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BMW OPENS NEW PAINT AND BODY TRAINING CENTER First West Coast Facility for Teaching Tools of the Trade

BMW OPENS NEW PAINT AND BODY TRAINING CENTER

First West Coast Facility for Teaching Tools of the Trade


Oxnard, CA, June 4, 2002...The BMW Group today officially opened its third
state-of-the-art paint and body training center in Oxnard, California.
The new $ 3 million facility, located near the BMW Vehicle Distribution
Center on Arcturus Road near the Port of Hueneme, is used to train
apprentices in collision repair and body paint application - skills that are
in increasingly high demand.   

"California is one of the largest markets for BMW worldwide, supported by 26
BMW dealers and 11 MINI dealers.   BMW sold nearly 50,000 BMWs in California
last year," said Tom Purves, Chairman and CEO of BMW (US) Holding Corp., who
was in Oxnard for today's grand opening ceremony.  "With sales of BMW and
MINI vehicles growing annually, the need for qualified paint and body
technicians keeps increasing.    BMW was the top-selling luxury brand in the
U.S. for the first four months of this calendar year."

The top graduates from recognized post-secondary technical schools across
the country are selected for BMW's elite, nine-month Service Technician
Education Program, known as S.T.E.P. This program is an intensive
combination of classroom theory and hands-on work. During their nine-month
apprenticeships, students receive salaries and live locally.  They pay no
tuition and are assisted in securing a position at a BMW or MINI dealership
upon completion of the program.  

"BMW Group is recognized as an innovator  - whether it's for leading -edge
safety, performance technology, or for creative solutions to filling needs
in the workplace," said Rick Soles, Paint and Body Development and Training
Manager for BMW Group.  "BMW launched this program in 1992 and it has
expanded as the need has grown.  There are now 1.4 million BMWs on the road
in the U.S. "

The STEP Program has graduated 88 technicians from its facilities in
Montvale, New Jersey and Spartanburg, South Carolina over the years.  A
total of 24 students per year will be trained with the addition of the
Oxnard facility. 

The new training facility will also host educational programs for dealership
personnel. Shorter, three to five day classes will provide experienced
technicians with training in the latest, most advanced collision, body and
paint repair techniques. Collision center managers also have the opportunity
to hone their leadership skills at regularly scheduled Management Training
courses.
  
 	"While South Carolina is BMW's manufacturing center in North
America, California has become our design and technology center," Purves
noted.

Within the same Oxnard complex is BMW Group's recently completed $28 million
Engineering and Vehicle Emission Testing Center and a Vehicle Distribution
Center - the final quality inspection point for approximately 200 BMW and
MINI vehicles that arrive on the west coast each day from England, Germany
and Spartanburg, S.C.  Designworks USA, BMW Group's wholly-owned worldwide
industrial design firm, is located nearby in Newbury Park.  Other BMW Group
facilities in California include a technology office in Silicon Valley and a
Western Regional Office and Parts Distribution Center in Ontario.





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 and MINI
brands; a South Carolina manufacturing operation; DESIGNWORKS/USA, an
industrial design firm in California; a technology office in Silicon Valley
and various other operations throughout the country.  The BMW Group is
represented in the U.S. through a network of 340 car, 327 Sports Activity
Vehicle and 148 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 Group products is available to consumers via the
Internet at http://www.bmwusa.com, http://www.bmwmotorcycles.com and
http://www.miniusa.com.

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Journalist note: Information about the BMW Group and its products is
available to journalists on-line at the BMW Group PressClub at the following
address - www.press.bmwgroup.com.

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Laura Leiponis
Corporate Communications

BMW Group
300 Chestnut Ridge Road
Woodcliff Lake, N.J. 07677
phone: (201) 307-3606
fax: (201) 307-3607
e-mail: laura.leiponis@bmwna.com