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July 16, 2003
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This Week:

• GM India Launches Chevrolet Optra

• VW Beetle: Production of the "Última Edición" starts

• Dodge Caravan and Disney's "The Lion King: Special Edition"; The King of the Minivan Celebrates the King of DVDs

• Gov. Riley Announces Major Expansion of Toyota Manufacturing Facilities In Huntsville/Madison County Alabama Area

• BMW Group establishes sales subsidiary in Malaysia

• Ford Names J Mays Group Vice President of Design

• Porsche(R) GT3 Launches on Michelin Pilot Sport Tires

• Valeo secures first multi-million euro contract for new Mechanical Multi-Exchanger

• LEONI in the starting blocks for large-scale GM contract

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LEONI in the starting blocks for large-scale GM contract
 

New wiring systems plant in the Ukraine officially opened Nuremberg/Stryj ­ In a festive ceremony, LEONI AG of Nuremberg today officially opened its new LEONI Wiring Systems UA GmbH production facility. Investing capital of more than 40 million euros, LEONI has built one of Europe¹s most modern and largest wiring systems plants in the western Ukrainian city of Stryj. In an area of more than 40,000 m2, up to 3,500 employees will in future be manufacturing cable harnesses for the successor models of Opel¹s Astra and Zafira bestsellers. LEONI will be the principal supplier for these new General Motors cars with responsibility for all the wiring of these vehicles apart from the engine and transmission. Pilot production for this major customer began back in September 2002 in a leased facility. The go-ahead for mass production will be given in October 2003.

Completion of the new wiring systems facility in Stryj, a city with a population of 70,000, has now provided the production capacity needed for this large-scale contract. This will involve supplying several thousand cable harnesses every day to all the final assembly plants of the Astra and the Zafira across Europe. Having built this new wiring systems plant in Stryj, we now have the production capacity required to meet these demands. ³We thereby simultaneously met the precondition for further growth of LEONI Wiring Systems,² said Uwe H. Lamann, management-board member responsible for the division. Accounting for more than 50 percent of total sales, this business division is already LEONI Group¹s largest segment. LEONI plans involve this major order from General Motors generating overall sales of EUR 1.2 billion over the full term of the project.

Choice of location as a success factor

LEONI Group, which operates globally with 60 faculties, has already proven its skill in choosing locations in the past. LEONI was early to recognize the benefits of locating in eastern European countries, having set up plants in Poland, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia, among other places. LEONI was one of the first German companies to opt for the Ukraine by building a wiring systems plant in the country. The factors in favour of so doing were primarily the reasonable wage structure as well as the availability of qualified labour. The comprehensive support provided by local government and authorities also had considerable influence on the choice of location.

Cooperation transcending boundaries

LEONI benefited from its experience in setting up facilities in other countries during this project. For instance, employees from LEONI Autokabel Polska, our Polish wiring systems facility that has already been manufacturing for General Motors/Opel since 1996, made a significant contribution to setting up this new plant. Some of the cable harnesses for the new Opel cars will also continue to be produced in Poland. LEONI Autokabel Polska is one of the most efficient plants involved in the production of cable harnesses and will pass on this expertise to our Ukrainian colleagues in the context of training schemes.

(July 15, 2003)