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Williams Controls Subsidiary Names Terry L. Bechtel as General Manager

5 March 1999

Williams Controls Subsidiary Names Terry L. Bechtel as General Manager

    PORTLAND, Ore., March 5 -- Williams Controls, Inc.
announced that Terry L. Bechtel has been named General Manager
of the company's Hardee Williams, Inc. subsidiary.
    Mr. Bechtel has extensive experience in manufacturing and facilities
engineering, and was hired to manage the Hardee operation and assist in the
previously announced sale of this subsidiary.  He will also work with other
subsidiaries on long term process installation and process improvement
projects throughout the Williams Controls organization.
    Prior to joining Williams Controls, Mr. Bechtel held a variety of
positions with divisions of General Motors Corporation over the past thirty
years.  These included engineering and management positions with the Fisher
Body Division, Fisher Guide Division, Ternstedt Division, Delphi Interior and
Lighting, Peregrine, and Engineering Laboratories, Inc.  He is a graduate of
the General Motors Institute with a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical
Engineering.
    Williams Controls Chairman and CEO Thomas W. Itin stated, "As the general
manager of Hardee, Terry Bechtel is primarily responsible for reconfiguring
its operations and improving dealer relations, in an effort to improve the
profitability of this agricultural equipment manufacturer as we continue the
process of selling this subsidiary.  Hardee has had significant management
turnover and Terry has already stabilized that situation in the short time he
has been with us."
    Mr. Itin continued, "Terry's experience in process engineering and his
hands-on experience in managing metal stamping and other press room operations
will be a valuable resource to Hardee and other parts of the Williams Controls
organization in the future.  His experience and knowledge of automotive
operations, having been with General Motors for over thirty years, will be an
invaluable resource as Williams executes its plan for improving the company's
presence in the automotive market, featuring the company's electronic throttle
control (ETC) technologies and other products."
    Williams Controls is a leading manufacturer and integrator of innovative
sensors, controls and communications systems for the transportation and
communications industries.  For more information, you can reach the Company at
http://www.wmco.com on the World Wide Web.
    Forward-looking statements in this news release, if any, are made under
the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995.  Certain important factors could cause results to differ materially from
those anticipated by the statements, including the impact of changing economic
or business conditions, the impact of competition, the availability of
financing, the success of products in the marketplace, other factors inherent
in the industry and other factors discussed from time to time in reports filed
by the company with the Securities and Exchange Commission.