HIGHEST LEVEL OF CUSTOMER SATISFACTION: BMW 5 SERIES AND MINI COOPER RANKED MOST APPEALING IN THEIR SEGMENTS IN THE J.D. POWER AND ASSOCIATES 'APEAL' STUDY

Munich - BMW and MINI brand models stand for boundless driving pleasure and high level of customer satisfaction worldwide. During the course of the Mondial de l'Automobile 2008 in Paris (4th - 19th October, 2008), the BMW Group has received two awards. The BMW 5 Series and the MINI Cooper have been honored by J.D. Power and Associates as Most Appealing Midsized Premium Car and Most Appealing Compact Car in the Automotive Performance, Execution and Layout Study (APEAL), which determines the degree of satisfaction of customers purchasing new cars in North America.
With these awards the BMW Group continues to strengthen its track record gained in the representative study of customers. Also in Europe, current BMW Group models ranked highest in their segments in the latest customer satisfaction studies carried by J.D. Power and Associates. In Germany and France in particular, highest rankings were awarded in 2008 in the Customer Satisfaction Index (CSI). In both countries the BMW 5 Series was ranked highest in customer satisfaction of all models in the executive luxury car segment. An additional ranking in the J.D. Power and Associates Study carried out on the German market went to the BMW X3, which managed to rank highest in customer satisfaction in the SUV segment.

In France, BMW received not only the segment ranking in the BMW 5 Series segment, but also the overall CSI nameplate ranking. Additionally, in Germany, BMW was able to rank highest with the BMW 5 Series and the BMW X3 for model assessment in the categories vehicle quality and vehicle desirability.

J.D. Power and Associates is one of the world's leading marketing information services companies. With numerous studies the renowned institute regularly analyzing customer satisfaction in the most significant international automobile markets. For determining the "Customer Satisfaction Index" in Germany alone just under 20,000 vehicle owners took part in a written survey on their cars, which were two years old on average. The assessment incorporates the factors quality, reliability, desirability, satisfaction with dealer service as well as maintenance costs. The J.D. Power and Associates Customer Satisfaction Study adheres to the same criteria in France. The results of the current APEAL study for North America are based on a customer survey conducted by J.D. Power and Associates three months on average after initial registration of the vehicles.