Palo Alto, Calif. – September 11, 2007 – Frost & Sullivan announced the candidates of its 2007 CXOs’ Choice Awards for Best Luxury Vehicles in the United States. The award’s research covers a variety of categories of which C-level executives across the United States evaluate vehicles retailing over $30,000 USD on various attributes.

CXOs chose the best luxury vehicle manufacturers in categories such as Comfort & Convenience, Cost of Ownership, Customer Service, Driving Dynamics, Engine Performance, Environmental Friendliness, Innovation, Quality & Reliability, Road Handling & Performance, Safety, Style and Overall Best.

"The Choice Awards are part of Frost & Sullivan’s Global program to recognize outstanding companies who exhibit the best practices across key growth drivers," states Frost & Sullivan Chairman David Frigstad. "Our belief is that companies who excel will continue to grow and flourish."

While CXOs may select any vehicle manufacturer which they deem as best for the survey categories, generally, the same automotive manufacturers are chosen year after year. "Leading candidates based upon past study results include Acura, Audi, BMW, Jaguar, Lexus, Mercedes and Volvo," notes Frost & Sullivan Director of the Choice Award Program Tonya Fowler.

The scope of this year’s research is broader compared to past years’ results due to the addition of categories such as Comfort & Convenience, Cost of Ownership, Driving Dynamics, Engine Performance and Overall Best. Frost & Sullivan expects to see additional automotive manufacturers appear in their results and are excited to see what changes might come about and who will lead in the Overall Best category.

One further change to the study this year is that all C-level Executives participated in the study; last year the study focused only on CEOs. "We thought it important to include all types of C-level executives since they are powerful decision makers within their organizations and may strongly influence the perceptions – and even the vehicle purchases of their colleagues and others within their organizations," states Fowler. Although Frost & Sullivan expects that CXOs may not significantly differ on their thoughts regarding luxury vehicles, they will investigate any potentially dramatic changes in year-over-year comparisons.

The Frost & Sullivan 2006 U.S. CEOs’ Choice Evaluation of Luxury Vehicles research recognized four candidates as best in the following categories:

• Lexus - Customer Service, Quality & Reliability and Environmentally Friendly & Innovative
• BMW - Road Handling & Performance
• Mercedes - Style
• Volvo - Safety

Frost & Sullivan’s panel of CXOs will be utilized for this research as well as other upcoming CXO research. If you would like to be a member of Frost & Sullivan’s Professional Forums – as powered by Greenfield Online – please visit http://www.FrostForum.com. There are many panels in which to qualify beyond Frost & Sullivan’s CXO Panel. As a member of any of Frost & Sullivan’s panels, one can wield influence in the products and services routinely used, as well as glean information that is happening in markets right now.

Frost & Sullivan's Competitive Benchmarking Services is a division of the Customer Research team that conducts independent, non-sponsored research among end-users to evaluate and measure companies that are top performers for their products, processes and services. Specifically, Competitive Benchmarking Services surveys respondents that are deemed experts (i.e., CXOs, Automotive Technicians, Paint Contractors, etc.) in the wide range of industries that Frost & Sullivan supports.

Frost & Sullivan, a global growth consulting company, has been partnering with clients to support the development of innovative strategies for more than 40 years. The company’s industry expertise integrates growth consulting, growth partnership services, and corporate management training to identify and develop opportunities. Frost & Sullivan serves an extensive clientele that includes Global 1,000 companies, emerging companies, and the investment community by providing comprehensive industry coverage that reflects a unique global perspective and combines ongoing analysis of markets, technologies, econometrics, and demographics. For more information, visit http://www.frost.com

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Danielle White
Global Manager, Corporate Communications
P: 210.247.2403
F: 210.348.1003
E: dwhite@frost.com