Gage Expands Automotive Test Fuel Division

    FERNDALE, Mich.--Oct. 21, 2002--Detroit-based Gage Products Company plans to more than double its sales of automotive test fuels and calibration fluids within the next two years, according to Donald Dixon, the company's president.
    Dixon said Gage has re-organized its refining services group, established a customer-service team, increased laboratory staffing and invested in new laboratory and fuel-testing equipment to further expand the sale of automotive fuels and fluids. The program is being headed by Gage Vice President Timothy Wing and Maureen Frushour, recently named group manager of Gage's Refining Services Division.
    The company annually provides automotive manufacturers and their suppliers with more than 200 different blends of fuels and fluids for product development, quality and emission-control testing. Annual sales currently total more than $1 million.
    Wing noted that Gage is the auto industry's only Michigan-based supplier of custom-blended gasoline fuels and calibration fluids.
    "We expect to see a significant growth in sales as automotive suppliers and their OEM customers work to improve product quality and meet strict environmental standards," Wing said. "Gage is pledged to providing its customers with the finest service in the industry, certifying the quality of its refinery products and guaranteeing prompt delivery."
    A leading global supplier of test fuels, paint solvents and closed-loop recycling technology for the automotive industry since 1936, Gage also has invested more than $1 million in analytic laboratory and custom-fuel-blending facilities.
    The company maintains an inventory of more than 250 custom-blended gasoline fuels for use in automotive test programs. Custom fuels generally cost an average of $9- 18 per gallon but can cost as much as $250 or more per gallon depending on the complexity of the blending process.
    Gage's Refining Services Division has a 12-person staff, including laboratory technicians and sales and customer service personnel, as well as production and inventory control employees.
    The company currently offers more than 25 different calibration fluids used to meet testing requirements for a variety of products, including oil and fuel pumps, fuel injectors and transmissions. Gage customers include Visteon, DaimlerChrysler, Ford, TI Automotive, Bosch, and Federal Mogul.
    In the past five years, the company has provided its customers with more than 1,000 different blends of gasoline for automotive test use. Gage's custom-fuel customers include Bosch, Visteon, TI Automotive, Inergy Automotive Systems, Eaton Corporation, Detroit Testing Labs, Testing Services Group and Stant Manufacturing.

    Headquartered in Ferndale, MI, Gage has facilities in Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Belgium, Brazil and Mexico. The company also is a leader in the field of sustainable manufacturing and solvent remanufacturing systems. Its paint-system solvent recovery processes are used in a majority of North America's automotive assembly plants and have attracted the attention of European and Asia-Pacific manufacturers as well.