July 31, 2006 -- Ford Motor Co. has presented its Ford Q1 award to one of the metalcasting operations of China's ASIMCO Technologies Ltd. ASIMCO Casting (Beijing) Co. Ltd. has been supplying aluminumpressure diecastings to Ford for over two years.

ASIMCO Technologies is a privately held manufacturers based in Beijing, with 18 manufacturing facilities and 36 sales offices in China, three manufacturing plants and a sales office in the U.S., and a sales office in the U.K.

Ford's Q1 designation recognizes supplier operations that demonstrate manufacturing excellence, superior quality, and continuous improvement.

ASIMCO Casting also produces gravity castings for the company's own internal use, and supplies castings to domestic and international customers. ASIMCO Casting also has full machining capability to supply finished castings.

ASIMCO chairman and CEO Jack Perkowski stated: "ASIMCO Casting is the first aluminum casting facility in China to be given Ford Q1 supplier status, and we are very proud of this achievement. Aluminum castings are in great demand in both the domestic and international markets, and we have met the most stringent quality metrics in the global automotive industry, demonstrating our capability and dedication to achieving total customer satisfaction."

Wilson Ni, ASIMCO v.p. - Global Sales and Marketing stated: "The Ford Q1 designation requires a collaborative partnership with our customer and is acknowledgement of the hard work and efforts of the ASIMCO- Ford team. We are delighted that ASIMCO Casting has been recognized by Ford as a Q1 supplier and our goal is to have the entire ASIMCO group continue its development to become Ford's global partner."