Brose North America Opens First Manufacturing Facility in the United States

Provides Ford with Door Modules

AUBURN HILLS, Mich., Aug. 10 -- Brose, worldwide market leader in window, door and seat systems, opened its first manufacturing facility in the United States on August 10 as part of Ford Motor Company's Chicago Manufacturing Campus. The facility will produce door modules for the Ford Freestyle, Ford Five Hundred and Mercury Montego, including the window regulator and electronics, latch system, wire harness, speaker, inside handle and a variety of smaller parts.

"Ford is one of our longest customer relationships and we are excited to extend our capabilities to them by being part of this Chicago manufacturing campus," said Jan Kowal, president of Brose North America. "The addition of these door modules for the three new vehicles is a great opportunity for us to continue providing Ford with our technology."

Brose's 62,000 square-foot facility will have 130 employees at full capacity. It will produce the door modules just-in-sequence and has in-line vehicle shipment delivery to Ford Motor Company's Chicago Assembly Plant.

"Having the plant in Ford's Chicago Manufacturing Campus provides a quicker response time and lower finished product inventories," said John Dunn, general manager for Brose North America's Chicago facility. "This allows us to reduce cost while still providing the quality materials Brose is known for."

The Brose door module is the first developed in the United States to include a sealed carrier plate that separates the wet and dry side of the door. In addition, although the two vehicles Ford has specified have different door designs, Brose has been able to standardize carrier plates within the module -- providing a significant cost savings to the vehicle manufacturer.

Brose has positioned itself at the forefront of door module technology over the past several years. The company introduced the first door module in Europe in 1987 and has since been the first company to integrate components and functions into a door module. Brose introduced wet/dry separation for door modules, which has become the current industry standard.

Brose continues to advance door module technology, focusing on integrating and optimizing existing door module functions. Currently, the company has the capability to provide door modules with 80 percent of all door functions, with only the painted outer door shell being provided by the manufacturer. Brose is taking steps to one day provide vehicle manufacturers with a complete door.

Brose supplies innovative systems and modules for vehicle doors and seats to more than 40 OEMs and Tier One manufacturers worldwide. With 30 locations in Europe, North and South America, Asia and Africa and a staff of more than 7,500 globally, Brose offers quality window regulators, door modules, seat adjuster and closure systems to OEMs everywhere. For more information, visit http://www.brose.net/ .