Tachi-S and Lear Corporation Form Third Joint Venture, TACLE Seating USA LLC, to Support New Business with Nissan North America

Construction begins on facility in Tennessee to supply Nissan in Smyrna

MT. JULIET, Tenn., March 30 -- Lear Corporation and Tachi-S today announced they have established a third joint venture under a master alliance formed in July, 2003, to support business with Nissan globally. The joint venture, TACLE Seating, U.S.A. LLC, held a groundbreaking ceremony today to celebrate construction of a new facility in Mt. Juliet dedicated to supplying seats to Nissan's assembly plant in Smyrna, Tenn.

The Tennessee facility is TACLE's first U.S. plant and its third location globally. Once it is fully operational in mid-2007, the 90,000-square-foot plant will employ up to 170 people. Tachi-S Engineering U.S.A. will hold 51% stake and Lear will hold 49% stake in TACLE Seating.

In addition to TACLE representatives, on hand for the groundbreaking ceremony at the construction site were officials from Nissan, Lear, Tachi-S and local government agencies.

"We're very excited about the opportunity to supply Nissan in North America, where the company's growth in the automotive market continues to surge," said Kousaku Tarumi, President and COO of Tachi-S Co., Ltd. "The new building in Mt. Juliet signals Nissan's success in this region while also enabling us to contribute to the economic vitality of Wilson County and the State of Tennessee."

In addition to the new business with Nissan North America, Lear and Tachi-S have two additional joint ventures to supply seats to Nissan in Sunderland, U.K. and Guanzhou in China.

"A top priority for Lear is to diversify its business with a strategic emphasis on expanding sales to Asian automakers," said Gideon Jewel, president of Lear's Japanese Customer Division. "We are committed to providing Nissan the best service, quality and interior products available in the industry today."

Tachi-S Engineering is a wholly owned subsidiary of Tachi-S Co. Ltd. of Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1954, Tachi-S is an automotive supplier with 3,563 employees and 2005 sales of 183,655 million yen. Since its founding, Tachi-S has understood that the seats in a vehicle make the single most important contribution to driver and passenger comfort. On the threshold of a new century, Tachi-S is determined to continue defining automotive seating standards by setting the pace in areas as diverse as environmental impact, quality, durability, and ergonomic excellence. Further information about Tachi-S can be found on the Internet at http://www.tachi-s.co.jp/ .

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 115,000 employees at 282 locations 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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