Vibracoustic Enhances Vehicle Ride and Comfort through Total Solutions

    TRAVERSE CITY, Mich., May 1 To help automakers meet
increasing consumer demands for quieter, more comfortable vehicles,
Vibracoustic North America -- an independent wholly owned subsidiary of
Freudenberg-NOK -- is developing advanced technologies and producing product
packages and systems that reduce or eliminate noise, vibration and harshness
(NVH).

    The company is demonstrating its unique capabilities at the Society of
Automotive Engineers Noise & Vibration Conference & Exposition at the Grand
Traverse Resort this week at booth #219.

    "With the ever-increasing importance of vehicle NVH reduction, our
customers are looking for leading-edge global suppliers that can provide a
total vehicle solution, a broad product portfolio and global support
capabilities that are consistent everywhere in the world," said Paul J.
Parent, president of Vibracoustic North America.  "Today, Vibracoustic is
uniquely positioned to meet these expectations and provide its customers with
value-based, integrated NVH solutions."

    "Our customers can get the best of all worlds -- our unsurpassed breadth
and depth of vibration control technology, our analytical and design
expertise, our global reach and presence, and the quality, reliability and
responsiveness arising from our lean Freudenberg-NOK culture," he said.

    According to Parent, Vibracoustic North America was formed last year as a
separate company to sharpen the focus of the company's growing NVH business
and to align the unit with counterpart companies in Europe, Brazil, Japan,
Korea and India to create a global automotive vibration control enterprise,
Vibracoustic Worldwide.  Together, he said, these companies are becoming the
world's largest and most focused automotive vibration control entity with the
ability to service customers in any region of the world.

    Vibracoustic North America is headquartered in Plymouth, Mich., with a
$7 million, state-of-the-art technology and testing facility.  This center
houses a complete range of NVH-related analytical and test equipment,
including full chassis and engine dynamometers housed in anechoic chambers,
and will soon have a computerized road simulator which can duplicate the bumps
and vibrations of any stretch of road.

    The company uses advanced computer-modeling and analytical capabilities to
help automakers eliminate NVH problems early in the vehicle development
stages.  By taking on responsibility to optimize NVH over the entire vehicle
and getting involved with automakers early in the development process,
Vibracoustic North America can offer a total NVH solution that can reduce
cost, weight and development time and enhance customer satisfaction.

    A leading supplier of vibration control products and North America's
leading producer of microcellular urethane NVH components, Vibracoustic North
America offers leading NVH design solutions and a broad portfolio of
components and packages, including engine mounts, torsional vibration dampers,
body and cradle mounts and jounce bumpers.  It also offers unique capabilities
for complete noise path analysis, an intense focus on analytical techniques
and an expanded product line, which includes suspension air springs,
conventional and hydraulic chassis bushings, dynamic tilgers and other
innovative NVH components.