Gentex Mirrors Past Success--Forbes

ZEELAND, Mich.-- For the fifth consecutive year, and the sixth time in the past seven years, Gentex Corp. has been named to Forbes magazine’s prestigious list of the “200 Best Small Companies in America.”

The announcement comes in the magazine’s Oct. 30 issue. Gentex previously was named to the list in 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998 and 1999.

Gentex is best known for its Night Vision Safety Mirrors, which are an active, crash-avoidance safety feature that use a combination of sophisticated sensors and electronic circuitry to detect glare from trailing vehicles and automatically darken to eliminate the glare and make nighttime driving safer.

Forbes’ annual list of the “200 Best Small Companies in America” ranks publicly traded companies according to various measures of profitability and growth. Forbes ranked Gentex 6th in profits, 25th in market value, 25th in sales, and 46th in five-year average return on equity. The magazine also states that Gentex’s five-year average return on equity is 21 percent, and that the company has posted five-year average sales and earnings per share growth of 23 percent and 33 percent, respectively. Gentex is debt-free.

Gentex aftermarket/distributor customers include Gulf States Toyota Distributors, Mito Corporation, Southeast Toyota Distributors, Subaru Distributors NE and Toyota Motor Sales USA. Gentex OEM customers include Audi, Bentley, BMW, Daewoo, DaimlerChrysler, Fiat, Ford, General Motors, Hyundai, Infiniti, Kia Motors, Lexus, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Opel, Porsche, Rover, Rolls Royce and Toyota.

Founded in 1974, Gentex operates out of four facilities in Zeeland, Mich.; an automotive sales office in Livonia, Mich.; automotive sales and engineering subsidiaries in Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom and France; and four regional U.S. sales offices for the Fire Protection Products Group.

For more information, conact www.gentex.com.