Yoshida Named Chief Financial Officer of Combined Asahi Tec / Metaldyne Company

Yoshida Named Chief Financial Officer of Combined Asahi Tec / Metaldyne Company

March 27, 2007

    PLYMOUTH, Mich., March 27 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- Asahi
Tec Corp. today announced that Takao Yoshida, currently CFO
of Asahi Tec, will assume the role of executive vice
president and CFO of the combined Asahi Tec / Metaldyne
companies.

    "Yoshida will continue to focus on balancing Asahi
Tec's assets with the changing global market opportunities
and the company's expanding Asian businesses," said
Shoichiro Irimajiri, Asahi Tec co-chairman and co-CEO.
"He will lead a strong team that will continue to move
Asahi Tec forward and deliver shareholder value."

    The following executives will assume global
responsibility and report to Yoshida: Terry Iwasaki, vice
president and corporate controller; Sandi Galac, vice
president and treasurer; Hirohisa Yamada, vice president,
Financial Planning, and Brian Krass, director, Internal
Audit. Yves Gerard, European Finance director, also will
report to Yoshida.  An Investor Relations executive also
will be added to Yoshida's global staff and will reside in
Japan.

    Metaldyne's current CFO Jeff Stafeil will continue as
executive vice president of Metaldyne and become special
advisor to Asahi Tec co-chairmen and co-CEOs Tim Leuliette
and Shoichiro Irimajiri. In addition, Stafeil will assume a
senior role at RHJ International (RHJI).  RHJI is Asahi
Tec's controlling shareholder with 37 percent ownership of
the total outstanding shares.

    "Jeff's contributions to Metaldyne are numerous
and his leadership in the financial area helped the company
successfully navigate one of the most difficult times in the
automotive industry," said Leuliette. "One of his
key accomplishments was building a strong financial team.
Metaldyne is indebted to him for his tireless commitment to
our growth and stability. He will do the same terrific job
at RHJ International and in advising us on future
strategies that will help Ashai Tec grow and take advantage
of the opportunities offered in the global
marketplace." 

    Stafeil also played a key role in Asahi Tec's
successful equity issuance in early March whereby new
investors from Southeast Asia and Europe contributed more
than $70 million of new equity to the company. This equity
round was the second part of a planned three-phase
restructuring of the Asahi Tec/Metaldyne capital structure
that included the initial merger transaction, the equity
issuance and a contemplated debt refinancing of the
combined companies.  

    "Under the new organizational structure, the newly
formed global Finance team will begin recapitalizing our
debt structure as we look at refinancing opportunities to
better align our capitalization to our global business and
attempt to reduce our annual interest burden," said
Irimajiri. "The team, led by Yoshida, has the talent,
depth and experience to work with the entire Asahi Tec
organization to help improve our capital structure and
deliver shareholder value."
 
    About Asahi Tec

    Headquartered in Shizuoka, Japan, Asahi Tec (TSE: 5606)
primarily designs, manufactures and sells ductile iron cast
auto parts for truck and construction machinery OEMs,
aluminum casting parts for truck and passenger car OEMs and
aluminum wheels for automobile OEMs. Asahi Tec also designs,
manufactures and sells environmental systems, equipment and
development technologies used by local governments and
municipalities and electrical hardware and equipment used
by electricity generators.  

    Its subsidiary, Metaldyne, is a leading global designer
and supplier of metal-based components, assemblies and
modules for transportation related powertrain and chassis
applications including engine, transmission/transfer case,
wheel-end and suspension, axle and driveline, and noise and
vibration control products to the motor vehicle industry. It
is headquartered in Plymouth, Mich.

    Asahi Tec has annual revenues of approximately $2.7
billion and employs approximately 10,000 employees at 55
facilities in 15 countries. For more information, please
visit http://www.asahitec.co.jp and
http://www.metaldyne.com .

    Cautionary Information Regarding Forward-Looking
Statements
  
    Statements in this press release, which are not
historical facts, are "forward-looking"
statements, as that term is defined by the federal
securities laws. Forward-looking statements include certain
anticipated, believed, planned, forecasted, expected,
targeted and estimated results along with Metaldyne's
outlook concerning future results, based on information
available at the time of this press release.  All
forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain as they
are based upon various expectations and assumptions
concerning future events,  and they are subject to numerous
known and unknown risks and uncertainties which could cause
actual events or results to differ materially from those
expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. We
caution readers not to place undue reliance on the
forward-looking statements, and any such forward-looking
statements are qualified in their entirety by reference to
the following cautionary statements. 

    Important factors upon which the forward-looking
statements presented in this press release are premised
include:  (a) timely implementation and execution of merger
related plans including integration plans; (b) retention of
customers and critical employees; and (c) successful
management of any impact from declines in North American
automobile and light truck builds.  In addition, the
ability of Metaldyne to achieve the expected results with
Asahi Tec also will be affected by the effects of
competition (in particular the response to the merger in
the marketplace), the effects of general economic and other
factors beyond the control of Metaldyne, and other risks and
uncertainties that have been described from time to time in
Metaldyne's public filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission, as further identified below.

    Risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results
to vary materially from those anticipated in the
forward-looking statements included in this press release
include general economic conditions in the markets in which
we operate and industry-based factors such as: declines in
North American automobile and light truck builds,
reductions in outsourcing by our automotive customers,
increases in our raw material and energy costs, labor costs
and strikes at our major direct and indirect customers and
at our facilities, dependence on significant automotive
customers, the level of competition in the automotive
supply industry and pricing pressures from our customers,
technological developments that could competitively
disadvantage us, and risks associated with conducting
business in foreign countries.  In addition, factors more
specific to us could cause actual results to vary
materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking
statements included in this report such as substantial
leverage, limitations imposed by our debt instruments, the
adequacy of our liquidity to meet our capital expenditures
and other cash requirements, our ability to identify
attractive and other strategic opportunities and to
successfully achieve the intended benefits of the merger
with Asahi Tec and integrate acquired businesses including
actions we have identified as providing cost-saving
opportunities. 
 
    We do not undertake any obligation to review or confirm
analysts' expectations or estimates or to publicly update or
revise any forward-looking statements to reflect changed
assumptions, the occurrence of anticipated or unanticipated
events, or changes to future results over time.


    For more informtion, please contact:

     Marge Sorge
     Asahi Tec-Metaldyne
     Tel:   [phone]

     Jennifer Lee
     The Millerschin Group
     Tel:   [phone]