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Climate Control Seat to Be Standard in Lincoln's 2002 Blackwood

7 September 2000

Amerigon Climate Control Seat(TM) to Be Standard Feature in Lincoln's New 2002 Blackwood Luxury Utility Vehicle

                 Second Lincoln Luxury Vehicle to Feature CCS

    IRWINDALE and IRVINE, Calif., Sept. 7 Amerigon
Incorporated and Lincoln Mercury jointly announced that
Amerigon's proprietary Climate Control Seat(TM) (CCS(TM)) system will be a
standard feature in the new model year 2002 Lincoln Blackwood luxury utility
vehicle.  The Blackwood is scheduled to be in dealer showrooms in the Spring
of 2001.  The announcement was made late last week at a media preview for the
2002 Lincoln Blackwood at the USTA National Tennis Center, site of the 2000
U.S. Open tennis tournament, which is currently underway.
    The Blackwood is the second Lincoln luxury vehicle to feature CCS and the
first to offer CCS as a standard feature.  CCS was first introduced as an
option on the 2000 Lincoln Navigator Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) earlier this
year.  CCS is the only system on the market today that makes it possible for
both the driver and front seat passenger to individually control the warming
or cooling of their respective seats to meet climatic conditions for
year-round personal comfort.
    The CCS-equipped seats for the Blackwood are being manufactured and
supplied by Southfield, MI-based Lear Corporation , a
multi-national, Fortune 150 company focusing on automotive interiors and
electronics. The Blackwood is the initial platform to use CCS seats
manufactured by Lear.
    "CCS has become a very popular option in the Navigator in just a few
months, demonstrating solid consumer acceptance of its comfort enhancing
qualities," said Lisa Bacus, Navigator and Blackwood brand manager.  "By
incorporating CCS as a standard feature in Blackwood, we will be delivering to
our customers a significant improvement in year-round driving comfort, and we
will be continuing to fulfill our commitment to provide the best in American
luxury."
    The Lincoln Blackwood is a four-door, four-passenger luxury utility
vehicle, which in addition to CCS, includes power seats, available onboard
navigation systems and a four foot, eight inch stainless steel-lined trunk box
that has a hydraulically operated lid. It is powered by a 5.4-liter, 32-valve
DOHC engine, which produces 300 horsepower at 5,000 rpm and 355 foot-pounds of
peak torque at 2,750 rpm.
    Amerigon President Richard A. Weisbart commented, "Being included as a
standard feature in a pacesetting new type of luxury vehicle like the
Blackwood clearly demonstrates the added value and consumer appeal of CCS.
The expanded acceptance of CCS by Lincoln and the increasing support of CCS by
Ford are very encouraging and should bode well for CCS in the future. We
believe that CCS is well positioned to become the standard for delivering year
round, automotive passenger comfort and should also help in reducing driver
fatigue."
    Amerigon and the Ford Motor Company signed a definitive
agreement in late March of this year whereby Ford will exclusively use for a
period of five years Amerigon's proprietary CCS system for heated and cooled
or heated and ventilated seats.  At the time of the announcement Ford
indicated it was committed to employing CCS on a broader scale.

    Climate Control Seat(TM) (CCS(TM))
    The proprietary CCS system, which is integrated into a vehicle seat, is
the first system of its kind.  It significantly enhances individual driver and
passenger comfort in virtually all climatic conditions by providing cooling
and heating to seat occupants, as desired, through an active, microprocessor-
based temperature management system.
    Ambient air is drawn into the system from the cabin of the vehicle and,
based on seat-occupant inputs from individual seat controls, as well as inputs
from temperature sensors built into CCS, the system's advanced design heat
pump heats or cools the air.  The heat pump, which uses no CFCs or other
environmentally sensitive coolants, is built around a highly efficient,
solid-state Thermoelectric Device (TED) that rapidly converts electric current
into the desired thermal effect (hot or cold).  The "conditioned" air is
circulated through the seat surfaces by a specially designed, DC fan mounted
into the structure of each seat, cooling or heating each seat and its occupant
to individually preferred levels of all seasons' comfort.