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March 17, 1999 10:57 AM, EST

Lemforder Corp. announced plans to produce chassis and steering components for medium- and heavy-duty trucks and buses at a new factory soon to be completed in Lancaster, S.C.

The $10 million, 92,000-square-foot plant will build tie rods, torque rods and V-rods for Class 5 through 8 commercial vehicles in North America, said officials from Lemforder, a unit of the ZF Group in Friedrichshafen, Germany.

Wolfgang Schmid, marketing manager for the ZF Group in Florence, Ky., said the factory will be the first to focus on truck components.

The ZF Group is a leading supplier of automotive drivetrain systems as well as steering and chassis components. It has 13 plants in North America, employing 2,000 workers and generating sales of $810 million in 1998. Worldwide, ZF employs 35,400 people and generates annual sales of $5.9 billion.

More than half of its worldwide sales are components for cars and light trucks. About 27% of sales are parts for commercial vehicles. The remainder of the sales are parts for construction and agricultural machinery, marine products, and industrial, aviation and rail products.

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