Lear Honored with Ford's 2003 World Excellence Awards

Lear Receives Three Gold Awards; One Recognition of Achievement

SOUTHFIELD, Mich., May 3 -- Lear Corporation received four Ford Motor Company World Excellence Awards for its superior performance in 2003.

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The World Excellence Awards provide annual recognition based on quality, cost and delivery performance. Forty-two suppliers from 16 countries won awards in various categories. Lear was the only supplier to win four awards.

"For achieving the highest level of performance, we gratefully recognize Lear Corporation for its exceptional contributions and efforts," said Tony Brown, Ford vice president, Global Purchasing.

Bob Rossiter, Lear chairman and chief executive officer, responded: "I am very proud of what we have achieved in this last year with a lot of team effort. Improved quality is the bedrock of our strategy to move our company forward. Achieving quality improvement is not easy and I truly appreciate the efforts that made this honor, as well as other quality recognition, possible."

There are three types of World Excellence Awards -- Gold, Silver and Recognition of Achievement. The Gold and Silver Awards are given to suppliers that excel in quality, delivery and cost; 12 suppliers won the Gold Award, and 24 suppliers won the Silver Award. A Recognition of Achievement Award is given to suppliers who impact customer satisfaction by providing significant contributions in key areas: Environmental Leadership, Consumer Focused Technology and Consumer Drive 6-Sigma Supplier Achievement. Recognition of Achievement Awards went to eight suppliers.

Lear received three Gold Awards for excellence in quality, cost and delivery for interior soft trim produced at our Hermosillo, Mexico facility; seats from our Atlanta, Ga. facility; and textiles from Lear in Sheboygan, Wis. Additionally, Lear won a Recognition of Achievement for consumer-driven Six Sigma efforts improvements in headrest production. The Six Sigma recognition of Achievement is awarded to suppliers that had a Black Belt lead a project that had a direct impact on Ford customer satisfaction.

Lear Corporation, a FORTUNE 500 company headquartered in Southfield, Michigan, USA, focuses on integrating complete automotive interiors, including seat systems, interior trim and electrical systems. With annual net sales of $15.75 billion in 2003, Lear is the world's largest automotive interior systems supplier. The Company's world-class products are designed, engineered and manufactured by more than 110,000 employees. At December 31, 2003, Lear had 289 facilities located in 34 countries. Further information about Lear and its products is available on the Internet at www.lear.com .

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