Lear Corporation Sees Minority Supplier Procurement Reaching $1 Billion by 2008

SOUTHFIELD, Mich., Feb. 7, 2006 -- Lear Corporation , one of the world's largest automotive suppliers, today announced it expects the amount of good and services it buys from minority suppliers to grow to $1 billion by 2008.

Lear currently has more than 218 active diverse suppliers. Goods and services purchased by Lear from minority business enterprises in 2005 accounted for $773 million, surpassing by 29% Lear's 2000 goal to triple sales from approximately $200 million to the $600 million mark within five years.

"We have made significant advances in the area of minority business development," Rossiter said. "We see supplier diversity as a strategic imperative to ensure we utilize the best available sources as well as support the communities where we do business."

Lear was recently awarded the Corporate Citizenship Award by Ford Motor Company for its progress in minority business procurement and was also a recipient of the Michigan Minority Business Development Corporation's (MMBDC) Corporate Plus Award in 2005 for its efforts in diversity. Lear is an active supporter of the MMBDC's mission to increase procurement opportunities for minority businesses and to foster reciprocal procurement among minority-owned enterprises.

This year, Lear is launching production to supply interior components to Toyota Motor Manufacturing North America's new assembly plant in San Antonio, Texas through its joint ventures with Reyes Automotive, a minority business enterprise. Lear also announced that it has awarded its first global diverse supplier contract to Paperworks, Inc.

Lear also recently announced the formation of two joint ventures with Comer Holdings, LLC, a minority business enterprise, for assembling, sequencing and manufacturing of interior components for the automotive industry. These ventures have operations in Brownstown and Highland Park, Mich., Newark, Del., and Berne, Indiana that employ approximately 900 people.

Lear Corporation is one of the world's largest suppliers of automotive interior systems and components. Lear provides complete seat systems, electronic products and electrical distribution systems and other interior products. With annual net sales of $17.1 billion, Lear ranks #127 among the Fortune 500. The company's world-class products are designed, engineered and manufactured by a diverse team of more than 115,000 employees in 34 countries. Lear's headquarters are in Southfield, Michigan, and Lear is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol [LEA]. Further information about Lear is available on the Internet at http://www.lear.com/ .

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