The paper proposes a general framework to study the exponential stabilization problem for a wide class of nonlinear systems. By combining the concept of dilation with the method of sigma-processing, a simple stability criterion is given in terms of the stability property of an augmented system. Moreover, the global rho-exponential stability of the closed-loop system can be achieved by employing continuous controllers. A well-known nonholonomic system is given to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed results. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.