Global Success: The BMW 3 Series is named "World Car of the Year".

Munich/New York. The BMW 3 Series has been selected as "World Car
of the Year". The fifth generation of the most successful model in
its category made an impressive showing by beating back 26 rivals in
the competition for the most significant worldwide automobile award.
The "World Car of the Year Award" is given out by a jury
consisting of 46 industry journalists who evaluate the year's most
important model innovations on the basis of 20 criteria, including
design, vehicle performance, handling, comfort and functionality. This
year's awards were presented at the New York International Auto Show.
For the 2006 "World Car of the Year Award", no other
manufacturer managed to make such a lasting impression on the
professional jury as BMW. In addition to its victory in the overall
ranking, the BMW 3 Series also was singled out as one of the three
strongest competitors in the specialty category, "World Car Design
of the Year". Both these awards and its strong commercial success
demonstrate that the BMW 3 Series is still setting the bar for design
and driving pleasure, even in its fifth generation. Moreover, the BMW
M5 placed among the top-three-ranking vehicles in the 2006 "World
Performance Car" category. The excellent performance in the 2006
"World Car of the Year Award" is striking proof of how well
the BMW brand is succeeding at spreading the fascination and enjoyment
of driving its vehicles on every continent. The qualities that
characterize BMW-brand vehicles are highly prized by automobile experts
and customers all over the world. The commercial success of the BMW 3
Series worldwide demonstrates, above all, that a model offering dynamic
driving, efficiency, comfort and outstanding innovation possesses just
the right features to be a leading global competitor. Following the
model changes in mid-2005, around 230,000 units of the new BMW 3 Series
Sedan alone were sold worldwide by the end of the year. The BMW 3 Series
Touring Car that debuted in late 2005 was also a commercial success from
the very start. During the first quarter of 2006, 122,691 units of the
BMW 3 Series were sold worldwide - an increase of 54.2 percent over the
previous year. At the "World Performance Car" competition in
New York, the BMW M5 managed to grab one of the top three rankings. The
jury was impressed by the unique character of this high-performance
sedan. Its high-performance, ten-cylinder engine, with a capacity of
373 kW, provides a level of performance that previously was available
only in true super sports cars. The BMW M5 combines this outstanding
potential with the comfort and unlimited functionality of a business
sedan, thereby providing the opportunity to experience unparalleled
driving enjoyment even in everyday traffic.