"We selected Business Objects because of its success and proven leadership in the BI industry and its solutions' ease of use, powerful reporting, and scalability," said Professor Dr. Ottmar Beckmann, Director of IT at Volkswagen AG. "Thanks to Business Objects, we look forward to giving Volkswagen AG employees, from finance and product development to purchasing and production, and our subsidiaries worldwide a real-time view of business which will lead to improved customer service and satisfaction."

Volkswagen, the largest automobile manufacturer in Europe and the fourth largest in the world, will use Business Objects to access, analyze, and share corporate data in every department -- from finance, production, and development to research, sales and marketing, and purchasing. Users at all levels of the organization will access supplier and customer reports relating to online requests and negotiations, vehicle launches, and vehicle capacity management and tracking. In addition, Volkswagen plans to extend a Business Objects-powered extranet to its suppliers and brokers.

Volkswagen employees, as well as tens of thousands of employees from its subsidiaries including Audi, Rolls Royce, Europcar, and Bentley, will use Business Objects as the global BI solution to obtain a real-time, unified view of crucial business information. By making up to the minute information available to all users, Volkswagen will have self-service access to a consistent and accurate view of its business.

Rollout Strategy

Currently, Volkswagen has more than 20 pilot projects in play to deploy Business Objects to 6,000 Volkswagen and Audi employees throughout Germany. Next year, Volkswagen plans to expand its deployment by rolling out Business Objects to users worldwide. Audi is expected to have up to 10,000 users operating on Business Objects.
    "We are excited to work with Volkswagen, a dominant figure in the automotive industry," said Bernard Liautaud, CEO of Business Objects. "Business Objects will be a key component to an organization that is already very customer focused, and will help give Volkswagen AG a 360 degree view of its customers, suppliers, brokers, and business processes."

About Business Objects

Business Objects is the world's leading provider of business intelligence (BI) solutions. Business intelligence lets organizations access, analyze, and share information internally with employees and externally with customers, suppliers, and partners. It helps organizations improve operational efficiency, build profitable customer relationships, and develop differentiated product offerings.

The company's products include BusinessObjects 2000, the industry's leading integrated business intelligence toolset and platform; and BusinessObjects ANALYTICS, an integrated suite of enterprise analytic applications.

Business Objects pioneered the modern BI industry in 1990 by inventing a patented "semantic layer" that insulates users from the complexity of databases. In 1995, the company was first to focus on enterprise-scale BI deployments and today supports customers with more than 20,000 users. The company moved aggressively to the internet in 1997 by pioneering the market for BI extranets, a market that it continues to lead today. In 2000, the company delivered the industry's first interactive mobile BI solution. Today, Business Objects continues to innovate, creating and delivering a unique vision for enterprise analytic applications.

Business Objects has more than 15,000 customers in over 80 countries. The company's stock is publicly traded under the ticker symbols NASDAQ: BOBJ and Euronext Paris (Sicovam code 12074). It is included in the SBF 120 and IT CAC 50 French stock market indexes. Business Objects can be reached at 408-953-6000 and www.businessobjects.com.

Note to Editors: BusinessObjects and WebIntelligence are trademarks or registered trademarks of Business Objects S.A. in the United States and/or other countries. Other company and product names may be trademarks of the respective companies with which they are associated.

Business Objects product inquiries should contact 800-527-0580.

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    CONTACT: Business Objects
             Melissa Biel, 408/953-6105
             melissa.biel@businessobjects.com
                 or
             Business Objects Germany
             Caroline Glaser, +49-2203-9152-111
             caroline.glaser@businessobjects.com