Auto-Supplier Sector Is for Real, Poll Says

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- The auto-supplier sector, once in dire straits, has turned itself around -- or so say the respondents to TheStreet's latest poll on the auto-supplier sector.

The question we posed was a simple one -- "Is now the time to buy auto-supplier stocks?" -- and the options given for answers direct: either "Yes -- Auto-supplier stocks are smoking;" or "No -- The credit market still hasn't made a full recovery and auto-suppliers will continue to suffer."

More than two-thirds of the respondents felt bullish about the sector. So do the equity analysts.

Indeed, Standard & Poor's equity analyst Efraim Levy says that auto-supplier companies are poised for a multiyear upward trend in light-vehicle sales worldwide in 2010 aided by both higher volumes and cost-cutting.

Levy expects a rev-up in auto-parts production this year, as the suppliers have been experiencing very lean inventories and will be responding to stronger light-vehicle sales demand. New, light vehicles sales could reach 11.6 million in the U.S. alone, an increase from 10.4 million new light vehicle sales the year before, according to him.

Dana(DAN), Magna International(MGA), Lear(LEA), Johnson Controls (JCI) and Tenneco(TEN) are among Jim Cramer's favorite auto-supplier stocks. BorgWarner(BWA), ArvinMeritor(ARM) and Gentex(GNTX) also appear to be making a comeback on the Street.

In the final tally, about 70.7% of the poll takers said that "auto-supplier stocks are smoking," while about 29.3% of poll takers said "auto suppliers will continue to suffer."

-- Reported by Andrea Tse in New York

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