MPA Announces Tentative Settlement With the SEC

    TORRANCE, Calif.--Sept. 4, 2002--Motorcar Parts & Accessories, Inc. (Internet billboard:MPAA) announced today that it has been informed that staff of the Pacific Regional Office of the Securities and Exchange Commission intends to recommend the filing of a civil injunctive action against the Company arising out of the SEC's previously disclosed investigation into MPA's financial statements and reporting practices for fiscal years 1997-1998. The staff has also informed the Company that they intend to recommend the approval of a settlement with the Company. Under the terms of the proposed settlement, MPA will be subject to a permanent injunction barring MPA from future violations of the antifraud and financial reporting provisions of the federal securities laws. The proposed settlement is subject to the approval of the SEC Commission members. MPA has not been informed as to the date when the proposed settlement will be presented to the Commission for approval.
    Anthony Souza, MPA's President, stated, "We are pleased to have reached a tentative settlement with the SEC, and we look forward to putting this chapter of the Company's history behind us."
    MPA is a leading manufacturer of replacement alternators and starters for imported and domestic cars and light trucks in the United States and Canada. MPA's full line of alternators and starters are remanufactured for import and domestic vehicles.