Wescast Completes Acquisition Of Georgia Ductile

    BRANTFORD, Ontario--Sept. 13, 2002--Wescast Industries Inc. (TSX:WCS.A) announced today that its acquisition of Georgia Ductile Foundries LLC ("Georgia Ductile"), previously announced July 26, 2002, has been completed. Wescast has acquired 100% of Georgia Ductile for a total purchase price, including the assumption of debt, of approximately $70 million (US).
    Georgia Ductile is a manufacturer of sand cast iron components, primarily for the automotive industry, focusing on suspension and brake components.
    "Today marks the beginning of a new era for Wescast's customers, investors and employees," said Ray Finnie, President and CEO. "The suspension and brake components business capitalizes on our core competencies and strengths. It is in direct alignment with our strategic vision to become the leading global supplier of automotive hot end exhaust solutions and other niche components for the automotive industry."
    Mr. Finnie added, "Our success in the manifold business is attributable to our automotive focus, commitment to investment in technology and people, and our obsessive attitude toward continuous improvement. We intend to provide the same strategic focus to the suspension component business and expect to achieve strong operating and financial performance from this new business."
    With the acquisition completed, Wescast will now focus on ensuring the smooth integration of Georgia Ductile into its organization.
    Wescast will provide additional details on the impact of this acquisition, from both a financial and strategic perspective during its third quarter conference call/webcast scheduled for October 23rd, 2002. Details regarding that call/webcast will be released in the near future.
    Wescast Industries Inc. is the world's largest supplier of exhaust manifolds for passenger cars and light trucks. The Company designs, develops, casts and machines high-quality iron exhaust manifolds for automotive OEMs. Wescast has sales and design centres in Canada, the United States, Germany and the United Kingdom, as well as sales representation in France and Japan. The Company operates six production facilities in North America, including a 49% interest in United Machining Inc., an accredited Minority supplier in Michigan, and, a 50% joint venture interest in Weslin Autoipari Rt., a Hungarian based supplier of cast iron exhaust manifolds and turbo charger housings for the European light vehicle market. The Company is recognized worldwide for its quality products, innovative design solutions and highly committed workforce.

    Advisory

    Wescast and its representatives may periodically make written or oral statements that are "forward-looking", including statements included in this news release and in our filings with applicable Securities Commissions and in reports to our stockholders. These statements may be identified by words such as "believe", "anticipate," "project," "expect," "intend" or other similar expressions, and include all statements which address operating performance, events or developments that we expect or anticipate may occur in the future (including statements relating to future sales or earnings expectations, volume growth, awarded sales contracts and earnings per share expectations or statements expressing general optimism about future operating results). Such statements involve risks and uncertainties that may cause unanticipated events and actually evolve to be materially different from those either expressed or implied. These factors include, but are not limited to, risks associated with the automotive industry, production, marketing and transportation such as loss of market, volatility of prices, currency fluctuations, environmental risks, competition from other producers and ability to access sufficient capital from internal and external sources; as a consequence, actual results may differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements. For more detailed information regarding these risks you may refer to Wescast's publicly filed documents with applicable Canadian Securities authorities and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Wescast undertakes no obligation to update any of these forward-looking statements.