gates is organized into three product groups -- worldwide power transmission, worldwide automotive hoses, and worldwide fluid power division. the worldwide product groups are responsible for product development, manufacturing, product globalization and manufacturing capacity and utilization. sales, marketing and distribution activities are handled by gates europe, gates asia/pacific operations, and the americas, which includes north america, south america and the caribbean. the company sells its products directly to automotive and industrial original equipment manufacturers and through a network of 150,000 distributors, jobbers and dealers worldwide.*