Federal-Mogul buys majority stake in Polish piston producer

SOUTHFIELD, Mich. (March 28)—Federal-Mogul Corp. has acquired an 85-percent interest in WSK Gorzyce S.A., a producer of pistons, piston pins, and copper, aluminum and magnesium castings, for $18 million. WSK employs 2,500 at a sole plant in Gorzyce, Poland. It posted sales of $50 million in 2000, according to a Federal-Mogul spokeswoman. "With all of the pricing pressures that we have from our customers, it certainly does help us to have a piston location in Poland," a low-cost labor region of Eastern Europe, she said.