MANN+HUMMEL Forms New Joint Venture in Japan

PORTAGE, Mich., Sept. 14 -- MANN+HUMMEL Group has joined with WAKO Industrial Co. Ltd. to form a joint venture to produce automotive air, oil and fuel filters in Japan.

The new company, MANN+HUMMEL WAKO Co. Ltd., will be based in Shin-Yokohama and owned equally by the two companies. Hisayoshi Iwamitsu, managing director of MANN+HUMMEL Japan Ltd., which was established in 1998, and Mamoru Akiyama from WAKO have been appointed managing directors of the new company.

WAKO was established in 1952 and employs 300 people in Tokyo, Shizuoka and Kawasaki. WAKO supplies air, oil and fuel filters as original equipment and to aftermarket and industrial customers. WAKO is a leading supplier of commercial vehicle and industrial filters in the Japanese market.

"MANN+HUMMEL has gained a strong business partner in Japan, which will help us provide better service to our customers in the area, and gain new ones," noted Claude Mathieu, president of MANN+HUMMEL USA. "We also will be able to provide even greater service for the increasing number of global platforms in the automotive industry."

MANN+HUMMEL already supplies products to many Japanese manufacturers. The new joint venture will allow greater cooperation with Japanese automakers' technical centers and support the development of comprehensive system solutions for air intake and fluid management in vehicles.

Vehicle production in Japan is expected to increase by around nine percent by 2010. As one of the most important automotive markets in the world, Japan's many well-known machine manufacturers and other industrial companies located there also are important potential customers for MANN+HUMMEL.

For MANN+HUMMEL, development partner and original equipment supplier to the international automotive and mechanical engineering industries, the establishment of MANN+HUMMEL WAKO Co. Ltd. is a further important step in its Asian strategy, which is focused primarily on China, Korea, Japan and India. The aim is to create a third supporting column in the Asian market, in addition to Europe and America, and to be one of the top five suppliers in Asia by 2008. MANN+HUMMEL established three companies in China in 2002 and 2003, and has acquired a holding in the leading filter maker in Korea. In 2003, the company opened a sales office in Bangalore, India, and has intensified contacts with potential cooperation partners.

The MANN+HUMMEL Group is an international company. In 2003, the company achieved sales of $1.3 billion. The MANN+HUMMEL Group currently employs around 9,000 people at more than 41 locations worldwide. The company develops, produces and sells technically complex automotive components such as air-filter systems, intake-manifold systems, liquid-filter systems and cabin filters for the automotive industry, and filter elements for vehicle servicing and repair.

For general engineering, process engineering and industrial manufacturing sectors, the company's product range includes industrial filters, filter systems and materials-handling systems and equipment. MANN+HUMMEL's customers come from a large number of sectors, with series production for the automotive industry occupying a key position. Further information about MANN+HUMMEL can be found at http://www.mann-hummel.com/ .