LAS VEGAS, Nov. 2, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- Hella has introduced more than 60 new aftermarket vehicle lighting products in the last year, matched by nearly 70 new product introductions in vehicle electronics and over 300 new items in fuel systems.

Hella's aftermarket portfolio now includes nearly 3,000 lighting system products providing unique lighting solutions for racing, off-road, marine and off-highway heavy-duty vehicles.

Hella will display its expanding range of new aftermarket products at SEMA/AAPEX at the Las Vegas Convention Center Nov. 2-5 (SEMA Booth #22225 and AAPEX Booth #450). Products shown will include automotive auxiliary lighting, fuel pumps, electronics and heavy-duty work lamps.

"We're especially proud of both the range and variety of our expanded lineup," notes John Remakis, marketing manager for Hella's North American aftermarket operations. "We're continually expanding our entire line, whether it's vehicle lighting, electronics or fuel systems. Our research and development teams have kept us out in front with a wide range of exciting new products."

New Hella aftermarket products for 2004-2005 include:

 -- The Rallye 4000 Compact auxiliary driving lamp, which provides 
    a modern design in a smaller, easier-to-fit lamp for sport-utility   
    vehicles and off-roaders.  
 -- The HydroLUX(r) FF 1000 fully submersible driving lamp system, 
    equally capable of rugged performance both above and below the water's 
    edge for mining or off-roading.  
 -- A lineup of 34 all-new performance fuel pumps designed to offer 
    "tuners" a higher fuel flow rate for increased horsepower engines.  
 -- An expanded lineup of electric and electronics product categories, 
    including sensors, actuators, vacuum valves and other engine-management 
    items.

Auxiliary Lighting and Accessories Lineup Grows

One of the highlighted products in Hella's auxiliary lighting portfolio is the new Rallye 4000 Compact lamp series, developed by Hella to meet the challenges presented by new, lightweight front-end materials and designs for today's off-road vehicles. The new compact lamp will be on display at Hella's SEMA Booth #22225.

In the quest to shed weight for improved fuel economy, components like bull-bars, a typical location for auxiliary lamps, now are made of lighter-weight materials, making installation of many traditional large driving lamps difficult. Motor homes, which offer a variety of front-end designs, also will benefit from the Rallye 4000 Compact's improved installation options.

Hella also is releasing a line of brackets that allow customers to bolt on an auxiliary driving or fog lamp without drilling or cutting. The new mounting solution allows the use of large driving and fog lamps, without leaving permanent marks on the vehicle -- a definite plus at trade-in time. These new brackets bolt up to original equipment fasteners, minimize time and labor and improve the opportunity to install much-needed premium lighting.

The new bracket systems will be available at retailers within 60 days to accommodate 1999 to 2003 Ford F150 and Expedition models and 1994 to 2001 Dodge Ram models. By March 2005, the new bracket system will be available at retailers for the 2004-05 Chevrolet Silverado. By the end of next year, seven additional bracket systems will be available, covering a total of 10 different sport-utility vehicle and truck model lines.

Rugged Hella Work Lamps Go under Water

Hella's list of innovative new products on display at AAPEX Booth #450 includes the lighting specialist's first fully submersible driving-lamp system.

Designed by Hella Australia, the Hella HydroLUX FF 1000 Submersible Driving Lamp System was developed to meet the needs of mining, military and emergency services vehicles, as well as rugged off-road sport-utilities and pickup trucks. The new HydroLUX is the only light of its kind on the market to use Hella's Free Form reflector technology, which features a magnesium reflector, the same material used in Formula 1 race cars and aerospace applications. The durable and fully-submersible driving light is built to withstand the most extreme conditions.

Hella also will highlight its full line of xenon work lamps, which deliver outstanding performance under the most demanding conditions. The cutting-edge designs allow lights to be placed where they've never gone before. Precise placement results in brighter and more even work-area illumination.

Examples include Hella's powerful Ultra Beam Xenon and Mega Beam Xenon with new fourth-generation ballast electronics, as well as the Oval 100 Xenon Integral. Designed for heavy-duty vehicles that work through the night, these all-new xenon work lamps provide 2.5 times greater light output than lamps using 55-watt halogen bulbs.

Durable Hella xenon lamps use an impact-proof light arc in place of a sensitive filament, which makes the danger of sudden light failure practically non-existent. Ballast electronics for these Hella products can be mounted at a sheltered spot inside the vehicle away from the lamp, providing even greater reliability.

Hella xenon lamps also consume 25 percent less energy and have a service life five times longer than halogen lamps. That enables Hella to offer a compact, significantly smaller design size in the Oval 100 Xenon Integral, which makes light placement much easier on exposed points or where it replaces an existing halogen work lamp.

Fuel Pumps Added to Meet "Tuner" Needs

Hella's AAPEX display also will highlight the 34 new fuel pumps it has added to a new performance line designed to offer "tuners" a higher fuel flow rate for increased horsepower engines.

The new line is part of a catalog of more than 300 OE-quality fuel pumps offered by Hella for distribution as original equipment replacement parts.

Hella's fuel pumps are available for a wide range of vehicles produced by domestic, European, Japanese and Korean auto manufacturers. Hella aftermarket fuel pumps are designed and built to original-equipment quality and engineering specifications.

Expanded Range of Electronics

As new European vehicles enter the U.S. market, the need for consistency in high-quality replacement parts also grows.

Hella has expanded its electrics and electronics products for European vehicles to fill the need for original-equipment-quality products in the American aftermarket. These new products will be highlighted at Hella's AAPEX display.

Earlier this year Hella added several electric and electronics product categories, including sensors, actuators, vacuum valves and other engine-management items. This development is ongoing. Wholesale distributors make these parts available to dealers and other installers.

Hella's expanded relay line now includes more than 50 original-equipment quality replacement relays, including heavy-duty and special OE parts.

Lighting, electronics, complete vehicle modules, air-conditioning systems, vehicle-wiring systems and signal processing for the automobile industry, as well as automotive aftermarket components, are the core fields of competency for automotive supplier Hella KGaA Hueck & Co. Sales for the Hella Group are approximately $3 billion, placing Hella among Germany's top 100 industrial companies.

With its corporate headquarters in Lippstadt, Germany, the company employs more than 23,900 people at 65 manufacturing facilities, production subsidiaries and joint-venture companies in 18 countries. More than 1,800 engineers and technicians work in research and development. All of the world's leading automobile and systems manufacturers are Hella customers, as well as the automotive components aftermarket. Additional information is available on the Internet at www.hella.com.

Note: Product photography is available by contacting: loliveto@usautocom.com.