Hayes Lemmerz International Files Chapter 11

May 12, 2009

Hayes Lemmerz International announced that lenders holding a majority of the Company's secured debt have reached an agreement regarding a restructuring of the Company's debt.

Certain of these lenders will provide a debtor-in-possession loan to the Company, which will make available up to $100 million of additional liquidity (subject to certain terms and conditions), to provide the Company with operating funds during the restructuring. Including the DIP loan, the Company will have total liquidity of approximately $138 million.

To facilitate the restructuring, the Company and certain of its U.S. subsidiaries filed voluntary petitions for relief under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code in the District of Delaware. Also included in the filings is Hayes Lemmerz Finance LLC - Luxembourg S.C.A., a borrower under the Company's secured credit facility and issuer of its senior notes.

As a result of the restructuring, the Company expects to eliminate a significant portion of its existing debt. Upon confirmation of a plan of reorganization, it is anticipated that the DIP lenders will convert certain of their loans into equity and will own substantially all of the equity of the reorganized Company.

"The Chapter 11 filings were precipitated by an unprecedented slowdown in industry demand and a tightening of credit markets," said Curtis Clawson, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "These filings will allow us to reduce our debt and restructure our balance sheet. We fully expect to emerge from Chapter 11 as a stronger, more competitive company than we are today." The filings were made pursuant to a "pre-negotiated" restructuring plan with the support of a majority of the Company's secured lenders. As a result, the Company expects to complete its restructuring process on an accelerated basis.