisition was completed in November 2022.

Locations

United States

Alabama
Athens, Alabama - Products: Multi-layer Steel Engine Gaskets

Arkansas
Paragould - Products: Shock absorbers, struts. Facility closure was announced in JAN 2025 and planned to be completed by 30 APR 2025.

Illinois
Skokie - global headquarters of DRiV Incorporated, which owns the Monroe, Monroe Axios, Rancho, Fric-Rot, MOOG, QuickSteer, TS, Wagner, Ferodo, Jurid, Abex, Necto, Beral, Fel-Pro, Payen, National, Goetze, Nüral, Sealed Power, FP Diesel, AE, Glyco, Walker, DynoMax, Fonos, Thrush, Champion, Beck/Arnley, and Garage Gurus brands

Indiana
Angola - Elastomeric Products: Heavy duty/Automotive products, spring eye bushings, fluid bushings, torque rod assemblies, links, & V-rods.
Elkhart - Manufacturing plant that primarily makes exhaust components for other Tenneco facilities. The Elkhart plant is the only manufacturing plant that is owned (rather than leased) by Tenneco.
Ligonier - Manufacturing facility that makes full exhaust systems and related components for Ford Motor Company, Chrysler, and Honda. Ligonier is one of the plants that has its own tubemill which accepts steel coil, gradually rolls it into a pipe and then welds the seam shut. This newly formed pipe is then cut to length and used within the plant or shipped as-is to other Tenneco plants.

Michigan
Litchfield - Manufacturing facility that makes full exhaust systems and related components. This plant has its own tubemill which accepts steel coil, gradually rolls it into a tube and welds the seam shut. This newly formed pipe is cut to length and used within the plant or shipped as-is to other Tenneco plants.
Marshall - Manufacturing facility that makes full exhaust systems and related components for Ford Motor Company, Chrysler, and General Motors. Marshall is one of the plants that has its own tubemill which accepts steel coil, gradually rolls it into a tube and then welds the seam shut. This newly formed pipe is cut to length and used within the plant or shipped as-is to other Tenneco plants. The Marshall facility is also equipped with multiple high-speed automatic muffler assembly lines.
Monroe Charter Township - Houses the North American business unit which consists of almost 500 employees involved in multiple disciplines such as design, product engineering, sales, and marketing.[42]

Missouri
Kansas City - Manufacturing facility that makes full exhaust systems and related components for Ford and General Motors.

Nebraska
Seward - Manufacturing facility that makes full exhaust systems and related components for CAT, Chrysler, General Motors, John Deere and Harley-Davidson. Seward is one of the plants that has its own tubemill which accepts steel coil, gradually rolls it into a tube and then welds the seam shut. This newly formed pipe is cut to length and used within the plant or shipped as-is to other Tenneco plants.

Ohio
Milan - Products: suspension bushings, cab mounts, steering system bushings, exhaust isolators, rubber compound
Napoleon - Products: anti-vibration bushings and suspension links

Tennessee
Smithville - Products: Automotive parts

Virginia
Harrisonburg - Aftermarket exhaust

International

Argentina
Rosario - Monroe Fric Rot - Shock absorbers
Buenos Aires - Walker - Products: Muffler (silencers), Catalysts, exhaust systems

Australia
Edinburgh Park, Adelaide - Products: exhaust systems
Monroe, Tonsley, Adelaide - Products: shock absorbers, struts
Walker, O'Sullivan Beach, Adelaide - Products: emission control
Monroe Springs, Sydney - Products: coil and leaf springs

Belgium
Sint-Truiden - EU headquarters Ride Control division; METC, the EU design and development center; largest ride control plant in Europe; products: shock absorbers, powdered metal components, press parts