BACKGROUNDER GE ADVANCED MATERIALS AUTOMOTIVE

BERGEN OP ZOOM, The Netherlands — March 23, 2004 — GE Advanced Materials, a division of General Electric Company (NYSE:GE), adopted a strategy to intensify the focus of its plastics business on the global needs of the automotive industry.

According to André Horbach, GE Advanced Materials, vice president – Automotive Plastics: “We took the automotive business out of our Americas, European and Pacific operations and made it a dedicated business unit. This allows us to concentrate our resources and efforts exclusively on the automotive industry worldwide. GE Advanced Materials is doing this to build a stronger relationship with the auto industry by driving innovation that helps manufacturers produce exciting, technically advanced vehicles that auto buyers demand. We believe game changing innovation in materials and application development can help OEMs build stronger auto brands.“

“In this fiercely competitive market, manufacturers are subject to increased external pressures from safety and environmental legislation, as well as consumer demands for additional features and style changes,” Horbach continued, citing the pressures that automakers face from the ever-present - and absolute need - for cost reduction. “GE Advanced Materials has been very successful in using our technology to help customers address these issues. Now, by leveraging the global strength our dedicated automotive organization, we can better focus our technical resources on developing more innovative, higher value application solutions all over the vehicle,” Horbach added.

Technology Leadership

While imagination and thinking outside the box are core disciplines, GE Advanced Materials is characterized by its leadership in materials, proprietary technology, design and application development. This is backed by $2.6 billion in annual spending that GE invests in R&D, along with global GE R&D and Technology Centers strategically located in the U.S.A., China, India and Europe. Staffed by more than 2,500 world-class scientists and engineers, these resources are available to support the development of state-of-the-art innovation for auto manufacturers and tier suppliers.

Munich Technology Center

“GE is currently investing $52 million to build another world-class Technology Center in Munich-Garching, Germany, which is scheduled to open in June,” said John Carrington, GE Advanced Materials, global marketing director - Automotive Plastics. “Staffed by 150 researchers and developers, this center will not only extend the plastics resources we can make available to customers, but also improve customer access as it’s located in the center of Europe - in close proximity to German automotive manufacturers - as well as the Munich Technical University, where we can call upon experts in physics, mechanical engineering and other disciplines.”

“Imagination at work” in GE Advanced Materials is evidenced by a continuous stream of developments that help drive innovation in five key automotive segments: Body Panels & Glazing, Under-the-Hood, Components, Structures and Lighting.

Body Panels

Imagine a “no-paint” body panel. GE did. Development of advanced LEXAN® SLX film provides automakers with a ‘paint-free’ option that can deliver a Class A surface finish with deep gloss consumer appeal. Furthermore, the film has the ability to withstand prolonged exposure to UV rays without fading, and it’s scratch and chemical resistant. The LEXAN SLX film roof module on the smart™ Roadster won the Society of Automotive Engineers’ Grand Prize for Innovation.

For automakers, LEXAN SLX film can eliminate new paint line investment, emissions and - by replacing metal panels – reduce vehicle weight by 40 to 50 percent. The film is applicable to most exterior body panels, matches well to a variety of substrates, and can be processed using large in-mold decoration techniques.

In painted body panels, GE Advanced Materials leads the way with painted engineering thermoplastic body panels aboard 19 vehicle platforms produced by nine automakers wor

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Helen Vandebovenkamp
helen.vandebovenkamp@ge.com

Tel: +31 164 29 20 97
Fax: +31 164 29 10 66
Netherlands

+31 164 29 20 97

helen.vandebovenkamp@​ge.com

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