---

General Bearing Announces Three New Contracts

5 January 1999

General Bearing Announces Three New Contracts With Ford, Trailmobile And Stoughton; Company Sees New Kodak Relationship Increasing Penetration in Office Equipment Sector

    WEST NYACK, N.Y., Jan. 5 -- General Bearing Corporation
today announced that it reached a new, one-year, $1.2 million
agreement with the Ford Motor Company .  General will produce an
important driveline component for pick-up trucks, sport utility vehicles and
certain passenger cars.  The commitment represents General Bearing's second
arrangement with the automobile manufacturer and the addition of another
component part to General's product offering.  Earlier in the year, General
Bearing announced a two-year, $14 million agreement to supply ball bearings to
Ford.
    General Bearing President David L. Gussack said: "This contract reflects
our growing position as a supplier to the automotive industry.  Our continued
success in this sector validates General Bearing's strategy  of  leveraging
our strong relationships within the supply chain to offer a premium-quality,
highly-engineered product at a low cost."
    The Company also announced today that it has reached agreements with two
major producers of heavy duty truck trailers.  A five-year contract with
Trailmobile Corporation, the fourth largest trailer manufacturer in the
nation, is expected to generate $1.8 million of sales in 1999 and a two-year
contract with Stoughton Trailers, Inc., the fifth largest trailer
manufacturer, is slated to generate revenue of $1.2 million annually.
Alistair Crannis, General Manager of the OEM Division of General Bearing,
said: "General's tapered roller bearings are now the standard at four of the
nation's top six trailer manufacturers.  These new contracts bolster our
position as the number one supplier of tapered roller bearings to the U.S.
trailer market."
    Additionally, the Company announced today that it has added Eastman Kodak
to its customer base, increasing its market penetration within the
office equipment sector.
    Commenting on the Company's contract to supply wheel and axle bearings to
General Motors , Gussack noted: "We are now half way through the
validation process and are awaiting GM's completion of the balance of the
testing.  We are encouraged with our progress thus far, although it is
difficult  to gauge GM's completion date.  Therefore, we are unable to
forecast initial shipment dates.
    "General Bearing continues to grow, as evidenced by our record performance
in the third quarter.  Despite the slow pace of the GM validation process, we
remain extremely confident about our future growth."
    General Bearing manufactures, sources, assembles and distributes a variety
of bearing components and products.  The Company manufactures ball bearings,
tapered roller bearings, spherical roller bearings and cylindrical roller
bearings.  Under "The General" and the "Hyatt" trademarks, the Company
supplies Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) in the automobile,
truck/trailer,  railcar, office equipment, machinery and appliance industries,
as well as the Industrial Aftermarket.
    "Safe Harbor" statement under the Private Securities litigation Reform Act
of 1995:  Except for historical information, the matters discussed in this
news release that may be considered forward-looking statements may be subject
to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual results to
differ materially from those projected, including uncertainties in the market,
pricing competition, procurement, manufacturing efficiencies, problems related
to the Y2K issue, and other risks detailed from time to time in the Company's
SEC reports.  The Company assumes no obligation to update the information in
this release.