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Lear Joint Venture Producing Seats for Ford Ranger Pickups in Thailand

16 June 1998

Lear Joint Venture Producing Seats for Ford Ranger Pickups in Thailand

    SOUTHFIELD, Mich., June 16 -- Lear Corporation
started producing seats for Ford Ranger pickup trucks, which are being built
in Thailand, on May 28.  The Lear operation, General Seating Thailand (GST),
is a 50/50 joint venture with NHK Spring.  The plant, in Rayong, is located
two hours outside of Bangkok in the Eastern Seaboard Industrial Estate, known
as the "Detroit of the East."
    Lear's joint venture will initially produce JIT (just in time) seats for
Ranger pickups, which are single and double cab models produced in a joint
venture by Ford with its Japanese affiliate, Mazda Motor Company, and two Thai
partners.  General Seating Thailand currently employs sixty people.
    "We are pleased to have the opportunity to supply seats to the Ford
Thailand operation," said Jan Peer, Chairman of GST.
    A Fortune 500 Company, Lear Corporation is one of the world's largest
automotive suppliers, with 1997 sales revenues of $7.3 billion.  The company's
world-class products are designed, engineered and manufactured by more than
54,000 employees in over 190 facilities located in 27 countries.  Information
about Lear and its products is available on the Internet at
http://www.lear.com.