E-Z-GO 2009 Annual Report Download - page 6

4
segment reduced selling and administrative costs by 25
percent over 2008. Also for the segment overall, manufac-
turing improvements in 2009 helped net $62 million in
inventory reductions.
Beyond operational improvements, stepped up efforts to
motivate sales also characterized the year.
At Kautex, newer technology fuel systems meeting stricter
emission and cost-effi ciency performance standards won a
multi-million dollar Ford contract over the next fi ve years.
At Greenlee, listening to customer needs and aligning with
customer initiatives resulted in increased business with
Lowe’s – and the addition of 1,700 distribution sites for
the brand’s specialty hand tools. At E-Z-GO, sales efforts
led to multiple new distributorships and the capture of
61 percent of golf course openings in 2009. Also in 2009,
the company launched ShopEZGO.com, a consumer
e-commerce site for the purchase of golf car parts and
accessories. Closing out the year green with distributors,
Jacobsen began shipping its electric hybrid Eclipse riding
greens mower – the fi rst of its kind for the turf manage-
ment industry.
Though revenues for the segment were down 29 percent
compared with 2008, Textron industrial businesses overall
posted a profi t of $27 million in 2009. Sustaining opera-
tional and product performance effi ciencies, opening new
distribution channels and pursuing new technologies
and emerging markets: This is what will drive growth in
2010 for Textron’s Industrial segment.
Finance Overview At the beginning of
2009, our Finance segment faced a very
unique challenge – the need to liquidate
its non-captive fi nance business – a busi-
ness the company had spent two decades
building. Shared Warren Lyons, new
Textron Financial Corporation President
and CEO: “I am extremely proud of the
hundreds of committed Textron Financial
employees who were able to shift their focus from portfolio
growth to cash conversion. The results of their efforts far
surpassed expectations.”
At the start of 2009, the goal for the Finance segment
was to liquidate $2.6 billion of managed receivables for
the year. By year end, the team had reduced the managed
receivables by $3.8 billion – 46 percent above target and
nearly 50 percent of the total multi-year objective.
A weakened capital market presented a second challenge:
The Finance segment also had to secure alternative fund-
ing sources for its captive business to ensure that buyers
of Textron manufactured products had access to attractive
fi nancing. Through a dedicated effort, the team developed
a $500 million facility with the Export-Import (Ex-Im)
Bank of the United States to fund foreign purchases of
Cessna and Bell aircraft. The segment also entered into a
multi-year agreement with a third-party lender that now
provides customer fi nancing for the purchase or lease of
E-Z-GO golf cars and utility vehicles.
In a year of transition, the Finance segment surpassed its
number one objective and exceeded liquidation targets by
$1.2 billion. Continuing the orderly liquidation of man-
aged fi nance receivables, while providing secure and com-
petitive sources of fi nancing for sister companies – Bell,
Cessna, E-Z-GO and Jacobsen: This is where our Finance
segment will be dedicating its efforts in 2010.
Warren R. Lyons,
Textron Financial
Corporation President
and CEO
Finance
Textron Financial Corporation is a
diversifi ed commercial fi nance business
that provides fi nancing for new Cessna
aircraft and Bell helicopters and new
E-Z-GO and Jacobsen golf and turf-care
equipment.
Industrial
The Industrial segment consists of four
businesses that manufacture and market
branded industrial products worldwide,
including E-Z-GO golf cars; Jacobsen
turf equipment; Greenlee tools; and Kautex
automotive fuel systems.