Modine Manufacturing Co , a maker of heating and cooling systems for vehicles, posted a wider quarterly loss, hurt by the economic downturn and low production rates in the auto parts industry.

The global recession, with the lowest global vehicular original equipment manufacturing production rates in decades, continues to significantly challenge our business, Chief Executive Thomas Burke said in a statement.

Modine expects the global recession to continue to adversely impact its sales volumes in fiscal 2010.

However, it expects fiscal 2010 revenue to be up slightly from the fourth-quarter run-rate due to incremental volume from several new program launches globally.

For the fourth quarter ended March 31, the company posted a net loss of $47.1 million, or $1.47 a share, compared with a loss of $35.2 million, or $1.10 a share, a year ago.

Revenue fell 43 percent to $254.8 million.

Two analysts on average expected a loss of 82 cents a share, before items, while one analyst expected revenue of $264.1 million, according to Reuters Estimates.

Shares of the company were down 52 cents at $4.72 in early morning trade Tuesday on the New York Stock Exchange.

(Reporting by Eric Yep in Bangalore; Editing by Anne Pallivathuckal)

Manufacturing Fall