Hitachi Automotive Products USA, Inc. Honored by General Motors as a 1999 Supplier of the Year

5 July 2000

Hitachi Automotive Products USA, Inc. Honored by General Motors as a 1999 Supplier of the Year

    DETROIT - Terry Cooper, Vice President of Sales and Marketing of Hitachi Automotive Products, Inc. accepted the 1999 Supplier of the Year Award from General Motors Corporation during ceremonies at the historic PrinzRegenten Theater in Munich, Germany. The prestigious award, celebrating its eighth consecutive year, is given annually to GM's best global suppliers in recognition of their superior performance during the previous calendar year.

    "Hitachi Automotive Products, Inc. is one of our best and brightest suppliers," said Harold R. Kutner, Group Vice President, Worldwide Purchasing and North American Production Control and Logistics, who hosted the event. "It is an honor to have them working with us. Their contributions to General Motors' overall success are immeasurable. We look upon the Supplier of the Year Award as an important recognition of their value as an automotive industry supplier."

    Hitachi Automotive Products President Taiji (Jim) Hasegawa, is very proud to have received this prestigious award for three consecutive years, and four years overall. Hasegawa states, "The efforts of our dedicated employees and the excellent working relationship between Hitachi Automotive and our parent company in Japan, has resulted in a commitment to quality in which we all can be proud."

    The GM Supplier of the Year Award began as a global program in 1992. Award winners are selected by a global team of executives from purchasing, engineering, manufacturing and logistics who base their decisions on supplier performance in Quality, Service, Technology and Price. This year, General Motors honored 181 suppliers from 22 countries for their excellence throughout 1999.

    HAP was established in Harrodsburg, Kentucky, in 1985. Today more than 1,100 employees support operations in Kentucky (OEM products), Los Angeles (after-market products), Detroit (sales & marketing, technical center and Hitachi America, Ltd. Research and Development), and Nashville (sales). Sales now exceed $40 million per month.

    Hitachi Automotive is a subsidiary company of Hitachi America, Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd., Japan. Hitachi America markets a broad range of electronics, computer systems and products, consumer electronics, semiconductors, and provides industrial equipment and services throughout North America.

    Hitachi, Ltd., headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is one of the world's leading global electronics companies, with fiscal 1999 (ended March 31, 2000) consolidated sales of 8,001 billion yen ($75.5 billion(1)). The Company manufactures and markets a wide range of products, including computers, semiconductors, consumer products and power and industrial equipment.