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Gentex Corporation Selected as a General Motors Supplier of the Year

27 April 1999

Gentex Corporation Selected as a General Motors Supplier of the Year

    ZEELAND, Mich., April 27 -- General Motors has
named Gentex Corporation , the Zeeland, Michigan-based
manufacturer of automatic-dimming rearview mirrors and commercial fire
protection products, a 1998 GM Supplier of the Year.  It is the third time
Gentex has received this award.
    Gentex supplies GM with Night Vision Safety(TM) (NVS(R)) Mirrors, which
automatically darken to reduce glare from the headlamps of vehicles
approaching from the rear.  The brighter the glare, the darker the mirrors
become, making nighttime driving safer.
    The GM Supplier of the Year award is a long-standing tradition at General
Motors.  It began in Germany over 20 years ago, was expanded to all of GM
Europe in 1989, and has been an international award since 1992.  It recognizes
supplier companies worldwide who exceed specific performance standards in the
areas of quality, service, technology and price.
    "Gentex is a premier supplier to GM's Chemical Commodity Group of
Worldwide Purchasing," said Robert E. Socia, executive director, Worldwide
Purchasing, Chemical.  "The 1998 Supplier of the Year award recognizes Gentex
for its auto-dimming mirrors."
    "The Supplier of the Year award is special because winners are selected by
cross-functional teams comprised of individuals from GM operations around the
world," said Ken La Grand, Gentex executive vice president.  "To us, this
award affirms our efforts to deliver a superior product that adds value not
only to our mutual end-user customer, but also the entire GM organization."
    "GM's Suppliers of the Year represent the 'best of the best,'" said Harold
R. Kutner, vice president and group executive, Worldwide Purchasing and North
American Production Control & Logistics.  "Of GM's 30,000 suppliers, Gentex is
one of only 184 that have achieved Supplier of the Year distinction for 1998,
an honor accorded to those suppliers who have achieved world-class levels of
quality, service, technology and price in support of General Motors," he said.
    Gentex Corporation is an international company that provides high-quality
products to the worldwide automotive industry and North American fire
protection market.  The Company develops, manufactures and markets proprietary
electro-optic products, including interior and exterior electrochromic,
automatic-dimming Night Vision Safety(TM) (NVS(R)) automotive rearview mirrors
that dim in proportion to the amount of headlight glare from trailing vehicle
headlamps, and an extensive line of fire protection products for commercial
applications.  Revenues from the sale of automatic-dimming mirrors represent
about 91 percent of total Company revenues.
    Gentex was the first company in the world to successfully develop and
produce a commercial electrochromic mirror for the motor vehicle industry.
The Company is the leading supplier of these mirrors to the worldwide
automotive industry.  Gentex customers include Audi, Bentley, BMW, Daewoo,
DaimlerChrysler, Fiat, Ford, General Motors, Gulf States Toyota, Hyundai,
Infiniti, Kia Motors, Lexus, Nissan, Opel, Porsche, Rolls Royce, Samsung,
Southeast Toyota Distributors and Toyota.
    Founded in 1974, Gentex operates out of three facilities in Zeeland,
Michigan; an automotive sales office in Livonia, Michigan; automotive sales
and engineering subsidiaries in Germany and Japan; and four regional U.S.
sales offices for the Fire Protection Products Group.  The Company is
recognized for its quality products, its application of world class
manufacturing principles, for its commitment to developing and maintaining a
highly skilled workforce, and for encouraging employee ownership of the
Company's stock.