Eighth Annual Urban Wheel Awards Ready to Roll on Jan. 6, 2004

More than 2,500 industry executives, community leaders to attend prestigious diversity awards ceremony

DETROIT, Dec. 8 -- On Wheels, publisher of African Americans On Wheels and Latinos On Wheels, and Forbes will honor automotive companies, executives, dealers and suppliers for promoting diversity in the automotive industry during the Eighth Annual Urban Wheel Awards (UWA) on Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2004 from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. at Orchestra Hall at the Max M. Fisher Music Center in Detroit. More than 2,500 automotive industry executives, media, political and community leaders are expected to attend the invitation-only UWA ceremony, which is being held in conjunction with press preview week for the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS). Actor, writer and producer Robert Townsend will serve as this year's master of ceremonies.

An independent panel of judges will select the UWA winners in the following categories: Patterson-Greenfield Company of the Year, Edward Davis African-American Executive of the Year, Edward Davis Latino Executive of the Year, Minority Supplier of the Year, Urban Truck of the Year and Urban Car of the Year. This year's panel is comprised of well-known journalists, including Warren Brown, Washington Post; Ken Chester Jr., Motor News Media; Earle Eldridge, USA Today; Kathy Jackson, Automotive News; BJ Killeen, Motor Mouth Productions; Edward Lapham, Automotive News; Valerie Menard, Latina Style; and Greg Sanchez, Letstalkcars.com.

This year also marks the third year of the Urban ADvantage award, a "people's choice" award for diversity in automotive advertising. The general public is invited to vote online at www.onwheelsinc.com ; www.blackvoices.com ; www.blackplanet.com ; www.diversityinc.com or www.migente.com for their favorite print automobile ads geared to African- American and Latino markets. The advertising agencies that produced the most creative African-American and Latino ads, as determined by the online votes, will earn the Urban ADvantage awards.

In 2003, the UWA winners were: Nissan of North America, Inc. (Patterson- Greenfield Company of the Year); Darryl B. Hazel, president of Lincoln Mercury (Edward Davis African-American Executive of the Year); Patricia Salas Pineda, vice president of legal and human resources for New United Motor Manufacturing, Inc. (Edward Davis Latino Executive of the Year); Freight Masters Systems, Inc. (Minority Supplier of the Year); Nissan 350Z (Urban Car of the Year); Volvo XC90 (Urban Truck of the Year); Footsteps L.L.C. (Urban ADvantage/African-American); and Dieste, Harmel & Partners (Urban ADvantage/Latino). Nominations for the 2004 UWA took place last September.

"Since its inception in 1997, the UWA has developed into the 'Academy Awards' of diversity in the automotive industry," said Randi Payton, president and CEO of On Wheels and founder of the event. "The event has made diversity as competitive as the cars built by the industry."

Detroit-based On Wheels is a multicultural multimedia company that publishes African Americans On Wheels and Latinos On Wheels magazines, which are distributed in more than 80 newspapers throughout the United States and have a combined readership of 5 million. Additionally, On Wheels manages the Edward Davis Education Foundation, which provides scholarships to students pursuing technical and college degrees in the automotive industry. Since 1997, On Wheels has hosted the annual Urban Wheel Awards, the automotive industry's premier diversity awards ceremony, in conjunction with the North American International Auto Show. The Eighth Annual Urban Wheel Awards will take place on Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2004 from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. at Orchestra Hall at the Max M. Fisher Music Center in Detroit.

Forbes is the presenting sponsor for the Urban Wheel Awards. Other major sponsors include: General Motors Corporation; General Motors Acceptance Corporation; Ford Motor Company; Audi of America, Inc.; Volkswagen of America, Inc.; American Honda Motor Company; DaimlerChrysler Corporation; Mercedes-Benz of North America; BMW Group; Kia Motor America; Aston Martin Jaguar Land Rover; DTE Energy; GlobalHue; Hyundai Motor America; Meherry/State Farm Alliance; Mitsubishi Motors North America, Inc.; Nissan North America and Subaru of America, Inc. Media partners include: Michigan Front Page; Michigan Chronicle; Detroit News; Rolling Out Magazine; Clear Channel; DiversityInc; Corp! Magazine; Upscale; BlackVoices.com; Detroit Auto Scene; Detroit Cable Communications Commission; Sister2Sister; Blackplanet.com; Migente.com; eMOTION REPORTS.com; and Latina Style.