Alexander Cutler Quotations

Further, while we are hopeful that, in aggregate, we are seeing a bottoming in activity levels, there is no convincing evidence that our North American markets will rebound meaningfully before year-end. In addition, European, Asian and, to a lesser extent, South American markets are beginning to decline in lagged response to the North American weakness.

This decision was a difficult, but necessary one for us, ... The vehicle interior segment is rapidly consolidating in response to the industry-wide move toward integrated cockpit systems solutions. As a niche player, we are not in a position to lead this consolidation.

In the first quarter, the worldwide electrical and hydraulics markets were stronger than we had expected. In addition, the NAFTA heavy-duty truck market started the year with considerably stronger growth in both production and orders than we had anticipated.

The economic impact of this tragedy has been immediate and, we believe, will persist for some time to come, ... Eaton was already struggling with depressed industrial markets that showed few signs of immediate recovery...After September 11, business slowed abruptly and sharply, further impacted both by transportation-related interruptions in our 'just-in-time' industrial economy, and by the collective hesitation of our customers faced with a suddenly uncertain, and riskier, future.