Nine Companies Honored for Innovations in Automotive Interior Design And Technology at The Detroit Auto Interiors Show

    DETROIT, May 14 Innovation is a driving force in the
automotive industry, and some of the year's most exciting innovations will be
on display this week in Booth 327 at The Detroit Auto Interiors Show, held May
15-17 at Detroit's Cobo Conference/Exhibition Center.  Now in its sixth year,
the Auto Interiors Design & Technology Awards were created to stimulate
creative thinking and encourage innovation in the interiors industry.
    Both products and concepts, including full interiors, provide a notable
benefit to the end user or make a substantial contribution toward the
advancement of the automotive industry are being honored.
    "This year's entries indicate that the Tier One and Tier Two suppliers, to
whom the OEMs have handed more design and engineering responsibility, are
stepping up to the plate with fresh, consumer-oriented products," said Richard
Lebovitz, Auto Interiors' editorial director.  "The winning entries also
reflect a trend toward electronics solutions, signaling that the age of the
digital interior has arrived."

    CONCEPT DIVISION

    Category: Comfort, Convenience & Safety
      First Place: BioVolume Safety System - Faurecia
      Second Place: Kion Concept Interior - Johnson Controls Inc.

    Category: Design & Manufacturing
      First Place: Precept Interior - General Motors Corp.

    Category: Multimedia & Telematics
      First Place: BlueConnect - Johnson Controls Inc.
      Second Place: AutoVision - Johnson Controls Inc.

    PRODUCTION DIVISION

    Category: Comfort, Convenience & Safety
      First Place: One-Touch Up Anti-Trapping Door/Window System - Brose North
       America Inc.

    Category: Design & Manufacturing
      First Place (Tie): HarnessLink - Altair Engineering Inc.
      First Place (Tie): SonoTec EP - Lear Corp.
      Second Place: Mold-in-color PP Instrument Panel - Visteon Corp.

    Category: Design & Manufacturing
      First Place (Tie): Interactive Voice Recognition Telematics Service -
       ATX Technologies
      First Place (Tie): IVIS - Diversified Software Inc.

    This year's distinguished judges, chosen to represent a cross-section of
the industry, included:  Olivier Boinais, chief stylist, Faurecia; Jim
Holtslag, executive engineer, DaimlerChrysler Corp.; Teresa Spafford, senior
designer - color and trim, Mazda Design North America; Dan Sturges, president,
frogMobility; and Mike Sweers, general manager, Engineering Design VI, Toyota
Technical Center USA.  The judging was analyzed by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.
    Atlanta-based Auto Interiors is a publication of Bill Communications,
Inc., the country's fastest-growing publisher of influential business
magazines, a producer of major conferences and expositions, and owner of
numerous web information delivery sites on the Internet.  Bill Communications
is a subsidiary of VNU Business Media Inc., which includes BPI Communications
Inc., VNU eMedia Inc. and VNU Expositions.  The company publishes more than 62
business publications and produces 100 leading business conferences,
exhibitions and events from its headquarters in New York City and its division
offices in Atlanta, Dallas, Minneapolis and Washington, D.C.
    Bill Communications is a subsidiary of VNU-USA, a wholly-owned subsidiary
of Netherlands-based VNU, an international publishing and information company
that employs approximately 16,000 people worldwide and has annual revenues of
more than $2.6 billion.

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