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High-tech mirror maker Gentex Corp. is the rare success story here -- a U.S. supplier that makes it big with Japanese carmakers.
Indeed, sales to Japanese brands are expected to be a big growth area for the company as it rolls out rearview camera technology and branches into forward-sensing safety systems.
The Zeeland, Mich., company made its name with auto-dimming rearview mirrors that are staples in high-end models from such brands as BMW and Mercedes-Benz. But it aims to build on that with camera-based driver-assist products as automakers invest more in safety technology.
Sales to Japanese brands will be key to the expansion.
Japanese automakers account for more than 30 percent of Gentex's global sales, says Kazuhiko Nishijima, managing director of Gentex's Japan unit. And business with Japanese brands is growing about 20 percent a year, he says.
Toyota and General Motors are Gentex's top global customers, each accounting for 15 percent of Gentex's 2010 global sales of $816.3 million. But Gentex also sells to Nissan, Honda, Subaru, Mazda and Mitsubishi.
Gentex founder and CEO Fred Bauer steered the company to record operating profit of $53.2 million in the second quarter of 2011, up 9 percent from the year before, on a 21...