BASF’S R-M® paint joins Glasurit® paint as an approved system for Volkswagen and Audi vehicles

SOUTHFIELD, Mich., April 19, 2001—BASF’s R-M® products are now recognized by Volkswagen (VW) worldwide as an approved refinish paint system. They join BASF’s Glasurit® line, which retains its long-standing approval by Volkswagen.

This approval means that R-M paints, like Glasurit paints, meet Volkswagen’s stringent requirements and are acceptable for repair of VW and Audi vehicles. VW and Audi laboratories in Germany use a battery of tests to evaluate repair paints. Paint systems that meet these rigorous specifications help assure a vehicle owner of a repair that is indistinguishable in appearance and durability from the original factory finish.

BASF and Volkswagen enjoy a very long-standing relationship. The very first Beetle built was painted with Glasso Black, a forerunner of modern Glasurit paint systems. Today BASF is still an OEM finish supplier on the New Beetles built by VW in its Puebla, Mexico plant. As a leading OEM supplier, BASF supplies paint to 15 VW plants and two Audi plants.

BASF's OEM supplier status assures refinish painters of up-to-date color matches and repair techniques. VW and Audi color matches are also monitored at ports of entry in North America and around the world, and then made available to technicians via BASF’s "ARCtIC” global color information database.

BASF Corporation is the third largest producer of chemicals and related products in the United States, Canada and Mexico, with sales of $7.9 billion in 2000. Based in Mount Olive, NJ, BASF Corporation is the North American affiliate of BASF AG (Ludwigshafen, Germany), which is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the trading symbol “BF.”

“We don’t make a lot of the products you buy. We make a lot of the products you buy better.®” summarizes BASF’s diverse product mix including chemicals, polymers, automotive and industrial coatings, colorants, nylon fibers and agricultural products. BASF in North America employs more than 15,000 people