Lear.com
Business
Lear Corporation is in the business of manufacturing and distributing automotive interiors systems. this highly specialized work breaks down into three separate divisions:
- seating systems
- electronics systems
- interior systems
Lear is a company whose products the average consumer uses every day, even if they don't identify the brand name - and even if it never occurred to them to think somebody besides the automaker designed the interior!
Website
Lear.com is a jazzy multimedia-based website, with a showy Flash intro and Flash-based navigation system.
The site's sections are categorized as:
- About Lear
- Information about management, a company overview, career information, their diversity policy, and other policy documents.
- Investor Relations
- Media Relations
- "Seven Dimensions"
- This is a kind of company mission statement, saying that they see "seven dimensions" to the automotive world.
The 'Seven Dimensions'
- Safety
- Safety has always been a key influence in the automotive purchase decision, and that’s why it’s important to Lear that their products stand out in this category.
- Comfort & Convenience
- Lear is constantly engaged in the research of ways to help make driver's experiences easier.
- Environmental
- Lear works to help keep the environment clean by their use of environmentally friendly materials and manufacturing practices.
- Craftsmanship
- Lear boasts of their engineering in the quest of making the driver experience as high-quality as possible. They focus on things like the touch of a surface, the sound of the glove box door, or the feedback in the operation of a switch.
- Commonization
- Lear aims to make and keep standards in the auto industry, because when multiple auto manufacturers share the same requirements in a particular product area, common processes can mean big savings in time and resources.
- Infotainment
- Lear has anticipated the need for digital systems which both inform the driver and entertain the passenger, so their technological foresight allows them to create products that meet the needs of auto customers.
- Flexibility
- Lear uses imagination and creative engineering to design elegant solutions to utilize every cubic inch of the limited space inside an automobile.
History
Lear Corporation was founded in 1917 in Detroit. Their original name was American Metal Products; a manufacturer of tubular, welded and stamped assemblies for the automotive and aircraft industries. Their first major automotive customers were Ford Motor Company and General Motors Corporation. By the early 1930s, they added Chrysler and International Harvester as customers. By 1939, the company had at last broken the $1 million sales mark. At the end of 1941, the company had 12 customers, consisting of seven automotive manufacturers and five automotive parts suppliers, with and approximately 900 employees.
Upon merging with Lear Siegler, Inc. in 1964, American Metal Products changed its name to Lear Corporation. This merger created the nation’s largest independent supplier of automotive seat assemblies.
Lear grew larger during the last quarter of the twentieth century through a series of acquisitions. The company has since sought to become a supplier of complete interior automotive systems. Which is to say that they are a supplier of seating, electrical, flooring, interior trim, instrument panels, and much more, to auto companies. To use an analogy, what IKEA is to your living room, Lear is to the interior of your car.
Business profile
Lear Corporation reported revenues of $17.8 billion in the year 2006. They employ over 115,000 people in 286 manufacturing plants located in 34 countries around the globe. Their Fortune 500 ranking is #127.
Languages
English
