TOLEDO, Ohio — Component maker Dana Corp. says it hopes to rebound from bankruptcy within a year-and-a-half.

After a meeting with creditors to determine how the company manages its bankruptcy, Dana indicated that the typical Chapter 11 takes at least 18 months to reorganize and recover. While many take longer, Dana hopes to be on the shorter end of that timetable, according to a report in the Associated Press.

The truck and auto parts giant announced earlier this month that its U.S. operations have filed for bankruptcy, although it excludes Dana’s Canadian, European, South American, Asia-Pacific, and Mexican subsidiaries.

About three-quarters of the company’s sales are from automotive systems and component sales, while the rest from truck products.

Last week, a New York Judge said the company can pay its utility bills and some taxes as well as fulfill orders it received from car manufacturers before it filed for bankruptcy protection. Judge Burton Lifland, who is overseeing Dana’s bankruptcy, said suppliers must honor contracts to keep the vehicle parts maker’s plants open while it attempts to rebound.

Dana blamed skyrocketing raw materials and energy costs as well as declining production at the Big Three automakers for the move. “The general financial condition of the industry, together with Dana’s inability to renew or expand its credit facilities in a timely manner, has significantly constrained Dana’s liquidity,” the company said in a statement.

Speaking to a crowded room of creditors and their attorneys, Dana’s chief executive Michael Burns assured creditors there have been no disruptions for customers related to Dana’s bankruptcy. He said diversification of Dana’s customer base has become very important in weathering the storm, AP reports.

“Dana has been historically very much tied to the Big Three. That’s changing now” with customers like Honda, Toyota, and Nissan growing rapidly in the North American market, Burns said.

As TodaysTrucking.com reported, a spokesman at rival ArvinMeritor acknowledged that their phone started ringing the day Dana made its bankruptcy announcement. Some truckmakers, at least slightly nervous about filling their order boards, had enquired about spare capacity on ArvinMeritor production lines. And the Troy, Mich.-based company did have some supply openings at the time, TodaysTrucking.com was told.

— with files from AP