National Press Release

NOVI, Mich., April 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Preh, a leading German supplier of automotive driver controls, sensors and electronic control units, has been awarded a contract to develop and produce the new electronic system for climate control for the 2010 MY Ford Mustang. The system supplied by Preh comprises an electronic control unit (ECU) and software with the necessary control algorithms to achieve a comfortable in-cabin climate for the driver and passengers. The Mustang contract follows Preh's first award from Ford for climate control heads for the 2009 MY Ford F-150 pickup truck and a second award for the center stack panel for the 2010 Lincoln MKZ sedan.

The ECU hardware was developed for Ford as a remote climate control module (RCCM), comprising electronics hardware but no visible parts in the car's interior. The Ford 2010 Mustang shares a similar RCCM with several other Ford vehicles, whereas the climate control software is modified to the specific needs of each car model.

Preh has more than two decades of experience with climate control systems and understands the specific requirements of different regions of the world. North American vehicle user preferences for climate comfort, for example, differ from those in Europe.

According to Nick Lontscharitsch, senior vice president of sales at Preh, Inc., "Our engineers were fully involved in the test drives of the Ford 2010 Mustang in the heat of Arizona as well as in the wintery cold of Michigan. That way they were able to apply their direct experience to the climate comfort software calibration," Lontscharitsch said.

The hardware and software for climate control was developed at Preh's engineering center and headquarters in Bad Neustadt, Germany, in close collaboration with Ford and Preh's North American customer service center in Novi, Mich. The ECU is manufactured at Preh's facility in Monterrey, Mexico.

About Preh

Preh was founded in Germany in 1919. As a full-service supplier, Preh works directly with major automakers in the development and production of complete driver control systems, sensors and electronic control units.

The company maintains in-house capabilities for plastics injection molding, precision mechanics, light-pipe design, electronics hardware, surface finishing, laser etching and software development.

With sales of $448.1 million in 2008, Preh employs over 2,000 people located in Germany, Portugal, Romania, France, Mexico, China and the U.S. More than 90 percent of Preh's annual revenue comes from its automotive business. Preh's U.S. customer service center is located in Novi, Mich.

SOURCE Preh