BMW and Softlab found e-Business-Company

Munich, Germany, November 13, 2000...The BMW Group will bundle its e-business
activities in a new company named nexolab, to be founded by its IT subsidiary
Softlab. With the founding of this company, the BMW Group chooses a different
approach: with nexolab, the BMW Group creates a platform that will support the
entire process chain - from the buying to the sales process. nexolab will focus
on providing e-business consulting and services especially for the
manufacturing industry. Its offering will range from strategy and process
consulting to the development of new systems and implementation concepts.

Working closely with partners such as Kabel New Media and Ariba, the new
company will offer all services required for a successful e-business
implementation. At first, nexolab will focus on automotive suppliers and
logistics service providers. Other primary markets include industries that will
be considerably influenced by e-business such as the consumer goods, the
engineering and the plant construction industries. The combined industry,
process and technology expertise of BMW and Softlab enables the new e-business
company to quickly deliver productive solutions to manufacturing companies.

The BMW Group chooses a platform that covers the entire value chain - from the
supplier to the customer. "Today, manufacturing companies are primarily dealing
with four major e-business processes that significantly change the way they'll
conduct business in the future. This includes all processes related to gaining
and keeping customers, planning and improving the value chain to parts
suppliers and logistics service providers, electronically purchasing goods and
production materials as well as the joint product development with construction
partners," says Dr. Norbert Reithofer, Member of the Board of Management of BMW
AG, responsible for production.

The successful implementation of the BMW Group's e-Commerce modules to
strengthen BMW's sales channel presents as solid basis for the new e-business
company. As a prime contractor, Softlab has been responsible for the complete
technical execution of that project. "nexolab will allow us to bring e-business
solutions to market real fast. The communication with dealers and especially
with customers will therefore gain a new quality," says Dr. Michael Ganal,
Member of the Board of Management of BMW AG, responsible for sales.

The e-business activities of the BMW Group have already advanced in many
different areas: BMW is currently trying to reduce the processing time of an
individual car to last no more than ten days. This is made possible by a
quantum leap in change flexibility which allows BMW to still implement changes
desired by the customer up until ten days before the actual delivery date. BMW
also focuses on improving the infrastructure for its suppliers to enhance the
production process. Using the latest eSCM (Supply Chain Management) technology
components, BMW increases the availability of parts and its measurability
within the production and delivery chain. E-procurement solution form the basis
for purchasing technical products and services and capital goods. These
solutions also help to significantly improve all buying and procurement
processes. BMW concentrates on collaborative distributed
engineering solutions to be able to decentralize product development as well as
on using innovation platforms.

The new e-business company provides a number of benefits for manufacturing
customers: as a BMW Group Company, nexolab offers excellent industry expertise
and proven innovation - both necessary for the successful implementation of
e-business solutions. Softlab on the other hand ensures that e-business
projects are professionally completed as it possesses extensive know-how in
applying new technologies to business-critical processes. In addition, Softlab
has long-term experience in project and quality management. "The goal of the
new Softlab company is to bring productive solutions to market fast using
modern and flexible technologies and therefore being able to handle future
requirements. We will use an architecture that can easily be extended and
protects the investments of our customers," says Peter Broicher, Chairman of
the Softlab Group.

The new company will be located in Munich and start its business activities at
the beginning of the new year. nexolab plans to have about 40 to 50 consultants
on board from the start. "Our goals are ambitious: within the next three years,
we want to have five times as many employees and customers," adds Broicher.

* * *

Softlab GmbH belongs to the BMW Group and is focused on connecting e-business
technologies with Customer Relationship Management (eCRM) and Supply Chain
Management (eSCM), as well as on Enterprise Application Solutions (EAS).
Softlab has 30 years of experience in planning and implementing large-scale IT
projects and offers a wide range of IT consulting and system integration
services across the entire value chain. Softlab concentrates on the banking,
insurance, manufacturing and telecommunications industries and is represented
in all important European markets as well as in the United States and Japan.

Contact:

Hubert Bergmann
BMW AG
Tel: (49) 89 / 382-20775
Fax : (49) 89 / 382-24418

e-mail: presse@bmw.de