A catalyst for the purification of the exhaust gases of internal combustion engines with improved cold start performance and improved lean long-term endurance combined with reduced specific noble metal charge is proposed. It uses active aluminium oxide with conventional promoters as carrier and platinum and/or palladium and rhodium in the usual quantities as noble metals, In addition it contains one or more base metals in quantities of up to 5 times the total mass of noble metal, which base metals are brought into immediate vicinity of rhodium by a special manufacturing technique.