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Standard Products Announces Opening Of Mexican Plant

5 February 1998

Standard Products Announces Opening Of Mexican Plant

    DEARBORN, Mich., Feb. 5 -- The Standard Products Co.
today announced the grand opening of its facility in
Aguascalientes, Mexico.  A celebration will be held at the plant on Friday,
February 6, with local officials, dignitaries and customers.
    The plant started shipments of sealing products last month to heavy-duty
truck customers, RV manufacturers and Mexican automotive aftermarket
distributors. Standard Products said it expects the Aguascalientes facility to
begin shipping sealing products to automotive original equipment manufacturers
later in 1998.
    Construction of the 76,000-square-foot plant began in September 1996. This
is the first phase of the construction; the modular facility will be expanded
in phases to meet the increasing customer demands in the future.
    "Our customers are expanding rapidly in Mexico," said Ted M. McQuade,
Standard Products executive vice president of North American Automotive
Operations.  "As a global supplier of sealing and trim systems, we want to be
close to our customer base and positioned to support continued market growth."
    McQuade said that team members from operations in the United States,
Canada, Mexico, Brazil, England, France and Japan contributed to the
Aguascalientes project.  "This allowed us to take the best ideas and range of
experiences to achieve our goals."
    The Standard Products Aguascalientes operation includes Nishikawa Rubber
Company of Hiroshima, Japan, as a minority participant.  Standard Products and
Nishikawa have a long-standing relationship, including the 50-50 joint venture
Nishikawa Standard Company (NISCO), located in Indiana.
    Standard Products manufactures sealing, trim and vibration control systems
for the automotive original equipment industry in North and South America and
Europe.  Its Holm Industries subsidiary produces seals for residential
refrigerators, freezers, doors and windows.  Its Oliver Rubber subsidiary
manufactures tread rubber and equipment for the retread industry.

SOURCE  Standard Products Co.