Superior Industries International Inc. announced on Friday that a major proxy advisory firm has recommended that Superior shareholders vote for the company’s slate of directors. The Van Nuys company, which makes aluminum wheels for cars, is in a proxy battle for the third year in a row with Wall Street billionaire Mario Gabelli. His investment firm Gamco Asset Management Inc. owns about 7.8 percent of Superior’s stock and has nominated three people for the board election. In recommending the company’s directors, San Francisco advisory firm Glass Lewis & Co. noted that the current board has moved manufacturing to Mexico and taken other steps to make Superior a global competitor in the wheel industry. Earlier this week ISS in Rockville, Md., the other major proxy advisory firm, also recommended a vote for the company’s slate of directors. As in past years, Superior maintains Gamco hasn’t provided an alternative strategic direction for the company, and it has tried to engage constructively with Gamco. For his part, Gabelli told the Business Journal last year that his nominees understand Wall Street and could increase the value of Superior’s stock. The company’s annual shareholder meeting is scheduled May 5 in Southfield, Mich. Shares closed down 14 cents, or a fraction of a percent, to $18.97 on the New York Stock Exchange.
