Gentex Rear Camera Display Mirrors Exceed Proposed U.S. NHTSA Requirements

ZEELAND, MI, Jun 09 (MARKET WIRE) --
Gentex Corporation (NASDAQ: GNTX), the leading supplier of
automatic-dimming rearview mirrors and camera-based lighting-assist
features, today provided an update on the capabilities of the Company's
Rear Camera Display (RCD) Mirrors, which exceed certain requirements of
the December 7, 2010, Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) by the U.S.
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) promulgated
related to the Kids Transportation Safety Act (KTSA). In addition, recent
independent studies reveal that mirror-borne displays are more effective
in helping drivers detect and avoid backover accidents, when compared
with drivers using in-dash displays.*

The Kids Transportation Safety Act is a law intended to expand the
field-of-view behind vehicles in order to prevent pedestrian injuries and
deaths from backover accidents. The December 7, 2010, NPRM requires that
global automakers install backup cameras and related video displays in
all new vehicles in the U.S. by September 2014 (with a phase-in of
certain percentages of vehicles before then). The NPRM provides certain
requirements for those backup cameras and displays, including that the
display must turn "on" in two seconds or less from the time that the
vehicle is put in the reverse gear, and that the luminance/brightness of
the display must be at least 500 cd/m(2).

Gentex's mirror-integrated display provides customers with immediate
compliance with the December 7 NPRM. The Company's RCD Mirrors respond in
two seconds or less, and typically have a daytime luminance in the range
of 1,200 to 1,500 cd/m(2), as specified by the majority of the Company's
customers. Gentex has a wide range of technology offerings within its RCD
product portfolio that are intended to meet diverse customer
requirements, and currently manufactures RCD Mirrors as bright as 4,000
cd/m(2).

"We believe that Gentex RCD Mirrors are faster, brighter and are more
cost-effective than other displays available today, offering our
customers 'immediate compliance' with the KTSA," said Enoch Jen, Gentex
Senior Vice President. "At 4,000 cd/m(2), the displays are more than 300
percent brighter than any current in-dash display.

"We are urging our customers to consider our RCD Mirrors as part of their
strategy for meeting the requirements of the NHTSA rule, which is
expected to be finalized by the end of 2011," said Jen.

Gentex RCD Mirrors are currently offered on 62 vehicle models at nine
different automakers. The Company shipped 1.25 million RCD Mirrors in
calendar 2010, and currently expects that RCD Mirror unit shipments will
increase by approximately 50 percent for the first six months of 2011,
compared with the same period in 2010, based on IHS Automotive's
mid-April forecast for automotive light vehicle production.

Additionally, recent independent studies, including one published by SAE
International (Society of Automotive Engineers) in 2011*, indicate that
displays located in the interior rearview mirror can be significantly
more effective than other display locations at helping the driver to
detect and avoid backover accidents.

"The number of backover incidences were significantly fewer when the
drivers surveyed utilized a mirror-borne display compared with in-dash
displays," said Jen. "The mirror appears to be a safer location for the
display, likely because it is in the driver's natural line-of-sight, can
be viewed while maintaining a 'heads-up' posture, and is in a logical,
intuitive and ergonomic location that the driver is already accustomed to
viewing regularly and frequently -- particularly when backing up."

Gentex's RCD Mirror, launched in 2007, consists of a bright,
high-resolution liquid crystal display (LCD) that works with an
automaker-specified video camera to provide a view directly behind the
vehicle while backing up. When the vehicle is shifted into "reverse," a
display appears automatically within two seconds through the auto-dimming
mirror's reflective surface. The display disappears when the vehicle is
shifted into any other gear, a capability made possible utilizing
Gentex's "transflective" coating and lighting techniques.

Over the past several years, Gentex has continually improved its rearview
mirror video display technology, by enhancing its size and improving its
brightness, resolution and display capabilities, and reducing its power
consumption. It's also a cost-effective location because it's "plug and
play" -- and allows the automaker to avoid the significant expense of
retooling each vehicle's instrument panel.

The Cameron Gulbransen Kids Transportation Safety Act was signed into law
on February 28, 2008. At that time, the U.S. Secretary of Transportation
was charged with writing a regulation instructing global automakers on
the requirements that new vehicles in the U.S. will need to meet in order
to comply with the KTSA.

On December 7, 2010, NHTSA issued its NPRM for the KTSA. In that NPRM,
NHTSA stated that all new vehicles under 10,000 lbs. in the United States
will be required to have backup camera-based systems by September 2014.
The phase-in schedule indicated was 10 percent of cars/33 percent of
trucks in the U.S. by September 2012, 40 percent of cars/67 percent of
trucks by September 2013 and 100 percent of all vehicles by September
2014. That proposed rule was subject to public comment with the stated
intention for it to be finalized by February 28, 2011.

On March 2, 2011, an update was published in the Federal Register,
summarizing a February 25, 2011, letter from the U.S. Secretary of
Transportation to Congress indicating that NHTSA would not meet the
February 28, 2011, deadline, and that they would re-open the public
comment period for 45 days (until April 18, 2011). In addition, it was
announced that NHTSA would hold a public meeting in Washington to
exchange ideas on the backover issue, and that NHTSA would also host a
technical workshop to address questions regarding the proposed testing
procedure and other technical items. The letter also indicated that NHTSA
would publish the final rule by December 31, 2011.

Also published on March 2 were a number of revisions to the NPRM,
including a change to the phase-in period on the regulation for trucks so
that it aligned with the schedule for cars (10 percent by September 2012,
40 percent by September 2013 and 100 percent by September 2014). The
technical workshop was held on March 11 and the public hearing was held
on March 23, 2011. No further information is available at this time.

Safe Harbor Statement
This news release contains forward-looking
statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of
1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act, as
amended, that are based on management's beliefs, assumptions, current
expectations, estimates and projections about the global automotive
industry, the economy, the ability to control and leverage fixed
manufacturing overhead costs, unit shipment and net sales growth rates,
the ability to control E,R&D and S,G&A expenses, gross margins and the
Company itself. Words like "anticipates," "believes," "confident,"
"estimates," "expects," "forecast," "hopes," "likely," "plans,"
"projects," "optimistic," and "should," and variations of such words and
similar expressions identify forward-looking statements. These statements
do not guarantee future performance and involve certain risks,
uncertainties, and assumptions that are difficult to predict with regard
to timing, expense, likelihood and degree of occurrence. These risks
include, without limitation, employment and general economic conditions,
worldwide automotive production, the maintenance of the Company's market
share, the ability to achieve purchasing cost reductions, customer
inventory management, supplier part shortages, competitive pricing
pressures, currency fluctuations, interest rates, equity prices, the
financial strength/stability of the Company's customers (including their
Tier 1 suppliers), supply chain disruptions, impact of natural disasters
on supply chain and vehicle production, potential sale of OEM business
segments or suppliers, potential customer (including their Tier 1
suppliers) bankruptcies, the mix of products purchased by customers, the
ability to continue to make product innovations, the market for Rear
Camera Display Mirrors and the success of those products, the success of
certain other products (e.g. SmartBeam(R)), and other risks identified in
the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Therefore, actual results and outcomes may materially differ from what is
expressed or forecasted. Furthermore, the Company undertakes no
obligation to update, amend, or clarify forward-looking statements,
whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

About the Company

Founded in 1974, Gentex Corporation (NASDAQ: GNTX) is the leading
supplier of automatic-dimming rearview mirrors and camera-based driver
assist systems to the global automotive industry, and provides smoke
alarms and signaling devices to the North American fire protection
market. Based in Zeeland, Michigan, the international Company develops,
manufactures and markets interior and exterior automatic-dimming
automotive rearview mirrors that utilize proprietary electrochromic
technology to dim in proportion to the amount of headlight glare from
trailing vehicle headlamps. More than half of the Company's interior
mirrors are sold with advanced electronic features, and more than 98
percent of the Company's revenues are derived from the sale of
auto-dimming mirrors to nearly every major automaker in the world.

*Llaneras, Robert E., Neurauter, M. Lucas & Green, Charles A. "Factors
Moderating the Effectiveness of Rear Vision Systems," 2011-01-0549, SAE
International, 2011.

*NHTSA Vehicle Testing & Research Center, 2009 - Staged Obstacle Event
Outcomes Study, "Backover Crash Avoidance Technologies," Preliminary
Regulatory Impact Analysis, November 2010.

CONTACT:
Connie Hamblin
616-772-1800

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