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Fiat Auto Powers Automotive Business Process Innovation with SAP


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Flagship Italian Company Deploys SAP for Automotive to Support Grand Designs for Global Business Process Transformation and Standardization

MILAN, Italy - December 06, 2006 - SAP AG (NYSE: SAP) today announced that Fiat Auto is deploying the SAP for Automotive solution portfolio to support the transformation initiative driving the carmaker’s strategy in Europe and other markets. Following its 2005 decision to reorganize and improve some of its key processes in accordance with the strategic guidelines of the FIAT Group, Fiat Auto chose SAP for Automotive as the foundation to harness and simplify the complexity of its business processes. Fiat Auto is now underpinning its core business processes with industry-specific functionality from mySAP™ ERP, integrating disparate legacy systems that it needs to keep online with the SAP NetWeaver® platform, and cutting out redundant data entry processes.

“SAP software is a key enabler helping us achieve the aims we’ve set for our business transformation,” said Vincenzo Giannelli, CIO, Fiat Auto. “In the first wave of the rollout, we’ve gained tighter control on financial and procurement processes. With the rollouts of SAP’s automotive suite applications, we’ll have a worldwide standard set of end-to-end business processes.”

Streamlined Procurement
With its January 2006 go-live with mySAP ERP and mySAP™ Supplier Relationship Management (mySAP SRM), the company achieved the first milestone in its global SAP rollout. The integrated enterprise resource planning (ERP) and SRM solution is helping Fiat Auto production sites in Italy gain centralized control over workflows in finance, analytical accounting and procurement, accelerating the processes of managing indirect materials, contracts and purchase orders.

“With the first wave, we have implemented the SAP solution covering seven legal entities and six manufacturing sites in Italy for a total of more than 5,000 users,” said Vittorio Boero, SAP program manager, Fiat Auto. “The same solution also will be also implemented in our production sites in Poland and Brazil, for which the activities have been started already in April and are scheduled for completion in January 2007.”

Supporting Fiat Auto’s aims to keep all information and communications technology (ICT) systems linked for seamless workflows, SAP NetWeaver enables the interface of SAP applications to the software installations that Fiat Auto is keeping online for product development and manufacturing execution. The SAP implementation at Fiat leverages the end-to-end process integration capabilities of the SAP NetWeaver® platform—in particular, SAP NetWeaver® Exchange Infrastructure—to simplify and unify purchasing processes and data exchange with suppliers.

When the rollout is completed, the ERP and SRM solution will be handling a half-million messages per day with Fiat’s more than 20,000 key suppliers. These highly efficient and collaborative capabilities will play a key role in enabling the company’s expansion plans. Following the rollouts of SAP applications powering core processes, Fiat Auto aims to extend the deployment of mySAP ERP. The company is now working on the integration of direct material in the materials management and procurement processes, a phase of the rollout project that soon will go live in Italy. The carmaker is also currently defining the next steps of the SAP implementation, both in terms of functional and geographical extension.

“Fiat Auto is making a strong move not only to revive its business in Europe but also to further differentiate its market position as a global challenger offering innovative new designs and models,” said Guenter Lasser, head of the Automotive industry business unit, SAP. “The SAP rollout at Fiat Auto taps the industry-specific financials and procurement processes embedded in the SAP for Automotive solution portfolio and underscores the strategic value of SAP NetWeaver in extending existing software investments through seamless integration. It also demonstrates a strong synergy: combining the virtues and strengths of Italian design and business savvy with the automotive best practices gleamed from SAP’s years of co-innovation with the world’s leading carmakers.”

About SAP
SAP is the world’s leading provider of business software*. Today, more than 36,200 customers in more than 120 countries run SAP® applications—from distinct solutions addressing the needs of small and midsize enterprises to suite offerings for global organizations. Powered by the SAP NetWeaver® platform to drive innovation and enable business change, SAP software helps enterprises of all sizes around the world improve customer relationships, enhance partner collaboration and create efficiencies across their supply chains and business operations. SAP solution portfolios support the unique business processes of more than 25 industries, including high tech, retail, financial services, healthcare and the public sector. With subsidiaries in more than 50 countries, the company is listed on several exchanges, including the Frankfurt stock exchange and NYSE under the symbol “SAP.” (Additional information at www.sap.com)

(*) SAP defines business software as comprising enterprise resource planning and related applications such as supply chain management, customer relationship management, product life-cycle management and supplier relationship management.

Any statements contained in this document that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “expect,” “forecast,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “project,” “predict,” “should” and “will” and similar expressions as they relate to SAP are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. SAP undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations The factors that could affect SAP’s future financial results are discussed more fully in SAP’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), including SAP’s most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the SEC. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of their dates.

Copyright © 2006 SAP AG. All rights reserved.
SAP, R/3, mySAP, mySAP.com, xApps, xApp, SAP NetWeaver and other SAP products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP AG in Germany and in several other countries all over the world. All other product and service names mentioned are the trademarks of their respective companies. Data contained in this document serve informational purposes only. National product specifications may vary.

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