Contact Information: FINANCIAL MEDIA AND INVESTOR CONTACT: Connie Hamblin 616/772-1800 GENERAL MEDIA CONTACT: Craig Piersma 616/772-1800 WEBSITE: www.gentex.com
Gentex Mirror-Based Backup Camera Display on First New Korean Model
| Source: Gentex
ZEELAND, MI--(Marketwire - December 20, 2007) - Gentex Corporation (NASDAQ : GNTX ), the leading
supplier of automatic-dimming rearview mirrors to the worldwide automotive
industry, has announced that its rear camera display mirror will be
available for the first time in the Korean market on the all new Kia Mohave
available in early 2008. The Mohave is the first mid-size sport utility
vehicle from Kia. It will be sold in North America as the Borrego and will
be available beginning in mid-2008.
An interior auto-dimming mirror with rear camera display will be available
on the Mojave models sold in the Korean domestic market. The North American
version of the vehicle will offer an interior auto-dimming mirror with
either HomeLink® or HomeLink® with a compass display. HomeLink® is
Johnson Control's fully integrated wireless control system.
Auto-dimming mirrors darken automatically to eliminate glare from the
headlamps of vehicles approaching from the rear for improved nighttime
driving. The Gentex auto-dimming interior mirror also contains an LCD
display that works with a video camera mounted at the rear of the vehicle
to provide a view directly behind the vehicle while backing up. When the
vehicle is shifted into "reverse," a 3.5-inch diagonal LCD display appears
automatically through the auto-dimming mirror's reflective surface. The
display disappears when the vehicle is shifted into any other gear. The
unique capability for the display to appear through the mirror's surface is
made possible by Gentex's proprietary "transflective" coating and lighting
techniques, which result in a bright, high-resolution color image.
"Gentex's rear camera display mirror technology is easy to integrate into
the vehicle and no longer needs to be tied to an expensive navigation
system," said Enoch Jen, Gentex senior vice president. "The rearview mirror
is a cost-effective way of providing this new safety-assist feature on a
wide variety of vehicles. We are pleased that Kia Motor Company chose
Gentex to introduce this feature in Korea."
Founded in 1974, Gentex Corporation (NASDAQ : GNTX ) is an international
company that provides high-quality products to the worldwide automotive
industry and North American fire protection market. Based in Zeeland,
Michigan, the Company develops, manufactures and markets interior and
exterior automatic-dimming automotive rearview mirrors that utilize
proprietary electrochromic technology to dim in proportion to the amount of
headlight glare from trailing vehicle headlamps. Many of the mirrors are
sold with advanced electronic features, and more than 96 percent of the
Company's revenues are derived from the sale of auto-dimming mirrors to
nearly every major automaker in the world.