DGAP-News: KION Group commences production of forklift trucks at new Polish plant

KION Group commences production of forklift trucks at new Polish plant

- Total of around €80 million invested at the site in Kołbaskowo

- Up to 400 new jobs to be created by the end of 2023

- Roughly 44,000 square meters of space for production and engineering; expansion option already planned

Frankfurt/Main, July 8, 2021 - KION GROUP AG has opened a cutting-edge industrial truck plant in the Polish town of Kołbaskowo, near Szczecin. The site will produce counterbalance trucks for all brand companies within the KION Industrial Trucks & Services segment. This includes model series previously produced at sites in western Europe, with the aim of enhancing the degree of automation and digitalization at those sites. In order to speed up delivery times, model series that are currently only produced in Xiamen, China, will also be manufactured in Kołbaskowo as of next year.

The new plant in Poland adds to the KION Group's existing European-wide production sites and will focus on products for customers in the EMEA region with less demanding applications. "The new site in the heart of Europe will allow us to make further inroads into this fast-moving, high-potential market segment," says Gordon Riske, Chief Executive Officer of KION GROUP AG. "The location near the German-Polish border has the additional benefit of easy access to an excellent network of suppliers."

Through its three strong brand companies, Linde Material Handling, STILL, and Baoli, the KION Group is looking to do even more to support its customers with the growth of the intralogistics market in the EMEA region. It has invested a total of around €80 million in the new plant to achieve this goal. KION, the world's leading supplier of material handling and logistics equipment, plans to create up to 400 jobs at the Polish site by the end of 2023. "The new employees will benefit from an attractive, state-of-the-art working environment, and the site also comes with engineering capabilities that will pave the way for further growth perspectives," says works manager Tomasz Maleszka.

The approx. 18 hectare site incorporates a cutting-edge production facility designed along sustainable principles and an administrative center, which together provide nearly 44,000 square meters of space - equivalent to around six soccer pitches. KION has also made provision for future growth, with the new site incorporating an expansion option for another (production) building of around 20,000 square meters.

The KION Group in Poland

KION's brand companies have had a successful presence in the Polish market for many decades, and have made the KION Group one of the country's leading providers of industrial trucks and warehouse technology. More than 25,000 new trucks were ordered in Poland last year, of which around 30 per cent were purchased from KION Group brand companies.

The Linde Material Handling Polska Sp. z o.o. and STILL Polska Sp. z o.o. sales outlets focus on providing an all-around service and comprehensive logistics solutions, and are in high demand as business partners for customers looking for innovative industrial trucks. The product offering is designed for companies - from multinationals through to smaller family businesses - that value innovative, high-quality, and powerful products equipped with market-leading technology. STILL also has its reconditioning center for used trucks in Rokietnica, near Poznań. Every year, around 2,000 industrial trucks are reconditioned at the 2,500 square meter facility. The KION subsidiary Dematic, a global material handling specialist offering intelligent software and automation solutions for optimizing supply chains, has a presence through its Dematic Poland Sp. z o.o. branch in Poznań. The KION Group also operates a center of excellence for finance & accounting services, IT, and procurement in Krakow, called KION Business Services, and currently employs more than 1,200 people in Poland.

The Company

The KION Group is among the world's leading suppliers of industrial trucks and supply chain solutions. Its portfolio encompasses industrial trucks, such as forklift trucks and warehouse trucks, as well as integrated automation technology and software solutions for the optimization of supply chains, including all related services. Across more than 100 countries worldwide, the KION Group's solutions improve the flow of material and information within factories, warehouses, and distribution centers.

The Group, which is included in the MDAX, is the largest manufacturer of industrial trucks in Europe in terms of units sold in 2020. In China, it is still the leading foreign manufacturer (as measured by revenue in 2020) and number three overall. The KION Group is also one of the leading providers of warehouse automation worldwide (as measured by revenue in 2019).

At the end of 2020, more than 1.6 million of the KION Group's industrial trucks and over 6,000 of its installed systems were in use by customers of various sizes and in numerous industries on six continents. The Group currently has in excess of 36,000 employees and generated revenue of €8.3 billion in 2020.

Current KION Group images can be found in our image database at https://mediacenter.kiongroup.com/categories and on the websites of our various brands.

(fgr)

Disclaimer

This release and the information contained herein are for information purposes only and do not constitute a prospectus or an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities in the United States or in any other jurisdiction.

This release contains forward-looking statements that are subject to various risks and uncertainties. Future results could differ materially from those described in these forward-looking statements due to certain factors, e.g. changes in business, economic and competitive conditions (including with respect to further developments in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic), regulatory reforms, results of technical studies, foreign exchange rate fluctuations, uncertainties in litigation or investigative proceedings, and the availability of financing. We do not undertake any responsibility to update the forward-looking statements in this release.

Further information for the media

Michael Hauger
Senior Vice President Corporate Communications
Tel: +49 (0)69 201 107 655
Mobile: +49 (0)151 1686 5550
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Frank Grodzki
Head of External Communications & Group Newsroom
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Further information for investors

Sebastian Ubert
Vice President Investor Relations
Tel: +49 (0)69 201 107 329
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Antje Kelbert
Senior Manager Investor Relations
Tel: +49 (0)69 201 107 346
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Dana Unger
Senior Manager Investor Relations
Tel: +49 (0)69 201 107 371
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