RED DOT AWARD FOR THE "DESIGN TEAM OF THE YEAR" 2007 GOES TO THE BMW GROUP

Red dot award for the "Design Team of the Year" 2007 goes to the BMW Group.
Award ceremony is the highlight of the Award Gala in Essen, BMW, MINI and
BMW Group DesignworksUSA seize 8 prizes for outstanding product design.

Munich. This year, at the presentation of the 2007 red dot awards for
outstanding product design, the focus will be not only on especially appealing
vehicles produced by the BMW Group, but also on their designers. As the
highlight of the festive award gala taking place on June 25th at the Essen
Opera House, the Aalto-Theater (named after the Finnish designer and architect
Alvar Aalto), the "Design Team of the Year" will be honoured. And this year the
title goes to the BMW Group. In presenting this award, the international jury
of the competition is showing its appreciation of the consistently innovative
design work produced by BMW Group Design. The internationally renowned and
coveted red dot award has been presented every year since 1955. Since 1989
experts have honoured outstanding achievements and those reaching beyond
individual products in this field with the title "Design Team of the Year".
Current proof of the latest winners' competence will also be on show in Essen.
Two automobiles and three motorcycles produced by the BMW Group, as well as
three further products designed by BMW Group DesignworksUSA have won the 2007 red dot award.

The red dot award is one of the most significant marks of approval for
successful design. The prize is awarded in numerous categories, including
transport, industry, architecture, leisure activities, household, office, as
well as computer and entertainment electronics. In addition to the degree of
innovation and formal quality, functionality of the products, their symbolic
and emotional content and ecological compatibility are, among other things,
also taken into account. This year 2,548 products from 43 countries were
nominated for the red dot award. "Both the number of products submitted and the
quality standards were excellent this year," sums up Professor Dr. Peter Zec,
initiator of the red dot design award and president of the international design
association Icsid.
Having seized five awards at once, the BMW Group is the most successful company
in the automotive category. The spectrum of the winning products is also
remarkable. A red dot award also went to the BMW 3 Series Coupe as well as to
the new MINI. Moreover, the jury considered three BMW motorcycle models for the
award - the BMW F 800 S, the BMW G 650 Xcountry and the BMW HP2 Megamoto. From the innovative Supermoto bike the spectrum also spans to the BMW Cruise Bike Junior for kids, which also received an award for outstanding design. The BMW Cruise Bike Junior was produced at the studios of BMW DesignworksUSA, a BMW Group subsidiary. The staff of this largely independently operating design agency are not only occupied with designing vehicles, equipment and accessories for the BMW Group, but are also committed to a large number of well-known international companies in the field of IT and entertainment electronics, boat building and aircraft technology, household, lifestyle and sport. BMW Group

DesignworksUSA received two further red dot awards this year in the category
household and kitchen products. One of the awards went to the ecopod E1, a
recycling station for beverage holders, which is produced by the American
company ecopod, another going to the fully automatic coffee percolator Talea
Touch presented by the Italian company Saeco. In both cases the experts at BMW Group DesignworksUSA were intensively involved in the product development process at an early stage. Thus a design was created that reflects both the characteristics of each product as well as the brand identity of the respective manufacturer.

The utilisation of creative diversity is one of the formulas for the success
of BMW Group design. BMW Group chief designer Christopher E. Bangle allows his staff the greatest possible freedom when searching for new influences,
incentives and impulses. On the other hand however, he is most resolute in
ensuring that the design of new vehicles of the BMW, MINI, Rolls Royce and BMW
Motorrad brands adheres to a mutual philosophy focusing predominantly on an
aspiration for authenticity. Thus design expresses not only the character of
the brand, but also the product quality offered by a new vehicle.
Moreover, the coexistence and cooperation between employees within the BMW
Group working on the design of new models of different brands is unparalleled.
"We bring people together, letting them rotate within the different design
departments," explains Bangle. "The more a person working on a BMW M knows
about a MINI, the more likely he is to understand the differences between each
vehicle. I am most proud of the fact that we are able to successfully
distinguish between brands, whilst creating a very open, communicative and
trustful cultural atmosphere amongst designers," emphasises the head of "Design Team of the Year" 2007.

For questions, please contact:

Corporate Communications

Kristina Weith, Product Communications Cars, Design and Concept Cars
Tel: +49 89 382 26707, Fax: +49 89 382 20626

Rudolf-Andreas Probst, Product Communication Cars
Tel: +49 89 382 22088, Fax: +49 89 382 20626

Media website: www.press.bmwgroup.com
E-mail: presse@bmw.de

BMW Group DesignworksUSA's website: www.designworksusa.com