gedas Appoints Vice President - Automotive Practice for the Americas

AUBURN HILLS, Mich., May 25, 2005 -- Daron L. Gifford has been appointed to the newly created position of Vice President - Automotive Practice, gedas, Americas Region. Mr. Gifford joins gedas from ABeam Consulting (formerly Deloitte Tohmatsu Consulting), where he had been CEO and Managing Director, Americas, since 2003.

Based at gedas' North American headquarters in Auburn Hills, Gifford will oversee the organization's automotive activities in North and South America, focusing on the automotive manufacturing centers in the U.S., Mexico and Brazil. Gifford will direct gedas' efforts to find the most effective and appropriate solutions for gedas' manufacturing, supplier and dealer clients in these automotive regions.

"We're very pleased to have Daron join the gedas management team. His career mirrors the development of the automotive IT industry, and Daron has been one of the industry's innovative voices," said Eric Verniaut, CEO. "We are confident that his vision and experience will help gedas develop new markets and enhance our existing client relationships."

Gifford brings to gedas over 25 years experience in automotive and IT consulting. He has held various executive management positions for such industry mainstays as Deloitte, Covisint, and Gould Electronics. He began his career at General Motors where he spent seven years in a variety of engineering, manufacturing and sales positions.

For several years, he led the Deloitte global automotive consulting practice, where his past clients included leading automotive suppliers such as Delphi, Lear and Bridgestone. Recently, Gifford's efforts focused on global management issues facing the automotive industry encompassing product development, supply chain, and customer growth and diversification.

Gifford received his MBA in General Management from the University of Virginia in 1982 and his Bachelor of Industrial Administration from General Motors Institute in 1980.

About gedas

gedas, Inc. provides consulting on the development, system integration and operation of IT solutions to companies in the automotive and manufacturing industries. gedas' full-service offerings and strong business process expertise allow for tailored solutions that generate decisive and measurable value. gedas has developed its own comprehensive philosophy called "Intelligent Transformation", which is based on three core concepts: technological benefits and an integrated approach, all based upon a useful interface of people and technology. gedas, Inc., a subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group, is headquartered in Berlin and maintains 50 branch offices in 13 countries. In 2004, the company and its 5,000 employees generated sales of approx $716 million (USD). For more information about gedas in the U.S., visit http://www.gedasusa.com/ .