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Leading Automotive Manufacturers Shift Into High Gear With SAP Solutions to Meet Global Industry Demands; mySAP Automotive Drives Better Business Processes

    WALLDORF, Germany--Nov. 28, 2001--SAP AG today announced that over 30 of the world's most formidable original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) -- including the BMW Group, DaimlerChrysler, Porsche AG, Renault and Nissan and Rolls-Royce and Bentley Motors -- are among the growing number of vehicle manufacturers implementing the mySAP(TM) Automotive solution to speed product development, drive product assembly, steer product delivery to dealers and customers, and otherwise beat the challenges of the global automotive industry.
    To streamline supply chain processes, reduce order cycle time, support supplier relationship management, and link customer and vehicle life-cycle management, the companies are utilizing a wide variety of mySAP.com(R) solutions in conjunction with mySAP Automotive, including mySAP(TM) Supply Chain Management (mySAP SCM), mySAP(TM) E-Procurement, mySAP(TM) Product Lifecycle Management (mySAP PLM) and mySAP(TM) Customer Relationship Management (mySAP CRM).
    Because the automotive market faces the twin challenges of increased competition and fluctuating demand, the mySAP Automotive solution offers an integrated data platform that provides industry-specific functionality. A tight level of process integration between customer relationship management and supply chain management solutions is critical for automotive companies to carry out effective vehicle reservation planning and support customer-driven automotive business models, including build-to-order, locate-to-order and even engineer-to-order models. Collaboration among suppliers, OEMs, dealers and customers is essential. Automotive manufacturers must closely manage multiple suppliers and partners to ensure that the correct systems and components are delivered where and when they are needed. The Integrated Product and Process Engineering functionality within mySAP Automotive provides one common data structure that integrates product and process engineering, and ties it seamlessly into manufacturing and sales processes for automotive companies.

    Automotive Companies Benefit From mySAP.com Solutions

    To change the paradigm in its spare parts distribution channel to enhance customer satisfaction and retention, Porsche implemented the mySAP SCM solution of mySAP Automotive, thereby ensuring timely and demand-driven availability of spare parts at the dealer site.
    "The spare parts supply chain is a critical part of Porsche's core business," said Stefan Arnold, Portello project leader at Porsche. "By implementing SAP, we were able to streamline the supply chain processes and provide better levels of service for our customers by ensuring timely delivery and availability of spare parts for customer repairs."
    Mercedes Benz Espana, a company in the DaimlerChrysler Group, is using SAP Markets Enterprise Buyer(TM), the first Web-based e-procurement solution with the power to match supply chain requirements with collaborative design, sourcing, planning and vendor qualifications, to gain a marked advantage over European competitors. With this solution, Mercedes Benz Espana reduced inefficiencies, decreased time to market, and provided a significant advantage that opens up new business opportunities.
    Car manufacturer Bentley Motors recently completed its SAP(R) implementation as part of wide-ranging preparation for the launch of new luxury performance models and increased production. The SAP platform replaced an environment consisting of about 25 systems that were not integrated, a situation that resulted in islands of data stored on software which had little or no supplier support. The implementation consisted of mySAP(TM) Financials and mySAP(TM) Human Resources (mySAP HR), including the payroll functionality and logistics functionality, which have been linked with the engineering side of the operation and its project modeling software to generate bills of materials for vehicle production.
    "SAP is committed to delivering complete, global solutions based on integration," said Nils Herzberg, executive vice president of Discrete Industries for SAP. "To this end, the company is collaborating with major automakers through a variety of executive customer councils and user groups, and has partnerships with some of the leading solution and service providers within the automotive industry. As a result, the mySAP Automotive solution supports specific business processes within all types of automotive companies, including OEMs, suppliers, importers and distributors."

    About SAP

    SAP is the world's leading provider of e-business software solutions. Through the mySAP.com(R) e-business platform, people in businesses around the globe are improving relationships with customers and partners, streamlining operations, and achieving significant efficiencies throughout their supply chains. Today, more than 17,000 companies in over 120 countries run more than 44,500 installations of SAP(R) software. With subsidiaries in over 50 countries, the company is listed on several exchanges including the Frankfurt stock exchange and NYSE under the symbol "SAP." (Additional information at http://www.sap.com)

    Any statements contained in this document that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as "believe," "estimate," "intend," "may," "will," "expect," and "project" and similar expressions as they relate to SAP are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. SAP undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations. The factors that could affect SAP's future financial results are discussed more fully in SAP's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), including the SAP Annual Report on Form 20-F for 2000 filed with the SEC on March 28, 2001. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of their dates.

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