Jean-Pierre Monteny, president and CEO of BASF Coatings Div., accepted the award on behalf of BASF during recognition ceremonies Saturday, April 23, at the General Motors Vehicle Engineering Center in Warren, Mich.

"At BASF, we take great pride in being one of the major global suppliers to General Motors, and we are very pleased to be recognized by General Motors for our performance," says Monteny. "Receiving the Supplier of the Year award for the second time is particularly rewarding and reflects great credit on BASF employees worldwide who are committed to quality and to meeting the needs of our friends at GM."

Rainer Blair, group vice president for BASF's coatings businesses in North America and the Global Automotive Coatings Solutions business, described the award as a testament to the unique value proposition that BASF brings to its key customers in the automotive OEM industry.

"We are very pleased by this award because it recognizes BASF's strengths - notably our innovative products and services, global supply, and first-class launch management," says Blair.

The GM Supplier of the Year award began as a global program in 1992.

Winners are selected by a global team of executives from purchasing, engineering, manufacturing and logistics, who base their decisions on supplier performance in quality, service, technology and price. This year, General Motors honored 78 suppliers for their excellence throughout 2004.