National Press Release

PLYMOUTH, Mich., Jan. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Metaldyne Corporation, an Asahi Tec company, took several actions in 2008 to reduce structural costs, balance capacity with declining vehicle production and create a more agile and streamlined organization focused on its core product lines. These actions will help the company deliver its Plan to Win, which is aimed at creating value for Metaldyne stakeholders.

Metaldyne today announced it will further rationalize its headquarters operations in Plymouth, Mich. Since January 2008 the company has significantly reduced its headquarters staff. In addition, Metaldyne eliminated a separate leased facility, which housed its North American Chassis Products business unit, and consolidated that operation into another Metaldyne building in Plymouth. It will now further consolidate its operations in Plymouth by merging its headquarters facility into that same building. The move is expected to be completed by mid-2009.

"With this move we will have rationalized from three headquarters facilities in Plymouth to one facility, which not only saves expenses but better streamlines how we will operate as a company," said Thomas A. Amato, chairman and CEO of Metaldyne and co-CEO of Asahi Tec. "This is another step in our plan to focus our resources on our manufacturing operations, processes and product technologies."

In addition, Metaldyne required all U.S. salaried employees to purchase a two-week vacation in the first quarter of 2009, significantly reduced travel, eliminated merit increases for 2009 and suspended its 401k match and retirement contribution.

"We took a holistic view of the global marketplace and have taken the actions necessary to improve Metaldyne's performance given the challenging market," said Amato.

Additionally, on November 28, 2008 Metaldyne successfully completed the sale of its GLO S.r.L. operation in Poggio Rusco, Italy, to AB SKF of Goteborg, Sweden.

"One of the major initiatives of the Plan to Win is to concentrate on our core products," said Amato. "We are pleased to see this transaction completed as it is another step towards improving the focus of our business units."

GLO designs, develops and produces constant velocity joints for the aftermarket and OEM automotive industry. The SKF Group is a global supplier of products, solutions and services in the area comprising rolling bearings, seals, mechatronics, services and lubrication systems. The transaction was announced in September and closed upon clearing regulatory approvals in Europe.

Over the past year Metaldyne has taken several other actions to reduce costs that include plant consolidations, workforce reductions and a tender offer to buy back the company's outstanding bonds. The tender offer was successfully completed in November 2008.

About Metaldyne

Metaldyne is a wholly owned subsidiary of Asahi Tec, a Shizuoka, Japan-based chassis and powertrain component supplier in the passenger car/light truck and medium/heavy truck segments. Asahi Tec is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

Metaldyne is a leading global designer and supplier of metal based components, assemblies and modules for transportation related powertrain and chassis applications including engine, transmission/transfer case, wheel end and suspension, axle and driveline, and noise and vibration control products to the motor vehicle industry.

Headquartered in Plymouth, Mich., Metaldyne has annual revenues of approximately $1.8 billion. The company employs more than 5,200 employees at 33 facilities in 14 countries.

Forward Looking Statements

This press release contains statements that are not statements of historical fact, but instead are forward-looking statements, as that term is defined by the federal securities laws. We caution readers not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which reflect management's expectations, estimates and assumptions based on information available as of the date hereof. Important factors that could cause actual results, performance or achievements to vary materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements are set forth in our Annual Report on the Equivalent of Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2008 and our subsequent Quarterly Reports, and include: our high degree of leverage; substantial restrictions in our credit facilities and other debt; consolidation or declining financial condition of our customers; adequacy of our liquidity; seasonal fluctuations in our business; inability to meet future capital requirements; our industry's cyclicality and highly competitive nature; inability to lower costs and obtain favorable contracts to offset the industry model of declining component prices over time; inability to expand into new product lines; inability to achieve profitability given our recent net losses; availability and affordability of raw materials; changing technology could place us at a competitive disadvantage; inability to establish manufacturing capabilities in lower-cost areas; inability to quickly replace any diminished or lost business due to the length of the sales process; lack of binding purchase commitments from customers; costs potentially exceeding estimates used in pricing our products; higher research and development costs may not be recouped; business alliances may not produce satisfactory results; customer consolidation resulting in increased difficulty to compete; our employee benefit obligations may negatively impact future liquidity; inability to protect our intellectual property rights; environmental compliance obligations and liabilities; risks related to international sales; inability to meet obligations for any product liability and warranty claims; labor stoppages at our facilities or those of our customers; failure of anticipated outsourcing due to union considerations; and dependence on key personnel and relationships. We do not intend or assume any obligation to update any of these forward-looking statements.

For more information, please visit www.metaldyne.com.

SOURCE Metaldyne