BMW Donates Motorcycles for Pentagon's First Police Motorcycle Unit

WOODCLIFF LAKE, N.J., Feb. 25 -- BMW of North America, LLC has donated six R 1100 RT-P police motorcycles to the United States Department of Defense to assist the Pentagon Police in establishing its first motorcycle unit. The donation is part of the company's program to provide motorcycles to law enforcement agencies in communities significantly impacted by the September 11 tragedy.

At a ceremony held at the historic Pentagon building in Washington, DC, Thomas Plucinsky, General Manager, BMW of North America, Motorcycles, underscored BMW's longstanding commitment to the United States by indicating that it is not only BMW's most important export market; it is home to significant BMW automotive production, design and research facilities; and that BMW employs, directly and through its retail organization, nearly 50,000 people here.

"While the human dimension of our company can be measured in numerical terms, there is another more important facet to the human dimension -- the experiences we share," commented Mr. Plucinsky. "The events of September 11 made that point. All of you were violated that day when this building was attacked and you lost friends and associates. BMW also lost a valued employee that day. Linda Gronlund, then our Manager of Environmental Compliance, was traveling to California on United Flight 93."

Following September 11, BMW made a significant cash donation to the Red Cross, as well as 10 U.S.-built X5 sports activity vehicles for its disaster relief efforts. The company helped endow a scholarship in Ms. Gronlund's honor at MIT, and it has donated motorcycles to 38 law enforcement agencies in communities deeply affected by the tragedy. In most cases, BMW assisted those communities in establishing motor units where none had previously existed. It also established a training program to ensure that officers were well-prepared to operate the technologically advanced motors.

The motorcycles donated to the Pentagon were previously operated by the California Highway Patrol (CHP), repurchased by BMW as part of its contract with the CHP, and outfitted with special lighting and equipment.

Officers of the newly established Pentagon Police Motor Unit will utilize the motorcycles for traffic enforcement in the Pentagon reservation.

BMW Authority Motorcycles

Internationally, BMW is the largest seller of motorcycles for authority use. More than 80,000 BMW motorcycles are currently in official use in over 150 countries on five continents. In the United States, more than 225 law enforcement agencies have BMW authority motorcycles in their fleets of patrol vehicles. These include urban police agencies in Atlantic City, NJ; Los Angles, CA; Sacramento, CA; Reno, Nevada; Honolulu, HI; Newport News, VA; Tallahassee, FL; and Irvine, TX; and state highway patrols in Idaho, Washington, Oregon, Maryland, Virginia, South Carolina and California (the nation's largest fleet with over 600 BMW motorcycles).

BMW Authority Motorcycles are the only certified police motorcycles available with an anti-lock brake system, high-capacity alternator with linked battery system, thermostatically-controlled cooling system, 3-year unlimited- mileage limited warranty and 6,000-mile service intervals, all standard.

BMW Group in America

BMW of North America has been present in the United States since 1975. Since then, the BMW Group in the United States has grown to include marketing, sales and financial service organizations for the BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce brands; DESIGNWORKS/USA, an industrial design firm in California; a technology office in Silicon Valley and various other operations throughout the country, including BMW Manufacturing Corp. in South Carolina. The BMW Group sales organization is represented in the U.S. through networks of 340 BMW car, 327 Sports Activity Vehicle, 148 BMW Motorcycle retailers, 70 MINIcar dealers and 27 Rolls-Royce motorcar dealers. BMW US Holding Corp., the Group's sales headquarters for North, Central and South America, is located in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey.

Information about BMW Group products is available to consumers via the Internet at http://www.bmwusa.com/, http://www.bmwmotorcyclesusa.com/ and http://www.miniusa.com/.

NOTE TO EDITORS: Information about the BMW Group and its products is available to journalists on-line at the BMW Group PressClub at the following address - http://www.press.bmwgroup.com