The Board of Directors of CNH Global on Friday elected Sergio Marchionne as the company's new chairman of the board to replace retiring chairman, Katherine M. Hudson.

"As the chairman of CNH Case New Holland, I will bring to bear the full strength and perspective of the board in guiding the company. CNH has a solid foundation for the future -- strong brands which have tremendous capabilities to define the future in each of our markets worldwide, and loyal and committed employees -- our most valuable assets," Mr. Marchionne said. "We have the right strategy, and we are resolute about transforming our company into a best-in-class industry leader. I will ensure that we will keep these promises, thoroughly executing our plans to achieve our company's targets according to the timetable we set. In order to do so, we have reorganized the company's operations into four distinct global brand structures: Case IH and New Holland agriculture and Case and New Holland construction equipment. We must act more consistently to satisfy even more the differentiated needs of brand customers and dealers -- vital partners in our company's success -- and take a disciplined approach to growth," Mr. Marchionne emphasized.

At yesterday's Annual General Meeting held at the company's registered offices in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, the shareholders of the company elected five new board members. Elected to the board today were Messrs. Leo W. Houle, Rolf M. Jeker, Peter Kalantzis, John Lanaway and Jacques Theurillat. Their curricula vitae are attached. Messrs. Harold D. Boyanovsky, Edward A. Hiler, Kenneth Lipper, Ferruccio Luppi, Sergio Marchionne and Paolo Monferino have been re-elected to the Board. The Board increased by two members to a total of eleven members out of which seven are considered to be independent within the meaning of the NYSE rules as a result of the election of the five new directors and the retirement of Messrs. Michael E. Murphy and James L.C. Provan together with Mrs. Katherine Hudson. Director Jacques Theurillat was elected chairman of CNH's Audit Committee, replacing Michael Murphy. Messrs. Peter Kalantzis, John Lanaway and Kenneth Lipper were also appointed to the Audit Committee. Director Leo W. Houle was elected chairman of CNH's Corporate Governance and Compensation Committee replacing James Provan. Messrs. Edward Hiler, Rolf Jeker and Sergio Marchionne were also appointed to the Committee.

Leo W. Houle, born in 1947, has been Chief Talent Officer of BCE Inc. and Bell Canada, Canada's largest communications company, since June 2001. Prior to joining BCE and Bell Canada Mr. Houle was Senior Vice-President, Corporate Human Resources of Algroup Ltd., a Swiss-based diversified industrial company. From 1966 to 1987, Mr. Houle held various managerial positions with the Bank of Montreal, the last of which was Senior Manager, Human Resources Administration Centres. In 1987 Mr. Houle joined the Mardon Group Limited as Group Vice-President, Human Resources until 1994 when Algroup Ltd. acquired Lawson Mardon Group at which time he was appointed Head of Human Resources for the packaging division of Algroup and in 1997 Head of Corporate Human Resources of Algroup Ltd. Mr. Houle completed his studies at the College St- Jean in Edmonton, attended the Executive Development Program in Human Resources at the University of Western Ontario in 1987 and holds the designation of Certified Human Resources Professional (CHRP) from the Province of Ontario.

Rolf M. Jeker, born in 1946, has been working as Executive Vice President and a member of the Group Executive Board of SGS Societe Generale de Surveillance, SA, Geneva, Switzerland since May 1999. From June 1990 to May 1999, Mr. Jeker served as Secretary of State a.i. for Foreign Economic Affairs; Chairman of Swiss Export Risk Guarantee Board and Chairman of the Swiss Investment Risk Guarantee Board. Mr. Jeker is a member of the Board of Directors of Precious Woods Holding Ltd.; Chairman of the Board of the Swiss Export Promotion Office; Member of the Foreign Economic Relations Committee of Economiesuisse; Chairman of the MyClimate-CLIPP Foundation; and Member of the Board of the Swiss Climate Penny Foundation. Mr. Jeker holds a Masters and Ph.D. in Economics, business and public administration from the University of St. Gall, Switzerland. Mr. Jeker is the author of various books and articles on development and finance in LDCs.

Between 1971 and 1990 he held a variety of positions at Lonza Ltd. in Basel. Dr. Kalantzis is Chairman of the Board of Directors of Movenpick-Holding, Cham, (Switzerland); Chairman of the Board of Clair Finanz Holding AG, Cham; Member of the Board of Directors of Hansa AG, Basel; Chairman of the Board of Directors of PrivatAir Holding SA, Geneva; Member of the Boards of Directors of Lonza Group AG, Basel; of Lamda Development AG, Athens; and of Paneuropean Oil and Industrial Holdings SA, Luxembourg. From 1993 until 2002, he served on the Board of the Swiss Chemical and Pharmaceutical Association as Vice-President and in 2001-2002 as President. Dr. Kalantzis holds a Ph.D. in Economics and Political Sciences from the University of Basel and engaged in research as a member of the Institute for Applied Economics Research at the University of Basel between 1969 and 1971.

John Lanaway, born in 1950, has been working as Chief Financial Officer, North America, of Ogilvy & Mather, one of the largest marketing communications networks in the world. Previously, he has held the positions of Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice President at Geac Computer Corporation Limited from 1999 to 2001; Chief Financial Officer of Algorithmics Incorporated from 1997 to 1999; and Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at Spar Aerospace from 1995 to 1996.

Beginning in 1985 to 1995 Mr. Lanaway held various positions with Lawson Mardon, including Sector Vice President, Labels North America from 1993 to 1995; Group Vice President and Chief Financial Officer from 1989 to 1992; General Manager, Lawson Mardon Graphics from 1988 to 1989; and Vice President, Financial Reporting and Control from 1985 to 1987. He served as Client Service Partner at Deloitte & Touche from 1980 to 1985 and as Student-Staff Accountant-Supervisor-Manager from 1971 to 1985. Mr. Lanaway graduated from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario, C.A. and has a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Toronto.

Jacques Theurillat, born in 1959, has been President of European and International Sales and Marketing and Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Serono, a world leader in the field of biotechnology, since March 2003 and became a board member of the company in May 2000. Mr. Theurillat previously served as Chief Financial Officer of Serono from 1996 until 2002 and was appointed Vice President Taxes and Financial Planning of Serono from 1993 until 1996. During 1990 to 1993, Mr. Theurillat ran his own law and tax firm. Prior to 1990, Mr. Theurillat was appointed Serono's Corporate Tax Director, in 1988 and first joined the company in 1987 as a Corporate Lawyer. Mr. Theurillat is a Swiss barrister, holds Bachelor of Law degrees from Madrid University and Geneva University, holds a Swiss Federal Diploma (tax expert) and received an MBA from the Madrid School of Finance.