Lear lands New Mazda

SOUTHFIELD, Mich.--Lear Corp. has been selected by Mazda Motor Corp. to supply the complete interior system for a future sports vehicle to be built in Hiroshima, Japan. The vehicle will be sold in the U.S., Europe, Middle East and South America. Production volume is estimated at 60,000 to 70,000 vehicles a year.

Financial terms of the multi-million dollar agreement were not disclosed.

Lear will be the total system integrator, managing six automotive suppliers during the design and production process of the future vehicle’s interior. This is the first total interior program Lear has been awarded in Japan.

“Lear is extremely pleased with Mazda’s vote of confidence in our skill and expertise as an interior systems integrator by awarding Lear our first-ever complete interior program in Japan,” said Bob Rossiter, Lear’s president and chief executive officer.

The new business award from Mazda represents Lear’s fifth total interior program and is the second announcement by Lear in the past month related to major business wins from Japanese automakers.

“The Asian auto market represents a huge opportunity for Lear,” Rossiter said. “We have recently won several new business programs with Japanese automakers and are currently negotiating other projects to keep our momentum in the region going strong.”

Lear has been successful in winning $1 billion in incremental new business in the past year. As a result, the company’s updated business backlog for 2001 through 2005 is $3.5 billion, or 25 percent of Lear’s anticipated 2000 sales of $14 billion.

Lear, a Fortune 150 company, focuses on automotive interiors and electronics, and is the world’s fifth-largest automotive supplier. Sales in 1999 were $12.4 billion. It has more than 120,000 employees in more than 300 facilities located in 33 countries.

For more information, contact www.lear.com.