Infiniti Selects Amerigon Climate Control Seats

(NEW YORK, March 28 -- Amerigon Incorporated , a developer, manufacturer and marketer of proprietary, high technology products for automotive original equipment manufacturers worldwide, announced today that its Climate Control Seat(TM) (CCS(TM)) system has been selected by Infiniti as an option for the driver and front passenger seats of the new 2003 model year Infiniti Q45 full-sized luxury sedan and the newly introduced 2003 model year M45 mid-sized luxury sport sedan. The Infiniti Q45 and the new Infiniti M45, both equipped with the CCS option, debuted today at the 2002 New York International Automobile Show being held at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City, March 30 through April 7. The 2003 Q45 will be available at Infiniti Retailers in mid-fall while the M45 will be available in mid-September.

CCS is the only system on the market that allows the driver and front seat passenger of a vehicle to individually and actively control the warming or cooling of their respective seats for personal comfort year-round. The climate controls operate through a self-contained and self-generating cooling and warming system integrated internally into each seat.

Surveys conducted on behalf of Amerigon of customers who purchased vehicles equipped with CCS have shown overwhelming satisfaction with the seat system. Most of those surveyed said that CCS increased the appeal and value of their vehicles and they would purchase vehicles with the comfort-enhancing feature again. In addition, a story that ran last fall on carpoint.msn.com showed that an independent survey of U.S. car buyers ranked cooled seats as being near the top of the list of the most desired new high-tech automotive features.

``The relationship with Infiniti is an important opportunity for Amerigon,'' said Chairman and CEO Oscar (Bud) Marx. ``Infiniti is known for providing the best in quality and customer satisfaction and its decision to make CCS available as an option on the Infiniti Q45, as well as the Infiniti M45 as part of its North American introduction, is another strong compliment to CCS. We believe it is a reflection of the growing acceptance of our system by leading automobile manufacturers worldwide.''

To date, Amerigon has shipped more than 200,000 CCS systems for use in four vehicles and the launch of the 2003 Infiniti Q45 and the all-new Infiniti M45 marks the seventh and eighth vehicles overall and the first Infiniti vehicles to include CCS as either an optional or standard feature. Amerigon is continuing to market CCS to virtually every major vehicle manufacturer and seat supplier worldwide.

About the Climate Control Seat(TM) (CCS(TM))

The proprietary CCS system, which is integrated into a vehicle seat, is the first system of its kind. It significantly enhances individual driver and passenger comfort in virtually all climatic conditions by providing cooling and heating to seat occupants, as desired, through an active, microprocessor- controlled temperature management system.

Ambient air is drawn into the system from the cabin of the vehicle and, based on seat occupant inputs from individual seat controls, as well as inputs from temperature sensors built into CCS, the system's advanced design heat pump heats or cools the air. The heat pump, which uses no CFCs or other environmentally sensitive coolants, is built around a highly efficient, solid-state Thermoelectric Device (TED) that rapidly converts electric current into the desired thermal effect (hot or cold). The ``conditioned'' air is circulated through the seat surfaces by a specially designed, DC fan mounted into the structure of each seat, cooling or heating each seat and its occupant to individually preferred levels of all seasons' comfort.