Delco Remy & Hitachi, Ltd. Announce Joint Venture

    ANDERSON, Ind.--July 24, 2001--Delco Remy International, Inc., and Hitachi, Ltd. , of Japan today announced a joint venture, Hitachi Remy Automotive GmbH, to be headquartered in Zug, Switzerland and established this month. The initial alliance will be the foundation for a global partnership to develop, manufacture and market automotive starting motors and alternators in European and North American markets. Delco Remy and Hitachi will share their starter/alternator technologies and jointly introduce products to the global market through their existing worldwide manufacturing operations and sales organizations.
    The joint venture will commence operations in Europe and North America and initially will supply some of Hitachi and Delco Remy existing customers. The venture will begin joint sales and marketing efforts in the targeted markets immediately. Support manufacturing will begin in Poland and Mexico in 2002.
    The partnership will provide new customer opportunities for Delco Remy and give Hitachi a better position to support its global customers via the extensive Delco Remy manufacturing plants already in place. Delco Remy International, Inc., President and Chief Executive Officer Thomas J. Snyder said, "This partnership will combine two market leaders with reputations for strong business strategies, leading technologies, quality performance, competitive value and consistent sales growth. We are confident that this venture will help both of our companies serve customers with new technologies, more efficient production and distribution capabilities."
    Hitachi, Ltd. Automotive Products, President & Chief Executive Officer Kunihide Kaneko said, "We expect our customers who are pursuing globalization to be satisfied with this expansion of our innovative products and global presence. We also believe that the combination of Hitachi technologies and Delco Remy global manufacturing facilities will lead to further expansion of our business."
    Delco Remy and Hitachi anticipate significant levels of synergy for both the original equipment and re-manufacturing business segments, with primary focus on starters and alternators. In the future, the partnership may lead to a strong base for industry leadership with emerging systems and upgrades, such as the 42-volt and dual voltage component packages, water-cooled alternators and other related new technologies.
    The joint venture's Board of Directors members, Hitachi General Manager Kazuhiko Yamaguchi and Delco Remy America Senior Vice President and General Manager of Automotive Systems, Robert Lawson, announced the appointment of Yoshiaki Honda as the Chief Executive Officer and Janos Szabo as the Chief Financial Officer.
    Honda will be the Chief Executive Officer and be responsible for the overall activities of the joint venture. He was most recently the Chief Project Leader, Rotating Machines & Energy Management Division at Hitachi, Ltd., Automotive Products. Honda holds a Bachelor of Technology with a major in Electronics Engineering from Toyama University.
    Szabo will serve as Chief Financial Officer for this joint venture. Most recently, he served as the Director of Finance for Delco Remy Europe. In this role he was responsible for the planning, reporting, cash management and financial control of several European operations along with acquisition integration. Szabo holds an Economics/Foreign Relations degree from the University of Economics in Budapest, Hungary.