Preh Supplies New Control System for 2010 Lincoln MKT

NOVI, Mich., July 22 -- Preh, a leading supplier of automotive driver controls, sensors and electronic control units, has been awarded the contract to develop and produce the rear climate control system and the remote climate control module for the 2010 MY Lincoln MKT.

In the development requirements for the interior, Ford made a great emphasis that the rotary knobs of the rear climate control system should differ in their haptics according to their different function. As a result, one gets a fundamentally different feedback during the adjustment of the temperature than when choosing the blower speed. Thus the operation of these functions becomes differentiated not only by an appropriate visual label, but also by a clear-cut haptic coding.

"The haptic coding is a way of making different functions simply more intuitively useable in the vehicle. For this, Preh developed diverse technical approaches, which were well-received in both series applications and in concept studies," said Nick Lontscharitsch, Senior Vice President of Sales for Preh, Inc. "Preh is considered one of the leading specialists worldwide when it comes to characteristic haptics in control systems," Lontscharitsch added.

With the rear control system for the MKT, Preh continues to extend its supply range in the area of rear climate controls. European premium brands, as exemplified by the 7-Series BMW, the Rolls-Royce Phantom or Mercedes-Benz S-Class, have been already supplied with rear climate controls from Preh for many years.

About Preh

Preh was founded in Germany in 1919. As a full-service supplier, Preh works directly with major automakers in the development and production of complete driver control systems, sensors and electronic control units.

The company maintains in-house capabilities for plastics injection molding, precision mechanics, light-pipe design, electronics hardware, surface finishing, laser etching and software development.

With sales of $448.1 million in 2008, Preh employs over 2,000 people located in Germany, Portugal, Romania, France, Mexico, China and the U.S. More than 90 percent of Preh's annual revenue comes from its automotive business. Preh's U.S. customer service center is located in Novi, Mich.