Park Place Lexus Accepts Malcolm Baldrige Award in Washington D.C.

DALLAS--April 19, 2006--In a Washington D.C. ceremony today, Vice President Dick Cheney presented the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, the highest level of national recognition for excellence, to Texas-based Park Place Lexus. The recipient in the small business category, Park Place Lexus is the first automobile dealer to ever win this prestigious Presidential award.

"The journey at Park Place Lexus does not end today with the receipt of this award," stated Ken Schnitzer, chairman of Park Place Dealerships. "Our team will continue to learn and implement new and improved principles of quality management. This award is a reflection of the commitment to processes that Park Place Lexus has implemented to ensure quality and performance of the highest level for our clients, employees, and vendors."

Park Place Lexus, which employs 420 members, received this award for its consistent quality and performance results. Both the Plano and Grapevine locations have maintained a consistently low member turnover rate of 22 percent for the past three years. The average turnover rate in the southwest area for automobile dealerships is 55 percent.

Today, Park Place Lexus ranks among the country's top Lexus dealers. Between 2000 and 2005, the company's gross profit increased by 51.3 percent.

"Park Place Lexus initially became interested in the Baldrige criteria as a method to manage the organization and drive improvements," said Jordan Case, president of Park Place Lexus. "The Baldrige criteria is such a good model for organizational improvement - it allows you to grow at a natural pace. Every level of our organization committed to this journey and that's why we received this award today."

In 2003, Park Place Lexus Plano was named the exclusive recipient of the Texas Award for Performance Excellence, recognition of Texas organizations that excel in performance excellence, quality, and customer satisfaction.

In 2004, Park Place Lexus Grapevine was the highest rated Lexus dealership in the nation with a new car client satisfaction index (CSI) of 99.8 percent. Park Place Lexus Plano's CSI is among the top 10 percent of 212 Lexus dealers nationwide.

The 2005 Baldrige Award recipients were selected from among 64 applicants. Other Malcolm Baldrige Award recipients included Sunny Fresh Foods, Inc., DynMcDermot Petroleum Operations, Richland College, Jenks Public Schools, and Bronson Methodist Hospital.

All six recipients were evaluated rigorously by an independent board of examiners in seven areas including, leadership; strategic planning; customer and market focus; measurement, analysis, and knowledge management; human resource focus; process management; and results.

Founded in 1987, Park Place Dealerships is comprised of nine dealerships, representing 12 brands in Dallas/Fort Worth and Houston. In addition to Lexus, Park Place represents Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, Volvo, Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Maserati, Land Rover and Jaguar.

More information on Park Place Dealerships is available at www.parkplacetexas.com.