ALG (Automotive Lease Guide), a residual forecast company in the U.S. and Canada, has become a financial partner of Bahr & Fess Forecasts, an automotive residual forecasting company in Europe. As part of the partnership, ALG says they will assume a 50 percent ownership stake in Bahr & Fess, and the name of the company will change to ALG Bahr & Fess Forecasts.

ALG Bahr & Fess Forecasts in Europe, together with ALG in the United States and Canada, say they will create a global standard for residual value forecasting for automotive manufacturers, leasing companies, and financial institutions. ALG Bahr & Fess Forecasts will utilize ALG's 35 years of residual forecasting experience to build on Bahr & Fess' foundation in the European market.

John Blair, CEO of ALG, is excited about the partnership: "This combination will benefit both companies by creating enormous synergies in our processes and will benefit our clients by providing them with a complete residual value solution for North America and Europe."

In the United States, ALG says it provides services for financial institutions and automobile manufacturers involved in the automotive leasing business. In addition to its benchmark residual setting business, ALG also offers its customers in the United States and Canada consulting services relating to content configuration, incentives and marketing, risk analysis, and a wide array of custom software applications.

Dieter Fess, managing director of Bahr & Fess said, "Bahr & Fess welcomes the additions to our existing fourteen-nation European business and market insight that ALG's strong residual knowledge, software applications, and customer relationships will bring. ALG's unique position in the residual establishment and consulting markets and worldwide client relationships will enhance the strong foundation already established in Europe by Bahr & Fess."

Both Mr. Blair and Mr. Fess agreed that their customers will receive more valuable services as a result of this transaction. "The automotive business is truly an international business," Blair said. "With this combination we will now be able to provide our clients with local knowledge relating to all significant North American and European markets." Mr. Fess added, "This combination allows us to provide our customers with up-to-date insight into the implications of previously fragmented country-by-country market knowledge and data, and the impacts that may have on our customers' international operations."

About ALG

Automotive Lease Guide, a privately held company in Santa Barbara, California, says it has been the benchmark for automotive residual values in the United States and Canada for over 38 years. ALG provides residual values, analytical data products and consultation to the Automotive Industry. For further information, please contact Matt Walker, 805-563-0777 x116, or email mwalker@alg.com.

About Bahr & Fess Forecasts

Bahr & Fess Forecasts was founded by Reinhard Bahr and Dieter Fess in 1998 with the goal of establishing the company as the leading residual value forecast company in Europe. Currently, Bahr & Fess provide residual value forecasting products and services to OEM's and leasing companies in 18 countries in Europe. For more information on Bahr & Fess, please email info@bfforecasts.de.