INTERMET Opens European Engineering Center

Names Inge Hoegfeldt Technical Director for Europe Operations

TROY, Mich., July 23 -- INTERMET Corporation , one of the world's leading manufacturers of cast-metal automotive components, today announced the establishment of a European Engineering Center based at its European Headquarters in Saarbrucken, Germany.

Commenting on today's announcement, INTERMET Europe President Laurence Vine-Chatterton said, "This new engineering facility will complement the capabilities of our Technical Center in Lynchburg, Virginia, and Engineering Center in Troy, Michigan. It is part of an emergent global network of engineering and R&D operations that are working closely together to better serve our customers around the world."

The INTERMET Europe Engineering Center will bring product design, manufacturing engineering and process-simulation services to a growing roster of European automotive customers who increasingly are requiring full-service capabilities from their suppliers. The new center is being opened to help INTERMET's European automotive OEM and system-supplier customers become more competitive by resolving technical issues, enhancing their existing products and bringing new ones to market more quickly, efficiently and economically.

Also announced today was the appointment of Inge Hoegfeldt as Technical Director for INTERMET Europe with responsibility for the new Engineering Center. Hoegfeldt comes to INTERMET from Arvika Gjuteri AB, a leading manufacturer of cast-metal automotive components in Sweden, where he was Managing Director. "We are pleased that Inge is joining our team in Germany," said Vine-Chatterton. "He has considerable experience in the European casting industry as well as in engine design, both for automotive and truck applications. He will provide valuable support as we implement our European light-metals strategy and develop more highly engineered, sophisticated ductile-iron applications."

According to INTERMET's Vice President of Technical Services Tom Prucha, a team of dedicated product and process engineers will staff the Center and work with state-of-the-science technology in CAD/CAE, FEA and casting process simulation. "This engineering center and the team that is being assembled there are integral to the expansion of INTERMET's Material-Process Continuum strategy to the European market," he said. "With a full complement of engineering design and modeling services, the center will coordinate research and development in Europe and take the lead in the implementation of our new proprietary technologies, such as MADI(TM), PCPC(TM) and Blue Sand(TM). We believe this kind of technical expertise will strengthen INTERMET's ability to serve its current customers and provide greater opportunities to develop new customer relationships and markets in Europe."

With headquarters in Troy, Michigan, INTERMET Corporation is a manufacturer of powertrain, chassis/suspension and structural components for the automotive industry. INTERMET's strategy is to be the world's leading supplier of cast-metal automotive components. The company has more than 5,500 employees at facilities located in North America and Europe. More information is available on the Internet at www.intermet.com .