Motor supplier John Weber should be sitting on a gold mine right now, considering North America's growing interest in hybrids and electric vehicles.
But an odd thing is happening. His potential customers are entering his business.
Weber is CEO of Remy International Inc., a supplier of starter motors, alternators, electronics and, nowadays, hybrid-drive motors.
While the industry seems fixated on the batteries that will enable new generations of hybrids and electrics to move, the electric motor remains the overlooked star of the show.
Electric motors like Remy's -- a technology that has been doing the industry's grunt work for 100 years without much change -- will propel the vehicles without internal combustion.
But there is a twist. As automakers rush to create a North American manufacturing base for alternative vehicles, they are choosing to produce their own motors in-house.