Hella Expands Production and Aftermarket Facilities

PLYMOUTH, Mich.--Jan. 2, 20049, 2004--Hella continues to expand its manufacturing facilities and aftermarket sales operations in North America.

The company recently doubled its aftermarket storage capacity in Canada with the opening of a new warehouse in Mississauga, Ontario and also has announced plans to expand a manufacturing facility in South Carolina.

"We can now import aftermarket components directly to Canada instead of routing them through existing warehouse facilities in Atlanta, GA.," said Wolfgang Benz, president and COO, Hella North America Aftermarket. "With this added logistical support we can further expand our Canadian operations and better serve the automotive industry in North America."

Siegfried Tigges, Hella's national sales manager for Canada, noted that opening the new warehouse, with seven employees, demonstrates Canada's importance to Hella's North American operations.

Hella Lighting Corporation also recently announced plans to expand its York, S.C., plant by more than 50 percent during the coming year. The York plant is one of North America's most advanced headlamp production facilities and supplies lighting components for Chrysler, General Motors, Ford Motor Company and Mercedes-Benz.

"When our York facility opened in 2000, we expected it to grow to about 100 employees and produce 1.5 million units per year," said Joe Borruso, president and CEO of Hella North America. "Today, we have more than 140 employees and expect that number to increase 30 percent or more during the coming years."

Lighting, electronics, complete vehicle modules, air conditioning systems, vehicle wiring systems and signal processing for the automobile industry, as well as automotive aftermarket components, are the core fields of competency for automotive supplier Hella KG Hueck & Co. Sales for the Hella Group are approximately $3.8 billion, placing Hella among Germany's top 100 industrial companies.

With its corporate headquarters in Lippstadt, Germany, the company employs more than 22,800 people at 61 manufacturing facilities, production subsidiaries and joint-venture companies in 18 countries. Over 1,800 engineers and technicians work in research and development. All of the world's leading automobile and automotive- systems manufacturers are Hella customers.

Additional information is available on the Internet at www.hella.com.