TRAVERSE CITY – Despite sharply declining industry sales in North America, TI Automotive plans to achieve an annual growth rate of 15 percent or more globally over the next several years, the company’s CEO said Thursday at Automotive Research’s Management Briefing Seminars.

Bill Kozyra, the company�??s new chairman and CEO, said auto suppliers need to redesign their business models to account for slumping production volumes in the United States and rapidly expanding markets in the Asia Pacific region and central Europe.

�??We can�??t expect the U.S. market to stage a comeback anytime soon,�?� Kozyra said. �??Our industry needs to head straight into the eye of the storm, adjust to lower volumes in North America and focus on growth opportunities in other regions throughout the world.�?�

Kozyra said TI Automotive is making fundamental changes to its global organization to spark long-term growth. He reported that the company is investing more $40 million per year in its restructuring efforts and $120 million in new and improved facilities. TI Automotive recently downsized its North American operations by reducing salaried headcount by more than 20 percent and moving the headquarters of its largest business unit from the Detroit area to Heidelberg, Germany.

�??Shifting the global headquarters of our fluid-carrying systems business to Europe will help us focus more directly on growth markets outside of the NAFTA region,�?� Kozyra said.

The Tier One auto supplier has shuttered more than 10 obsolete or underutilized manufacturing facilities around the world in the past several years, while opening eight new plants in locations closer to its customers in Poland, Turkey, China, Korea and India.

�??We have a major presence in the Asia Pacific region where we�??ve done business for nearly three decades,�?� he said. �??Today, TI Automotive operates 12 manufacturing plants in China, seven in Korea and four in India with another facility scheduled to open next year in Indonesia.�?�

Kozyra said the company is operating at a profit on a global basis and in every region around the world, except for North America where he expects it to return to profitability during the first half of 2009.

TI Automotive supplies fluid storage, transfer and delivery systems, including brake, fuel and air-conditioning applications. TI Automotive�??s customer list includes all of the world�??s major automakers. Europe accounts for approximately 50 percent of its annual sales of more than $2.8 billion, while North America accounts for 25 percent, followed by the Asia Pacific region with 20 percent and Latin America with five percent.

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