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Johnson Controls and Gentex Put Vehicle Interiors in a New Light

10 October 2000

Johnson Controls and Gentex Put Vehicle Interiors in a New Light

High-powered white light makes
the auto interior a brighter place

    PLYMOUTH, Mich., Oct. 10 What would you call a new
lighting technology that can help you check your map for directions, reapply
your make-up and find the meter money that fell to the floor of your vehicle
-- and all without ever having to change a light bulb as long as you own your
vehicle?  You might call it a bright idea.
    Johnson Controls -- a leader in the design and manufacturing
of innovative lighting solutions for automotive interiors -- will be the first
to showcase this new light-emitting diode (LED) technology that yields high-
powered white light. It will debut in the interior of a Johnson Controls
modified model-year 2000 Ford Expedition at Convergence 2000, Oct. 16 through
Oct. 18, 2000 at Detroit's Cobo Center.
    Gentex Corp. -- the automotive industry's leading supplier
of automatic-dimming rearview mirrors -- developed this new lighting
technology, which incorporates synthetic-white LEDs and Orca, a proprietary
power package that produces super, high-intensity LED output. It allows LEDs
to produce up to 10 times more light than anything currently available.
    Through its Peer Partnering(TM) relationship with Gentex, Johnson Controls
is showcasing the benefits of this new LED technology, which include:

    *  Durability - LED lighting lasts the life of the vehicle;

    *  Packaging flexibility - unlike incandescent lighting, LED lighting is
smaller, easier to integrate into the interior, emits less heat and draws less
power;

    *  Optical improvements - LED lighting allows for a more focused beam
directed exactly where the driver or passenger wants it, resulting in
increased safety due to glare reduction; and

    *  Color enhancements - the white light can be tuned to a cool white
(bluish hue) or warn white (yellow hue), or anywhere in between, according to
manufacturer specifications.

    "At Johnson Controls, we do more than design visor and map lamps, along
with our Peer Partners, we create well-lit automotive environments," said Jim
Geschke, vice president and general manager, Electronics Integration. "Our
lighting capability is part of our total systems approach to the design and
manufacture of interiors for vehicles."
    Johnson Controls produces thousands of lighting products for automotive
use -- from map, courtesy and vanity lamps to high mount stop lamps and
instrument lighting. The company has the technology and resources to take a
lighting concept and guide its development though design, analysis,
prototyping, testing, production and installation with the vehicle interiors.
    "Unlike specialty lighting specialty companies, we design lighting, we
manufacture it and we ship it completely integrated into the vehicle's
interior trim," said Geschke. "That means all wires, controls and lamps are
delivered in position and tested for fast, easy, error-free installation at
the auto manufacturers' facility."