20 years of KION – connecting the heritage with the future at the Annual General Meeting 2026

In his speech, KION’s CEO Rob Smith looked back to the business performance of financial year 2025 and referred to the company’s and its brands’ strong heritage: “KION’s roots stretch back more than 200 years. That’s 200 years of excellence, innovation, and the trust of our customers. And for the past 20 years, we have been shaping the future of supply chains under the name KION”. In the third decade of its journey, the company is now on its way to becoming “The Supply Chain Solutions Company”, with its business combining all elements of modern supply chains: industrial trucks, automation, robotics, software, and physical AI.

Another important item on the day’s agenda was the election of new members to KION GROUP AG’s Supervisory Board. The members of the Board Dr. Alexander Dibelius, Kui Jiang and Dr. Shaojun Sun resigned from their positions with effect from the end of the Annual General Meeting. “On behalf of the Supervisory Board, I would like to express my gratitude to Dr. Alexander Dibelius, Kui Jiang and Dr. Shaojun Sun for their valuable contributions to KION’s journey during their respective tenures,” says Mohsen Sohi, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of KION GROUP AG.

“Alexander Dibelius is our longest-serving board member and spent 19 years with the company and its predecessor. As one of KION’s ‘founding fathers’ he played a key role in laying the groundwork for the group that is becoming the Supply Chain Solutions Company now. Kui Jiang’s and Shaojun Sun’s years of service are closely linked to our trusting partnership with our anchor shareholder Weichai Power – a best practice example for a longstanding German-Chinese cooperation benefitting both parties mutually.”

Based on a corresponding proposal by the Nomination Committee, three internationally experienced senior executives were elected with majority vote to the Supervisory Board: Dr. Ralf Krieger (Independent Management Consultant), Decheng Wang (Deputy Chairman of Weichai Holding Group), and Zhao Jin (Vice General Manager of Weichai Holding Group). “I am very pleased that we have succeeded in attracting these three highly qualified individuals for the Supervisory Board who will effectively strengthen the body in the performance of its duties,” says Mohsen Sohi.

More than 79 percent of the share capital was present at the Annual General Meeting. During the Annual General Meeting, the majority of shareholders approved all of the proposals put forward by the Supervisory Board and Executive Board, including the dividend distribution of € 0.62 per share, which corresponds to a payout ratio of around 35 percent.

KION’s Supervisory Board has extended the contract of Michael Larsson, President KION IAS and ITS Americas until December 2029. “Michael Larsson has successfully driven forward Dematic’s development during recent years”, says Mohsen Sohi. “The Supervisory Board is convinced that with his leadership and deep industry knowledge, Dematic will be positioned to an even larger extent in the supply chain orchestration space, and together with the brands Linde Material Handling and STILL jointly serve the fast-growing start-up automation market.”

Further information on the Annual General Meeting and all voting results can be found here: