Behr Forms China JV to Produce Truck Radiators & Engine Cooling Modules

TROY, Mich., April 6 -- Behr GmbH & Co. KG has founded a new joint venture with a Chinese company to produce radiators and engine cooling modules for trucks.

Dongfeng Behr Thermal Systems Co., Ltd. (DBTS) will have its headquarters in Wuhan, China, and begin producing and marketing copper/brass and aluminum radiators for small, medium and heavy trucks on July 1 of this year. Later, the joint venture will produce engine cooling modules and HVAC systems for passenger cars and trucks.

Behr and Dongfeng Motor Co., Ltd., will each have a 50 percent share in the new company. Behr, a leading global supplier of automotive air conditioning and engine cooling equipment, is based in Germany and has its North American headquarters in Troy. Dongfeng Motor Co., Ltd. is China's largest truck manufacturer.

The joint venture will build a new plant in Wuhan and also use production facilities of the former Dongfeng Radiator Co., Ltd. in Shiyan. The two partners together will invest about $48 million in the new company over the next several years.

Behr opened its first office in China in 2001 and a year later won a contract to provide HVAC modules for the VW Polo manufactured in Shanghai. In October 2003, Behr set up a joint venture with Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC), the leading Chinese auto manufacturer and supplier group.

In January 2004, Behr formed another joint venture with Shanghai Automotive and the Sanden Corporation of Japan, which is now the market leader in China for A/C compressors used in car and truck HVAC systems.

Company details:

Behr GmbH & Co. KG is a systems partner for the international automobile industry. A specialist for automotive air conditioning and engine cooling systems, the Behr Group is one of the world's leading manufacturers and suppliers of original equipment for passenger and commercial vehicles. Group sales in the 2003 business year were about $3.4 billion. Behr employs 16,100 people in 30 worldwide development and production facilities in Europe, North and South America, South Africa and Asia. Behr Group headquarters are in Stuttgart, Germany and Behr America is based in Troy, Mich.

Further information on Behr's Asia activities can be found at www.behrgroup.com .