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Budd to Enter into Mexican Joint Venture

20 May 1998

Budd to Enter into Mexican Joint Venture

    TROY, Mich., May 20 -- The Budd Company announced today it
has entered into a joint venture in Mexico to design and manufacture
automotive sheet metal stampings and assemblies for automotive manufacturers
located in Mexico.
    The new joint venture named Aventec S.A. de C.V., will be equally owned by
The Budd Company of Troy, Michigan, Hirotec Corporation of Hiroshima, Japan,
and Sumitomo Corporation of Tokyo, Japan.  The company will be located in the
city of Silao in the state of Guanajuato, Mexico.
    "This joint venture will be an important operation for automotive body
parts in the Mexican market and signifies our commitment to support automotive
manufacturers wherever they are located," said Siegfried Buschmann, chairman
and CEO of The Budd Company.  "This new facility will be able to provide the
highest quality products and deliver them in a timely fashion," he said.  It
is estimated the joint venture will initially provide employment for 400
residents of Mexico and represents an investment of $50 million.
    The new facility will be located on a 157,000 square meter (38.9 acres)
parcel in the Fipasi Industrial Park.  According to Aventec, groundbreaking
for the 30,000 square meter (316,000 square foot) building is planned for
June, 1998.  The company expects the plant to be completed in February of
1999.  The company's management team will be Toshifumi Uno, director general,
Mitsuru Iba, vice president of administrative and general affairs and Julius
Jacobs, vice president of sales and marketing.
     Budd, headquartered in Troy, Michigan, produces components such as doors,
fenders, roofs, hoods, and deck lids in sheet metal as well as in sheet molded
composite, and gray iron and ductile iron castings for about 100 current
vehicle models.  Budd also makes prototypes, chassis frames and subframes,
bumpers and bumper reinforcements, cold weather starting and heating products
and air bag components for the automobile industry.  Budd operates 27
facilities with about 9,500 employees in North America.  In addition, the
company has offices in Stuttgart, Germany, and Tokyo, Japan.  Budd is a
Thyssen Budd Automotive company.
    Hirotec Corporation, headquartered in Hiroshima, Japan, supplies 100% of
the door components for vehicles manufactured by Mazda Motor Corporation in
Japan with about 1,500 employees.  Hirotec is well known for its world fastest
die transition technology with a 30 second die change time.  Hirotec also has
world class tool & die technology which provides full services from product
design, tool development, quality iteration, to part production for customers
world wide.
    Main products are closure panel components, plastic parts, exhaust system,
stamping dies and automated welding tools.  Operations outside Japan are in
North America, Korea, Taiwan and Thailand.
     Sumitomo, headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is one of the world's leading
traders, distributors of a wide range of commodities and investor in a diverse
range of businesses.  Sumitomo Corporation has a staff of 8,804 throughout
Japan and in 88 other countries.