BorgWarner/Hitachi Strategic Alliance Creates Growth Potential

    CHICAGO, April 3 BorgWarner , the world's
largest independent producer of transfer cases for four-wheel and all-wheel
drive systems, has married its expertise in developing control strategies for
its transfer cases with the manufacturing strength and efficiency of Hitachi
Automotive Products (USA), one of the world's largest electronics companies.
The strategic alliance should initially increase production capacity for
BorgWarner TorqTransfer Systems' electronic control unit (ECU) threefold, from
200,000 to 600,000 units.

    But it isn't just a matter of numbers, according to Tim Manganello,
President of BorgWarner TorqTransfer Systems.  "We can now continue to
prioritize our focus on development of the control algorithms, including
writing all of the software for those controls, which is the intelligence of
the ECU.  This will further differentiate BorgWarner from our competition and
provide a greatly enhanced product.  We have become a stronger company as a
result of our new relationship with Hitachi Automotive Products (USA)."

    The trend in automotive control technologies is in the integration and
attachment of the ECU to the torque management device, such as a transfer case
or InterActive Torque Management(TM) system, sometimes in much harsher,
exposed environments, compared with a more traditional installation in the
"friendly" confines of the passenger compartment of the vehicle.  Hitachi
Automotive Products (USA) has the current technology to achieve these
integrations with a high-capacity, high-volume manufacturing capability.
Additionally, Hitachi's purchasing power and breadth of experience promises to
bring cost benefits to the OEMs and to dramatically shorten times to market.