Otmar Hauck appointed new COO of Linde Material Handling GmbH

• Heinz Baumgarten to take on new corporate responsibilities at KION
• Otmar Hauck will carry out his new duties in addition to his responsibilities as COO of the KION Group GmbH

Wiesbaden / Aschaffenburg, 25 August 2011 - Otmar Hauck (56) has been appointed by the supervisory board of Linde Material Handling GmbH to the company's management board. He will take on the duties of Chief Operating Officer from 1 October 2011 in addition to his existing responsibilities as a member of KION's Executive Board and COO of the KION Group. Otmar Hauck succeeds Heinz Baumgarten (62), who will become Head of Projects Operations for the KION Group.

In his new capacity, Heinz Baumgarten will be responsible for the expansion of local manufacturing facilities in the growth markets, in particular, and will report to Gordon Riske, CEO of the KION Group. In his role as COO at Linde Material Handling GmbH, Otmar Hauck will report to Theodor Maurer, CEO of Linde Material Handling.

In response to the new appointments, Gordon Riske stressed that: 'Globally, the Asian, South American and Eastern European markets are becoming increasingly important for material handling products and services - and also for the KION Group. In 2010 we sold more than a quarter of our new trucks to customers in these growth markets. We are therefore pleased that Heinz Baumgarten will be taking on the very important and challenging task of expanding our local manufacturing facilities in these regions. Local manufacturing tailored to the highly specific local requirements of customers and markets is essential for ensuring lasting success in the growth regions.'

Heinz Baumgarten has been a member of the management board of Linde Material Handling and the company's COO since May 2009. He possesses a wide range of experience in the expansion and management of manufacturing facilities gained from his work in various industries around the world.

Theodor Maurer commented: 'Otmar Hauck will draw on his extensive experience to build on and press ahead with Heinz Baumgarten's successful introduction of lean manufacturing and lean business processes at LMH. He will make a key contribution to further increasing the global competitiveness of our manufacturing activities. We greatly look forward to working with him.'

Otmar Hauck, an engineering graduate, has been a member of the KION Executive board and COO of the KION Group since November 2009. Prior to that, he held various managerial roles internationally in the manufacturing and human resources functions of the Volkswagen Group.
The Company
Linde Material Handling GmbH, based in Aschaffenburg, Germany, is one of the world's leading manufacturers of industrial trucks and one of the key producers of hydrostatic and electrical drive systems, which are used in its own trucks, as well as in construction, agricultural and forestry machinery. Linde Material Handling currently employs a global workforce of more than 12,000 employees. In 2010 it generated annual revenue of around EUR2.3 billion.
Linde Material Handling is a member of the KION Group. With its six brands - Linde, STILL, Fenwick, OM, Baoli and Voltas - the KION Group is Europe's market leader for industrial trucks, the global number two in the industry and the leading international supplier in China. The KION Group employed over 20,000 people and generated revenue of around EUR3.5 billion in the 2010 financial year.

For further information please contact
Michael Hauger
Head of Communications and Investor Relations, KION Group
Tel.: +49 (0)611 770 655
Email michael.hauger@kiongroup.com

Detlef Sieverdingbeck
Head of Communications, Linde Material Handling
Telephone: +49 (0)602 199 1407
Email: detlef.sieverdingbeck@linde-mh.de