KION Group Is Expanding to Eastern Europe

The KION Group is continuing to expand its footprint in Eastern Europe. As part of this, the KION Group brand Linde Material Handling is acquiring the business of the dealer Liftec in Russia For around 20 years now, Linde has worked successfully with Liftec in Russia. The takeover gives the Linde brand greater direct access to the high-growth potential of the Russian market. 

In Brazil, the KION Group is currently expanding its production capacities in order to better satisfy growing customer demand. In São Paulo, KION is setting up a plant to manufacture IC trucks. Production in São Paulo is scheduled to start in early 2012. The existing Brazilian plant in Rio de Janeiro manufactures warehouse technology for KION's STILL and Linde brands.

In India, the KION Group and Voltas Limited have set up Voltas Material Handling Private Ltd. (VMH). The KION Group holds the majority of shares in this joint venture for the development, manufacture, sale and service of forklift trucks and warehouse technology. In July, Voltas Material Handling commenced operations at a new plant in Pune, with the aim of better exploiting the potential offered by the growing Indian market.

The Linde brand has been active in China for almost two decades. Its nationwide sales and service network makes it the biggest international distributor in what is now the world's second-biggest market after western Europe. The Linde plant in Xiamen has been producing trucks, mainly for the Chinese market, for more than 15 years. It is the third-biggest plant in the KION Group after those in Aschaffenburg and Hamburg. The Chinese brand Baoli focuses on the economy segment in the target growth markets of China, Eastern Europe and Central and South America. In terms of the number of units sold, Jingjiang-based Baoli ranks among the top ten Chinese brands in the industry.

The Company

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 more than €3.5 billion in the 2010 financial year.

Linde Material Handling GmbH, based in Aschaffenburg, is one of the world's leading manufacturers of industrial trucks machinery 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.