Filtraglass
Banner

Gentex: 1998 automotive product growth forecast

12 February 1998: Gentex Corp. of the United States, which makes rearview mirrors and other products for the automotive industry, announced recently that it expects 25-30% growth in its automotive uni…

12 February 1998: Gentex Corp. of the United States, which makes rearview mirrors and other products for the automotive industry, announced recently that it expects 25-30% growth in its automotive unit in 1998. Such growth would result in shipments of approximately five million units, said Kenneth La Grand, executive vice president, in a company statement. Gentex reported fourth quarter fully diluted earnings of US$ 0.31 a share, up from US$ 0.20 the previous year. It said shipments of its Total Night Vision Safety mirrors, which dim to block headlight glare, totalled 3.9 million units in the fourth quarter, compared with 1.1 million for the same quarter a year earlier. “Both aspheric and thin-glass exterior mirror sub-assemblies are very difficult products to manufacture,” La Grand said. “Early in the year, we had very low yields on those products, which negatively impacted the company“s gross margin. As the year progressed, yields improved and are now at a more acceptable level. There still is room for improvement and we have set new target yields that we would eventually like to achieve.”

Sign up for free to the glassOnline.com daily newsletter

Subscribe now to our daily newsletter for full coverage of everything you need to know about the world glass industry!

We don't send spam! Read our Privacy Policy for more information.

Share this article
Related news