Dana Corporation, GETRAG Sign Joint-Venture Agreement with Volvo Car Corporation to Produce All-Wheel-Drive Systems

Dana Corporation, GETRAG Sign Joint-Venture Agreement with Volvo Car Corporation
to Produce All-Wheel-Drive Systems 


TOLEDO and UNTERGRUPPENBACH, Germany, Jan. 7  /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Dana
Corporation  and GETRAG Getriebe- und Zahnradfabrik Hermann Hagenmeyer GmbH &
Cie KG (GETRAG) have signed an agreement with Volvo Car Corporation (VCC) for a
recently formed GETRAG-Dana joint-venture company to purchase a 60-percent
interest in VCC's operations in Koping, Sweden.

(Logo:  http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/19990903/DANA )

The resulting joint venture with VCC - to be known as GETRAG All Wheel Drive AB,
a Dana/GETRAG company - will produce all-wheel-drive (AWD) and chassis systems
and components for passenger cars and sport-utility vehicles.

"We are extremely excited about this latest chapter in the Dana-GETRAG
relationship and even more so about this opportunity to work with a
distinguished automaker such as Volvo," said Bill Carroll, Dana's acting
president and chief operating officer.  "This arrangement will leverage the
combined expertise of Volvo, GETRAG, and Dana to serve the growing crossover-
vehicle market."

Plans for the joint venture call for the operations in Koping to be streamlined
to create a fully integrated, self-sufficient All-Wheel-Drive Center of
Excellence that will include research, development, and engineering; sales and
marketing; purchasing; and production of AWD components and assemblies.  The
joint venture will market its services to Ford Motor Company, its affiliates,
and other automotive manufacturers around the world as a member of the GETRAG
Group.

Principal products of the joint venture will include power take-off units,
rear-drive units, front-drive units, and chassis systems and components.

"Together with Volvo, we will transform Koping into the leading full- service
supplier in the increasing European AWD marketplace," said Tobias Hagenmeyer,
CEO of the GETRAG Corporate Group.  "This venture is exciting because it is
driven by the high-value technologies that Dana and GETRAG can jointly provide
to the world's leading AWD car manufacturers.  It also presents a tremendous
opportunity to grow our support for Volvo, Land Rover, and other affiliates of
Ford Motor Co., as well as servicing the European customers of GETRAG and Dana's
global all-wheel-drive activities."

As part of the joint venture, the new company expects to enter into long- term
supply agreements with all involved affiliates of Ford Motor Co.

The operations in Koping currently comprise approximately one million square
feet (93,000 square meters).

GETRAG is a major supplier to the European automotive industry with an excellent
reputation for quality products and technologies.  Privately owned, GETRAG was
founded in 1935 by Hermann Hagenmeyer and is headquartered in Untergruppenbach,
Germany.  GETRAG is now located at 16 sites around the world, including Germany,
Italy, France, U.K., United States, India, and Japan.  The company produces
manual transmissions for passenger cars, SUVs, vans, motorcycles and light
trucks and automated manual transmissions (ASG(R)) for the automotive industry. 
The company's revenues totaled 1.9 billion Euros in 2002 and it employs
approximately 9,000 employees.

Dana Corporation is a global leader in the design, engineering, and manufacture
of value-added products and systems for automotive, commercial, and off-highway
vehicle manufacturers and their related aftermarkets.  The company employs
approximately 60,000 people worldwide.  Founded in 1904 and based in Toledo,
Ohio, Dana operates hundreds of technology, manufacturing, and customer service
facilities in 30 countries.  The company reported sales of $9.5 billion in 2002.
 The company's Internet address is http://www.dana.com/ .

Dana owns a 30-percent interest in GETRAG, the parent company of the GETRAG
group of companies, and a 49-percent direct interest in GETRAG's North American
operations. 

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DATASOURCE: Dana Corporation



CONTACT:  Jeff Cole of Dana Corporation, [phone], or

 



Web site:  http://www.dana.com/ 



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