Behr Dedicates $30-Million Michigan Construction Project

    TROY, Mich., April 30 Behr America dedicated the
construction site of its $30-million, 80,000-square-foot North American
corporate headquarters and technical center with ceremonies attended by state
and local officials.
    Scheduled to open later this year, the new complex will house executive
offices, customer support facilities and engineering operations for Behr,
which supplies climate control and engine cooling systems to major vehicle
manufacturers around the world.
    Troy Mayor Matt Pryor joined Behr America President Hans-Joachim Lange and
Horst Geidel, chairman of the board of management and chief executive officer
of the Behr Group, for the dedication ceremonies.  Also attending were
officials from Oakland County and the Michigan State Senate.  The new facility
will be located on Daley Street, off Big Beaver Road and east of I-75 and
Rochester Road.
    "Our new technical center will enable us to better serve our automotive
customers in the region," said Lange.  "Within the next four years, Behr will
expand its North American presence and double its current market share.  We
plan to more than double our sales to $500-million by 2005."
    Several Michigan firms are involved in the construction of the new
facility.  Landry & Newman Architecture of Birmingham, MI, is the architect
for the project.  Rudolph/Libee, Inc. with offices in Canton, MI and
Woodbridge, Ohio, is the general contractor.
    The new Troy complex also will include at a later construction phase a
next-generation wind tunnel for testing climate control and engine cooling
systems under all weather extremes.  The wind tunnel will be able to simulate
climactic conditions from below 30 degrees centigrade to above 50 degrees
centigrade.
    Joseph Kern, Behr America's senior vice president of engineering, said
that the wind tunnel in Troy will be one of the world's most advanced testing
facilities for vehicular thermal management.  "We will be capable of
simulating precise road tests in freeway or urban traffic cycles under all
climactic conditions possible worldwide with a full range of solar loads,
humidity, temperatures and air velocities," said Kern.
    "We're thrilled to have them here," Troy Mayor Matt Pryor said.  "Behr is
bringing a number of highly skilled engineering and high-tech jobs to our
community.  Behr's new wind tunnel will attract interest throughout North
America."
    Behr America is part of the $2-billion Behr Group, a leading global
supplier of climate control and engine cooling systems for automotive,
commercial, and off-highway markets.  Behr Group, headquartered in Stuttgart,
Germany, has more than 13,000 employees worldwide with manufacturing
facilities in eight countries.  Behr America has about 1,100 employees in
Walled Lake and Webberville, MI; Charleston, SC; Canton, SD, and Fort Worth,
TX.
    Behr's automotive customer base includes Audi, BMW, DaimlerChrysler,
General Motors, Jaguar, Ford, Mercedes-Benz, Saturn, Volvo and Volkswagen.  In
terms of current sales and new contracts, GM, DaimlerChrysler and BMW are
Behr's largest automotive customers in North America.  Other customers include
Freightliner, Volvo, Ford, Navistar, John Deere, Cummins and Caterpillar.
    More Behr information is available online at http://www.behrgroup.com

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