Contact Information: GENERAL AND FINANCIAL MEDIA/INVESTOR CONTACT: Connie Hamblin 616/772/1800 GENERAL MEDIA CONTACT: Craig Piersma 616/772/1800 EXCHANGE: NASDAQ Global Select Market SYMBOL: GNTX WEBSITE: www.gentex.com
Gentex's SmartBeam(R) High-Beam Assist Now Available on Lexus Flagship Luxury Sedan
| Source: Gentex Corporation
ZEELAND, MI--(Marketwire - November 19, 2009) - Gentex Corporation (NASDAQ : GNTX ), the
Zeeland, Michigan-based manufacturer of automatic-dimming rearview mirrors
and commercial fire protection products, announced that it is shipping
interior and exterior auto-dimming mirrors and its SmartBeam® High-Beam
Assist (called Intelligent High Beams by the automaker) for the 2010 Lexus
LS. This is the first Lexus vehicle to offer SmartBeam in Europe and Japan
and the first SmartBeam program offered in Japan.
An interior auto-dimming mirror is standard on all Lexus LS models. A
compass, utilizing Gentex's proprietary Z-Nav® technology that uses a
highly-accurate sensor designed to determine a vehicle's directional
heading, is available on LS models without navigation. In many markets, the
new LS offers driver- and passenger-side exterior auto-dimming mirrors to
further help decrease headlamp glare of rearward-approaching vehicles.
SmartBeam High-Beam Headlamp Assist is standard on the 460L trim level in
North America. In Japan and Europe, the feature is available on various
trim levels including the 460, 460L, 600h and 600hL. SmartBeam uses a
miniature camera-on-a-chip combined with algorithmic decision making to
automatically turn a vehicle's high beams on and off according to
surrounding traffic conditions. The system is designed to maximize a
vehicle's forward lighting and to eliminate this repetitive and sometimes
burdensome task.
"The LS program represents the first time that Lexus will offer SmartBeam
on vehicle models in Japan and Europe," said Enoch Jen, Gentex Senior Vice
President. "SmartBeam has become a popular feature as demonstrated by the
more than a million of the imager systems in operation on vehicles
throughout Europe and North America. We are hopeful that the LS program is
the first of many Lexus and Toyota models to offer this feature to its
global markets."
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. More than half of the
Company's interior 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.