Study Shows Styled Steel Wheels Shatter Perception

 Industry Leaders Expect Styled Steel Wheels to Generate Demand and Increase
                     Profits for OEMs on Upgrade Packages

    DETROIT, May 22 A study sponsored by American Iron and
Steel Institute (AISI) and conducted during November/December 2000 by Burke,
Inc., an internationally recognized market research firm, indicates that
replacing traditional aluminum wheels with styled steel wheels in upgrade
packages would maintain option package demand and revenue.  Car buyers
perceive styled steel wheels as stronger and safer than styled aluminum
wheels.

    Karim Karim, chair of AISI's Wheels Task Force, said, "The Burke study is
good news.  It concludes that OEMs can maintain revenue with lower cost styled
steel wheels.  And, equal revenue minus lower cost yields increased profits."
Burke conducted the study among 300 consumers visiting retail shopping malls
in 17 cities across the United States.  Using photographs of a Chevrolet
Malibu sedan, a Dodge Ram 1500 Regular Cab pickup, and a Ford Windstar van for
displaying styled steel and aluminum wheels, researchers measured consumers'
price perceptions, preferences, and willingness to purchase the wheels.
Researchers also asked for consumers' opinions on other wheel aspects, such as
safety, strength, and weight.

    Price perception data from the study showed that demand and revenue were
for all practical purposes equivalent for vehicle upgrade packages with styled
steel wheels versus those with styled aluminum wheels.

    When respondents ranked their wheel preference among four designs, steel
wheels were consistently ranked either at parity with or higher than aluminum
wheels.  While many respondents would not pay more to have one wheel material
versus the other, a notably higher percentage of respondents said they would
pay more to have styled steel wheels than would pay more to have styled
aluminum wheels.  Styled steel wheels were more readily associated with
greater strength and safety.  Additionally, respondents associated lower cost
with aluminum wheels, perhaps in contrast to the perceived strength and safety
of steel.

    Using Burke's proprietary PricePoint(R) research method and printed color
stimuli for the appropriate vehicle type, questions regarding price
perceptions and purchase intentions were used to calculate demand and revenue
projections.  The researcher first presented the respondent with a page
showing a photo of the base model equipped with the base wheel, the standard
model features, and the approximate vehicle price.  The researcher then
presented two new pages, each showing the vehicle now equipped with a
different wheel, as part of an upgrade package.  Each page listed the features
offered in the hypothetical upgrade package, including the wheel type.  On one
page, this wheel was identified as an aluminum wheel and on the other page it
was identified as a steel wheel, in order to isolate the impact of wheel
material.  The upgrade packages were identical except for the labeling of the
wheel.  For each vehicle type, four wheel designs were included in the study
-- a bright aluminum wheel, a bright steel wheel, a painted aluminum wheel,
and a painted steel wheel.  Each respondent evaluated two of these designs.

    The researcher asked the consumer PricePoint(R) questions using the first
pair of pages as described above, and then using a second pair of similarly
constructed pages that showed the second wheel design.  The two wheels were
selected in advance by a rotation designed to ensure that each wheel design,
material, and finish was evaluated randomly and an equivalent number of times
across respondents.

    A presentation of the, "Steel vs. Aluminum Wheels Consumer Research
Study," by Burke Marketing Research, is available online at
http://www.autosteel.org .

    The Wheels Task force of the Automotive Applications Committee, American
Iron and Steel Institute commissioned the project.  AISI believes that by
using styled steel wheels, OEMs can increase profits.  This is now possible
because today's steel wheels have finished styling/trim packages not available
in years' past.

    The American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) is a non-profit association
of North American companies engaged in the iron and steel industry.  The
Institute is comprised of 42 member companies, including integrated and
electric furnace steelmakers, and 156 associate and affiliate members who are
suppliers to or customers of the steel industry.  For more news about steel
and its applications, view American Iron and Steel Institute's website at
http://www.steel.org .

    The Automotive Applications Committee (AAC) is a subcommittee of the
Market Development Committee of AISI and focuses on advancing the use of steel
in the highly competitive automotive market.  With offices and staff located
in Detroit, cooperation between the automobile and steel industries has been
significant to its success.  This industry cooperation resulted in the
formation of the Auto/Steel Partnership, a consortium of DaimlerChrysler, Ford
and General Motors and the member companies of the AAC.