Lear Corp

Lear Corp is a publicly traded company having a good stock performance result. Lear is ranked No. 127 on the 2005 Fortune 500 list of publicly traded U.S. companies. Lear's headquarters are in Southfield, Michigan. Lear is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol LEA.

Lear was established in 1917 in Detroit as American Metal Products, a manufacturer of tubular, welded and stamped assemblies for the automotive and aircraft industries. Lear has grown to meet the varying needs of the industry with 18 major acquisitions since 1994, when Lear went public.

Today, the company entirely serves the global automotive industry and supplies product for all five major interior systems such as instrument panel/cockpit, seat, door and trim, overhead and flooring and acoustics. Lear is also one of the leading global automotive suppliers in electronic and electrical products. There is a Lear product in more than 300 nameplates around the world.

For the full year of 2005, net sales are expected to be around 17 billion dollars, reflecting primarily the addition of new business globally, offset by lower production on key Lear platforms. Lear's 2005 industry production planning assumptions are roughly 15.5 million units in North America and around 18.6 million units in Europe.

Full-year capital spending is forecasted to be around 550 million dollars. Depreciation is expected to be about 400 million dollars. Free cash flow is expected to be approximately negative 375 million dollars, which includes a one-time negative net impact of changes in customer payment terms of around 200 million dollars, as well as cash payments of about 120 million dollars related to restructuring actions. Interest expense is expected to be about 190 million dollars.

Lear Corporation, a Fortune 500 company headquartered in Southfield, Mich., USA, focuses on integrating complete automotive interiors, including interior trim, seat systems and electrical systems. With annual net sales of 17 billion dollars in 2004, Lear is one of the world's largest automotive interior systems suppliers. The Company's world-class products are designed, engineered and manufactured by more than 110,000 employees in 34 countries.

Simply stated, their strategy is to put their customers first and to continuously improve their quality and overall financial results. This section provides additional information on their global business operations, leadership team company policies and career prospects.