BANBURY, ENGLAND -- The Subaru World Rally Team, along with IBM and Dassault Systemes (Nasdaq: DASTY; Euronext Paris: #13065, DSY.PA) announced today that the use of Product Lifecycle Management Solutions from IBM played a critical role in Richard Burn's victory at last Sunday's FIA World Rally Championship. CATIA V5, the world's leading 3D design application within IBM's Product Lifecycle Management portfolio, was instrumental in the development of the victorious Subaru Impreza WRC 2001 rally car, notably in engine design and testing, as well as roll and body cage. Based in Cardiff, Wales, the Network Q Rally, is the UK's largest annual rally event, attracting hundreds of thousands of people. In fog and driving rain, the Subaru rally car was able to keep up the pressure on the other drivers, balancing skill and speed on the final four stages, through perilous forest roads. "We have managed to achieve an incredible win," said Julian Cooper, Chief Designer at Subaru World Rally Team. "CATIA has enabled us to design most of the parts on the car, the modeling and checking of installations in record time and with unflinching quality. CATIA has been essential for most of the key elements, but most importantly for the roll and body-cage." These safety features are necessary to minimize the risk of high-speed rallying for Richard Burns, the Subaru pilot, who became the first Englishman ever to win the FIA World Championship, since the series was established in 1979. Subaru has now been the driving force behind five FIA World Titles. The Japanese model was manufacturers' champion in 1995, 1996 and 1997, and the Subaru Impreza powered Colin McRae to the Driver's title in 1995. Cooper continued, "The CATIA package is a vital part of the Subaru Team. We use it in modeling, packaging components and checking installations. Many parts of the body shell on this year's car were designed on the system - the complex roll cage fitted to the Impreza WRC2001 is a prime example. CATIA enabled us to design a lightweight, but extremely strong cage, the sections of which can be precisely bent and cut by computer controlled machinery." "Another benefit of our using CATIA is that we can share information easily with the Subaru designers in Japan who also use the system to design road-cars. Being able to transfer ideas back and forward in this way is a great bonus in the development of high performance Subaru road and rally cars." Kim Stuckey, Worldwide Small and Medium Business Manager, IBM PLM, said, "Optimizing a race car for specific races at specific venues represents the ultimate time challenge for product innovation. This is one of the main reasons why PLM Solutions from IBM are so focused on the auto-racing laboratory, where quality and speed play such an important role in victory. We are very excited about this win that demonstrates the power of PLM Solutions from IBM and Dassault Systemes. One of our primary goals here at IBM is to create value for customers by providing them with the most powerful tools to leverage knowledge and innovation. With CATIA V5 backed by the strength of IBM service and support, Subaru has the power to innovate in car design and dominate on the track. The proof is Subaru's fantastic fifth title at the FIA World Rally. By relying on IBM and Dassault Systemes, Subaru has positioned itself in first place." "We are proud that Subaru and Richard Burns, the new world champion, have selected CATIA", said Etienne Droit, Executive Vice-President of Dassault Systemes, Sales and Marketing. "Their choice confirms once again Dassault Systemes' foresight and leadership in delivering strategic 3d PLM Solutions, based on V5 technology, to the automotive industry. The Dassault Systemes and IBM partnership with Subaru is a real opportunity for us to further develop and implement innovative technologies."