Gentex mirrors offered on German carmakers' product lines

Gentex has announced that it is shipping interior auto-dimming mirrors with advanced features for the 2009 BMW 1 Series and Z4 Coupe/Roadster. The corporation is the leading supplier of automatic-dimming rearview mirrors to the worldwide automotive industry.

An auto-dimming mirror with compass and universal garage door opener is available as part of a "premium" package on the BMW 1 Series in the US market. The compass feature utilises Gentex's proprietary Z-Nav® technology, a highly-accurate sensor that determines the vehicle's directional heading.

The 1 Series sedan and the Z4 sold in Europe offer Gentex's SmartBeam® High-Beam Headlamp Assist Technology as part of an "Innovation Package" or as an option in combination with xenon lights and rain sensors. 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 maximise a vehicle's forward lighting and to eliminate the repetitive and sometimes burdensome task of turning the high beams on and off. BMW refers to SmartBeam as High-Beam Assist, or the German translation, Fernlichtassistent.

"BMW continues to roll out our SmartBeam feature across its product line," said Gentex senior vice president Enoch Jen. "The addition of SmartBeam to the BMW 1 Series and Z4 Roadster in Europe demonstrates how SmartBeam is migrating toward smaller, high-volume vehicles. With the global demand for smaller vehicles, the adoption of Gentex products in the 1 Series indicates that consumers purchasing those smaller vehicles won't have to sacrifice comfort and convenience features."

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 utilise proprietary electrochromic technology to dim in proportion to the amount of headlight glare from trailing vehicle headlamps. Many of the 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.

Further information on Gentex is available at gentex.com