Behr America Automotive Sales Tripled Last Year

TROY, Mich., April 10 -- Behr America posted major increases in sales and market share for its automotive engine-cooling and air- conditioning businesses in North America last year.

"Behr America's 2002 calendar-year sales nearly tripled, increasing from $230 million to $684 million," reported Hans Lange, the company's president. "Behr's acquisition of the Dayton Thermal Products business from DaimlerChrysler was a major factor, but our sales excluding the Dayton operations were also up by 16 percent from the previous year."

By year end, Behr's Dayton facility had generated sales of more than $415 million and Behr added orders from General Motors and Ford to its DaimlerChrysler business, Lange said.

"The Dayton acquisition has catapulted Behr into the top league of global automotive suppliers," noted Horst Geidel, chairman of Behr GmbH & Co. KG. "It has increased Behr's share in the US market to 12 percent and helped place the company among the North American auto industry's top suppliers."

Behr's worldwide sales in 2002 increased by about 25 percent to $2.7 million, Geidel said. Profit from business activities increased to $62 million, in part due to the positive results in North America.

Behr will continue making capital investments in the United States in 2003, with a focus on the new technical center and wind tunnel in Troy and Behr Dayton Thermal Products, according to Geidel.

Geidel also reported that Behr is working on a variety of new technologies, including an evolutionary air conditioning system using carbon dioxide as an environmentally-friendly alternative to the refrigerant currently in use.

With headquarters in Troy, Michigan, Behr America is a leading supplier of engine cooling and air conditioning systems to the automobile industry. The company has 3,000 employees at facilities in Troy and Webberville, Michigan; Dayton, Ohio; Charleston, South Carolina; Canton, South Dakota, and Fort Worth, Texas.

Behr America's parent company, Behr GmbH & Co. KG, based in Germany, has been supplying automobile makers for nearly 100 years. Group sales in the 2002 business year came to approximately $2.7 billion. Currently Behr employs more than 16,000 people in 25 production facilities in Europe, North and South America, South Africa and India.

Additional information is at www.behrgroup.com .