Valeo Announces a Plan to Close Its Baumenheim Plant in Germany

    PARIS--Oct. 15, 2001--Valeo (Paris: FR; OTC: VLEEY) today announced that its Switches & Detection Systems Branch plans to rationalize its production in Germany, leading to the closure of its Baumenheim, Bavaria, plant.
    This closure is part of the production site restructuring program announced at Valeo's Annual General Meeting of Shareholders on May 9, 2001. The Baumenheim plant, which employs 470 people, produces park assist systems and top column modules.
    Accompanied by a major investment project (23 million euro), production will be transferred to the existing Wemding site (Bavaria), 30 km from Baumenheim. Part of Wemding's current production will be transferred to the Branch's Veszprem site in Hungary.
    An offer to redeploy to the Wemding site will be made to all personnel involved.
    The Works Council is currently being informed and consulted on this project.
    This rationalization will allow the Switches & Detection Systems Branch to improve its competitiveness and sustain its strong growth in the development of new products. The Branch has sales of 815 million euro and employs 6,500 people in eight countries.
    Valeo is an independent industrial group fully focused on the design, production and sale of components, integrated systems and modules for cars and trucks and ranks among the world's top automotive suppliers. The Group has 162 plants, 49 R&D centers, 10 distribution centers and employs over 78,000 people in 25 countries worldwide.

    For more information on the Group and its businesses, please consult our Web site: www.valeo.com