Delphi Automotive creates new board of directors

Delphi Automotive creates new board of directors, will be led by former DuPont executive Krol

• On 4:04 pm EST, Wednesday November 4, 2009

NEW YORK (AP) -- Delphi Automotive LLP, which exited bankruptcy protection last month, said Wednesday that it has created a new board that will be led by former DuPont Chairman John Krol.

The Troy, Mich., auto parts supplier has also tapped General Motors executive Gary Cowger for a seat. Cowger, 62, serves as GM's group vice president of global manufacturing and labor relations but plans to retire from the company on Dec. 1.

Delphi is a crucial parts supplier for GM, which spun the company off in 1999. The company emerged from bankruptcy protection in early October after completing a deal with its lenders and receiving a promise for billions in loans from GM.

On Monday, GM said it received permission to use $2.8 billion of its government aid to help buy a stake of the parts supplier, which was known as Delphi Corp. before its emergence from Chapter 11 protection. Elliott Management and Silver Point Capital, the lenders that helped bring Delphi out of bankruptcy, also own a stake.

Privately held Delphi said the remainder of the board will be filled with individuals from a variety of fields, including those experienced in electronics, finance and automotive manufacturing and supply.

Among them are Rajiv Gupta, former chairman and CEO of specialty materials producer Rohm and Haas Co., and J. Randall MacDonald, senior vice president of human resources at IBM. Other board members include Xerox Corp. Vice Chairman and Chief Financial Officer Lawrence Zimmerman and Flextronics International Ltd. CEO Michael McNamara. The company said it expects to make other appointments as well.

"We are pleased that these talented, highly respected leaders will guide Delphi on our journey as a new company," Delphi President and CEO Rodney O'Neal said in a statement.

Delphi left bankruptcy protection in October, almost four years after its filing. Delphi emerged as a new company after completing a deal with its lenders and receiving a promise for billions in loans from GM, which once owned Delphi and buys critical parts from them.

When Delphi filed for bankruptcy protection on Oct. 8, 2005, it was the largest such filing for the industry at the time and the 13th largest in U.S. history with $17.1 billion in assets.

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