NEC Electronics America Earns Automotive Quality Certification

New ISO/TS 16949:2002 Registration Critical for Automotive Industry

ROSEVILLE, Calif. and SANTA CLARA, Calif., Oct. 18 -- NEC Electronics America, Inc. today announced it has earned the ISO/TS 16949:2002 quality system registration. This registration, a quality certification standard for automotive industries in the United States, Germany, France and Italy, is a significant achievement for NEC Electronics America's semiconductor manufacturing facility in Roseville, California. The company also holds ISO 9001:2000, QS 9000 and ISO 14001 certifications, which demonstrate that NEC Electronics America conforms with and adheres to the highest customer quality and environmental practices.

Major automotive manufacturers are requiring their suppliers to earn the ISO/TS 16949:2002 certification by the end of 2006. Automotive manufacturers are under continuous and fiercely competitive pressure to continuously improve the performance, features and value of their products. These manufacturers expect their suppliers to meet stringent requirements for function, quality and reliability against aggressive schedules, cost pressure and a lean supply chain. ISO/TS 16949:2002 registration not only requires a supplier to deliver products that meet certain requirements, but it also requires suppliers to solicit, monitor and respond to customer feedback to ensure that all processes and activities are aligned with customer satisfaction. Suppliers that earn the ISO/TS 16949: 2002 certification assure automotive manufacturers that they have viable systems in place to meet these challenges and can provide high levels of customer satisfaction.

Facility audits are required as part of the ISO/TS 16949:2002 certification process. NEC Electronics America's manufacturing facility in Roseville, California, was audited, in addition to the company's Automotive Strategic Business Unit in Dallas, Texas. Other company locations that support the automotive product line were audited as well. By meeting all the registration certification requirements prior to the 2006 deadline, NEC Electronics America continues to demonstrate its commitment to the automotive industry and confirm its long-standing dedication to continuous improvement in customer satisfaction.

"We are pleased that NEC Electronics America's efforts to comply with ISO/TS 16949:2002 requirements have been rewarded with this registration certification, which demonstrates the company's commitment to its automotive customers," said David Parlagreco, global automotive program leader, Underwriters Laboratories, Inc., a leading worldwide, independent, not-for-profit registrar and product safety certification organization (and NEC Electronics America's registrar). "As the stated goal of ISO/TS 16949 is to develop and implement systems that are effective in providing for continual improvement, defect prevention and the reduction of variation and waste in processes, NEC Electronics America's certification attests to its ability to meet these requirements with the ultimate aim of providing for total customer satisfaction."

"In the past, the QS 9000 certification only required companies to demonstrate they had documented quality systems in place, but it did not require companies to determine effectiveness of this management system. With the ISO/TS 16949:2002 registration, not only do we have this feedback process in place, but we also must demonstrate continuous improvement processes," said Gabe Kim, vice president of manufacturing operations and plant manager for NEC Electronics America. "This registration provides a tremendous benefit to both our customers and our company -- our customers benefit in knowing that we have strong systems in place to meet their requirements, and our company benefits from new systems that formalize the customer satisfaction and feedback process. These formal procedures hold our factory operation process accountable, providing an enormous advantage to our customers."

About NEC Electronics Automotive Products

NEC Electronics' automotive product line offers a broad range of semiconductor components for automotive systems, such as application-specific microcontrollers (MCUs) for safety (airbags, power steering, anti-lock brakes), restraint, multimedia, body and dashboard applications. These low-power, low-electromagnetic-interference (EMI), high-performance MCUs feature integrated peripherals specifically optimized for automotive applications, as well as integrated CAN- and J1850-type multiplexing buses. In addition to MCUs, NEC Electronics also offers an extensive variety of power MOSFET devices to be used in various automotive environments. NEC Electronics has worldwide resources with highly experienced staff in the United States, Asia and Europe. NEC Electronics' worldwide manufacturing facilities are QS-9000 and/or ISO/TS 16949:2002 certified to meet the high-quality standards of customers in the automotive industry.

About NEC Electronics America, Inc.

NEC Electronics America, Inc., headquartered in Santa Clara, California, is a wholly owned subsidiary of NEC Electronics Corporation , a leading provider of semiconductor products encompassing advanced technology solutions for the broadband and communications markets; system solutions for the mobile, PC, automotive and digital consumer markets; and platform solutions for a wide range of customer applications. NEC Electronics America offers a local manufacturing facility in Roseville, California, and the global manufacturing capabilities of its parent company. NEC Electronics America is also the North American marketing and sales channel, specializing in industrial applications, for active-matrix LCDs from NEC LCD Technologies, Ltd., a global leader in innovative display technologies. More information about the products offered by NEC Electronics America, Inc. can be found at http://www.necelam.com/ .

NOTE: NEC Electronics America, Inc. is a trademark or registered trademark of NEC Electronics Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. All other registered trademarks or trademarks are property of their respective owners.