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BMW Z8 2001 Car of the Year

5 January 2001

Robb Report Names BMW Z8 2001 Car of the Year

    WOODCLIFF LAKE, N.J., Jan. 5 The BMW Z8 sports car, latest
in a tradition of limited production vehicles built to exemplify the company's
passion for performance, handling and style, was named today Robb Report's
2001 Car of the Year.  The award, announced at the Greater Los Angeles
International Auto Show, is given annually to automobiles priced above $40,000
whose technical designs, styling, and performance position them as the world's
best sports and luxury cars.
    "Selection of the handsome BMW Z8 was straightforward and uncomplicated",
says Daniel J. Phillips, president and CEO of Luxury Media Corporation,
publishers of Robb Report. "The Z8 is the modern embodiment of Count Albrecht
Goertz's 1955 BMW 507 roadster, considered by many to be one of the most
beautiful cars ever built. The Z8's classic elegance, performance and
handling, and contemporary technology combine to create a modern legend."
    Robb Report evaluates the products of manufacturers that specialize in the
production of exclusive, high-performance, thoroughbred automobiles. Each
vehicle is judged using a points system based on select criteria including
ownership experience, purity of design, ride and handling, build quality, and
degree of high-performance luxury. The BMW Z8 was the overriding choice of the
magazine's six-judge panel that included Phillips, Robb Report publisher Paul
Dean, and contributing writers Ken Gross, Dan Neil, Patrick Paternie and J.P.
Vettraino.
    The judges' impression of the BMW Z8 were captured by writer J.P.
Vettraino who noted that," designer Henrik Fisker's work honors the sports
car's heritage without groveling in front of it, and underneath the beautiful
skin is an aluminum space frame as advanced as the underpinnings of many
contemporary race cars.  There's thorough, precise engineering in the German
tradition, but new-millennium electronics and the variable-valve-timing 394-hp
V8."  He concluded by saying "BMW has built its reputation with fine,
driver-oriented sedans.  Neither its brand image nor its long-term prosperity
hinges on a tiny-volume, truly exotic roadster.  Simply put: BMW didn't have
to build the Z8 ... "
    "To be named 2001 Car of the Year by Robb Report is a great honor indeed,"
noted Tom Purves, Chairman and CEO of BMW US Holding Corp.  "Being chosen out
of a field of outstanding competitors makes it even more significant.  The
decision to build such an exclusive, low-volume sports car is vindicated by
accolades such as this."

    BMW IN AMERICA
    BMW of North America was established in 1975.  Since then, the company has
grown to include marketing, sales and financial service organizations in the
United States; a South Carolina manufacturing operation; DESIGNWORKS/USA, an
industrial design firm in California; a technology office in Palo Alto and
various other operations throughout the country.  BMW is represented in the
U.S. through a network of more than 340 car, 315 Sports Activity Vehicle and
160 motorcycle retailers.  BMW US Holding Corp., the Group's headquarters for
North, Central and South America, is located in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey.
Information about BMW products is available to consumers via the World Wide
Web on the BMW homepage.  The address is: http://www.bmwusa.com.