“Say 'Ah-Tay” and “Get a World of Brake Experience” was the message from ATE for visitors to AAPEX, America's most important aftermarket show, in November 2005. The event signaled the launch of an ambitious project: ATE had developed PremiumOne™ - a product range for Asian and American vehicles - as well as establishing the ATE North America organization in the USA and setting up a sales warehouse. In the meantime, the market offensive has got off to a successful start.

By the end of the year, ATE products will have attained about 95 percent coverage of the U.S. vehicle fleet. The North American project started in December 2003 under the management of Norberto Guimaraes, and has been taken on to its successful completion by Christoph Stegemann since June 2005. The objective was to develop a product range for Asian and American vehicles alongside our existing range for European vehicles.

At the same time, to help ensure rapid deliveries to customers, a warehouse covering about 2,500 square meters was built in Louisville, Kentucky and opened in January 2005. ATE North America Aftermarket was established in Auburn Hills, Michigan, where Continental Automotive Systems has its North American headquarters. The operation is led by General Manager David Mestdagh. Steve Lynch and Tim Addis are responsible for sales, Donald James for marketing, Mohammad Vakili for technology and quality, Melissa Scott for logistics (order processing: Antonia Gordon) and Jeff Hawk for controlling.

David Mestdagh and Donald James receive the AAPEX award

The PremiumOne™ range developed by ATE, which is only available in the North American market, comprises brake pads and discs. When the range was launched in March this year, it included about 420 types of brake pads for European, Asian and American models. By the end of the year, the brake pad range will have been expanded to about 600 items, ensuring around 96 percent coverage of the U.S. vehicle fleet. On the brake disc front, ATE started with 430 items; by the end of this year, 950 different items covering about 95 percent of the U.S. fleet will on offer. In the USA, ATE's hydraulic system components offering will remain restricted to European vehicles only.

The PremiumOneTM range has performed extremely well in tests, which confirmed that the pads produce less dust and noise and have a longer service life than competitor products. The discs were found to be more level and have more uniform thickness than competitor brake discs. They also offer better fading behavior than OE products. The best results were obtained using ATE PremiumOne™ discs with ATE PremiumOneTM pads.

At AAPEX 2005, ATE received an award for the best “improved product” for its PremiumOneTM brake discs. The entire ATE PremiumOne™ range is presented in a 450-page catalogue which was published in April 2006. In addition, ATE North America has its own website (www.ate-na.com) and will also have its own stand at AAPEX in November of this year.