Lear Corp. Has the All-New Jeep(R) Liberty Wired

    DEARBORN, Mich., April 30 When it came to working with the
Chrysler Group on the all-new Jeep(R) Liberty, Lear Corporation's
Electronics and Electrical Division (LEED) truly lived up to its name.  LEED
not only supplied the electrical distribution system for Jeep's newest sport-
utility vehicle, but delivered the design specifications electronically, as
well.

    In the past, design specifications for the jigs, form boards and fixtures
that are used by a supplier to make the vehicle components had to be converted
from computer-based CATIA files to drawings.  Lear's engineers would then take
the drawings and convert them back into CATIA data.  With the Jeep Liberty,
LEED changed all that.  Using cutting-edge design technology and working
closely with its partners at DaimlerChrysler, Lear was able to transfer CATIA-
based electronic files from DaimlerChrysler directly to Lear's manufacturing
floor.  This reduced both development time and costs.

    "Design departments have transferred CATIA data for some time," said D.
William Pumphrey, President of LEED.  "But this is the first time that CATIA
data for an electronic component has been transferred between an OEM and a
supplier's manufacturing facility."

    In addition to the electrical architecture, Lear provides DaimlerChrysler
with its latest state-of-the-art 400-Micron printed circuit board junction
box.  It is the brains of the electrical distribution system, delivering power
when and where it's needed throughout the vehicle.

    Lear also supplies a number of interior components to the Jeep Liberty,
including the front and rear floor carpet, throw-in mats, blow molded HVAC
ducts and numerous acoustical insulators.  In addition, the Liberty has a
modular overhead system provided by Lear that can result in 16 different
iterations, depending on if the vehicle has a sunroof, side airbag, overhead
console, or other options.  "It's the most modular overhead system we provide
to DaimlerChrysler," said Nick Scagnoli, Lear's platform director for the Jeep
Liberty.  Lear provides electronic, electrical and interior components on a
wide variety of DaimlerChrysler vehicles, including the all-new 2001 Chrysler
and Dodge minivans.