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Lear Research Pinpoints Consumer Need for Personalized Interiors

6 March 2000

Lear Corporation Research Pinpoints Consumer Need for Personalized Interiors, Supports Drive for Mass Customization

    DETROIT, March 6 Express yourself.  Relentlessly.
    That's the word from automotive interiors leader Lear Corporation
to consumers, who someday soon may be able to design their own
vehicle interiors, thanks to Lear's breakthrough Common Architecture Strategy
that can make mass customization a reality for the automotive industry.
    Lear unveiled its Common Architecture Strategy at the Society of
Automotive Engineers (SAE) 2000 World Congress and Exposition.  Lear
reconfigured a complete vehicle interior for two completely different market
segments using one common architecture -- an "edgy" custom Generation Y (Gen
Y) creation that is colorful, fast, fun, "uniquely me" and a distinctive "New
Lux" luxury version for the upscale consumer who craves a customized
environment of comfort, style, technical sophistication and attention to
detail.  Common architecture with uncommon results!
    Lear's market research into Generation Y -- some 80 million consumers born
between 1979 and 1994 -- and upscale consumers in search of a new statement in
a luxury vehicle interior yielded one unmistakable conclusion:  personal
expression in an automotive interior is a must!
    The Gen Y and the new breed of luxury buyers targeted by Lear's "New Lux"
luxury interior are about as far apart as they can be, according to Lear's
market research.
    Beyond that, Gen Y consumers take risks in their own mainstream to express
themselves to and for others their own age.  They take technology -- with its
superhighway and its information access -- as an everyday advantage, a given.
They want the ability to customize, individualize and humanize their life in a
"you know what reflects you, so design it, it's your world" type of mindset
and product base.  Conformity to nonconformity.
    As such, the pressure on product development from Gen Y consumers will be
extreme.  Current five-year product development cycle are much too slow -- not
when the Internet is making this young market absorb trends globally and
quickly, right now rather than later.  By mid-2000, teen trends will be over
before they take root.  By 2005, the shift from Baby Boomer to Gen Y marketing
will be in full swing.  By 2010, Gen Y's attitudes, wants and needs will
dominate the mass market.
    Too difficult a market to target?  No, just more support for modular,
customized vehicle interiors that can be modified, in order for the vehicle to
grow and mature with the consumer's tastes, lifestyle and growing earning
power.
    "New Lux" buyers, research shows, could be a young successful
businessperson, a maturing Baby Boomer or an older, progressive-thinking
professional.  These high luxury consumers are high achievers and very
successful, affording them the wherewithal to engage in a luxurious lifestyle.
They want comfort, convenience, craftsmanship, ease of use, high-tech
electronics.  They want their possessions, including their custom vehicle
interior, to reflect their unique status in their world.
    The vehicles that these two groups choose should be as different as their
lifestyles, but ... if a consumer can choose a lighting package, a power
package, a trim package for their vehicle, why not a personality package?  The
same automobile, the same basic architecture incorporating common seat frame
and tracks, instrument panel structure, door frames, floor and acoustic
system, and overhead pillar system.  But now the consumer chooses features
that represent and reflect his or her own unique style.
    Gen Y's need for individuality, unique expression and change?  Cut and sew
vinyl in techno-grained fabrics.  Racecar looks inside, with an instrument
panel "topper" of orange translucent plastic, light blue gel-like trim
throughout the interior, and mini-cassette modules to mix and match storage
units in the doors, consoles and overhead system.
    Lear's "New Lux" interior would fit the sophisticated consumer's upscale
lifestyle and need for comfortable and traditionally stylish environment.
Rich, metallic leather with ultra-suede panels for warmth and luxury.  Iso-Fix
anchors for child safety seats and adjustable storage platforms that mount on
the seats or in the rear luggage area.  Rear vision camera for improved
visibility and the latest in rear seat entertainment systems are likely to
find their way into the "New Lux" interior.
    And if, contrary to all the in-depth market research Lear has done on the
wants and needs of consumers, you consider yourself a Gen Y soul trapped in a
Baby Boomer body, someday soon you'll be able to express yourself with a
vehicle interior that is distinctly you, customized to your lifestyle today
and adaptable later to life's inevitable changes.
    Lear's Product Analysis group conducted the market research that validated
the need for mass customization of vehicle interiors and also helped to
identify the unique needs of Gen Y consumers, who are poised to enter the
automotive market in significant numbers in the not-too-distant future.
Research conducted to identify untapped market opportunities and understand
the needs of that market is one of the many ways that Lear supports the
automotive manufacturers from around that world that make up the company's
global customer base.
    Lear Corporation, a Fortune 200 company headquartered in Southfield,
Michigan, (USA), is one of the world's automotive largest suppliers, with 1999
sales of $12.4 billion.  The company's world-class products are designed,
engineered and manufactured by more than 120,000 employees in over 300
facilities located in 33 countries.  Information about Lear and its products
is available on the Internet at http://www.lear.com