DURA to Supply Ford with Floor Shifters on New Models

ROCHESTER HILLS, Mich.--Oct. 2, 20047, 2004--

New Modular Shifter Offers Design Flexibility and Manufacturing Efficiency

DURA Automotive Systems, Inc. announced today it will supply a family of modular automatic floor shift systems to Ford Motor Company on several future car and light truck models.

"We're very pleased to earn this contract," said Larry Denton, president and CEO, DURA. "It was a true collaborative effort between Ford's engineering, purchasing, styling and design teams, and DURA's design, process engineering and quality teams. We came together in a cooperative spirit, and created innovation in the critical areas of design and manufacturing. This resulted in a winning proposition for Ford, DURA and the driving consumers."

The majority of the new shift module is common, however style-specific characteristics such as the shift knob, bezel and lighting are all customized to meet the specific target market needs of the individual vehicle. A common shifter mechanism is used in tandem with a flexible adapter gate to marry the customized pieces of the shifter to the modular portion of the system. This design lends itself to lean manufacturing practices, significant labor cost reductions, and streamlined time-to-market for new programs.

DURA's "Super Cell" manufacturing concept will be used to produce these systems. Super Cells enable the manufacturing of multiple shifter combinations without the need for multiple assembly lines. They take advantage of high-volume manufacturing techniques for low-volume applications to serve the needs of a family of diverse vehicle platforms. In recent public statements, Ford said it could realize a $25 million savings through the DURA and Ford product design and manufacturing concept of modular shift systems.

DURA's Super Cell concept provides several advantages, including:

-- streamlining the manufacturing process;

-- reducing needed floor space in the plant;

-- leveraging a proven DURA manufacturing process;

-- enhancing quality control; and

-- reducing the number of uniquely tooled items to save cost and reduce the need to revalidate functional components.

"The Super Cell concept originated in DURA's automotive cable operations and was found to provide optimum usage of capital equipment. It co-located manufacturing equipment meant for high volume applications, such as die casters and injection molding machines, and served several lower volume assembly cells," said Tim Stephens, DURA's vice president and general manager, shifter systems and cable operations. "It is a perfect model to follow as it applies to this new Ford shifter business."

The new Ford business is planned for future manufacturing at DURA's Fremont, Mich., facility.

DURA is the market leader in North America for automatic shift systems and a top producer of manual gearshift systems in Europe where manual transmissions are prevalent.

About DURA

DURA Automotive Systems, Inc. , is the world's largest independent designer and manufacturer of driver control systems and a leading global supplier of seating control systems, engineered assemblies, structural door modules and integrated glass systems for the global automotive industry. The company is also a leading supplier of similar products to the North American recreation and specialty vehicle markets. DURA sells its automotive products to every North American, Japanese and European original equipment manufacturer (OEM) and many leading Tier 1 automotive suppliers. DURA is based in Rochester Hills, Mich. Information about DURA and its products is available on the Internet at www.duraauto.com.