CORUS TO SUPPLY ALL BODY PANELS FOR WORLD-FAMOUS LONDON BLACK CAB

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CORUS TO SUPPLY ALL BODY PANELS FOR WORLD-FAMOUS LONDON BLACK CAB
06 October 2003 - Corus

Corus has won the contract to supply LTI Vehicles with 100 per cent of its skin panel steel blank requirements. Corus will supply the Coventry based London taxi manufacturer with precision blanks for all 75 body parts needed for its world famous black cab, which is built on the LTI Vehicles assembly line in Holyhead Road. Corus will supply the blanks from its specialist Automotive Service Centre in Wolverhampton. LTI currently produces over 2,800 cabs a year and has recently completed its first exports to the USA.

Commenting on the decision to award the contract, which followed a rigorous supplier audit, Ford Daniel, buyer, LTI Vehicles said: 'Corus has demonstrated its technical capability to be able to consistently supply high quality precision blanks that meet our specific requirements. We are looking to grow sales of our unique vehicle in key export markets including the US, and having complete confidence in our suppliers is particularly important to help us meet this objective.'

Mr Daniel added: 'We have also been impressed by the way in which Corus is committed to working closely with us to look at how we can continually improve the quality of our product and drive down costs through the use of better materials, processes and technology.'

Earlier this year, the Corus Automotive Service Centre benefited from the installation of a new 20-tonne multi-strand blanking line, representing a £250,000 investment, to deal with its continued growth in business, which includes a similar recent contract to supply Mayflower Vehicle Systems with blanks for more than 100 different body parts for a number of major vehicle manufacturers. The blanking line is the latest addition to the £30 million already invested by Corus in downstream automotive facilities at the Steelpark site to help meet the increasing demand from the automotive supply chain for specialist tailor-welded blanks and full-finish skin panel blanks ready for assembly.

The Wednesfield site in Wolverhampton boasts a comprehensive line-up of dedicated automotive processing facilities, including a 600-tonne large-bed pressing blanking line and a 400 tonne press line, which can produce shaped blanks for a variety of parts, including complete body-sides. These benefit from in-line wash and oil units, bundle turning, palletisation and packaging systems. In addition, Corus has developed a unique capability to process full-finish material that allows its lines to produce zero-defect, skin panel blanks.

Autolaser Technologies, the dedicated laser welding business adjacent to the Automotive Centre, was also the first facility in Europe to have the capability to manufacture production volumes of advanced, second-generation, non-linear Nd:YAG (Neodymium-Yttrium Aluminium Garnet) laser-welded blanks specified by BMW MINI and Jaguar.

http://www.corusgroup.com

About: Corus
Corus Group Plc is one of the world's largest metal producers with an annual turnover of £8 billion and major operating facilities in the UK, the Netherlands, Germany, France, Norway and Belgium. Corus' four divisions comprising Strip Products, Long Products, Distribution & Building Systems and Aluminium provide innovative solutions to the construction, automotive, packaging, mechanical engineering and other markets worldwide.

Corus has 48,500 employees in over 40 countries and sales offices and service centres worldwide. Combining international expertise with local customer service, the Corus brand represents quality and strength.

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