Dürr wins major contract from French car manufacturer

10/18/2000

• Development of additional market volumes
• Extension of leading world market position

The Dürr technology group, Stuttgart, has won a major contract from Peugeot-Citroen Automobiles through its French operation Dürr-AIS S.A. totalling about DM 116 m (euro 59.5 m) for a paint shop to be installed at the car plant in Poissy, France.

Dürr-AIS (formerly Alstom Automation S.A.) - as general contractor - will be supplying a complete dip-coating facility including all logistics and material flow systems, environmental equipment plus the building. Start of production is scheduled for January 2002. The new paint shop will mark the end of Peugeot's multi-stage modernization program for its plant in Poissy and will have an output rate of 95 bodies per hour.

"This major contract shows that we now have much better access to the French automotive industry after having assumed the function of business management of Alstom Automation. We will take further advantage of the opportunities that this opens for us in the French market, a market which was difficult for us to cultivate in the past " says Hans Dieter Pötsch, Chairman of the Board of Management of Dürr AG.

Dürr-AIS is the leading supplier of painting systems for mass production plants to the French automotive industry, and also holds a strong position in the world market as a supplier of systems for high-quality painting of plastic components. As part of a value-oriented growth strategy, Dürr acquired a 50 percent stake in the company last year from the French Alstom Group, and also assumed the function of business management. The full acquisition of the company that is operating under its former name Air Industrie SystËmes / Dürr-AIS since the Dürr participation, is planned for spring 2001.

Dürr's Paint Systems business unit builds turnkey paint shops for the automotive industry and other industries, and is enjoying buoyant demand for efficient, environmentally safe solutions. With a substantially higher level of incoming orders totaling euro 436 m in the first six months of 2000 compared to the same period in the previous year, the business unit is again expecting an increase in incoming orders for the whole year compared to 1999 (euro 678.7 m).

The Dürr technology group is one of the world's leading manufacturers of production systems and manufacturing support services for the automotive industry and its component suppliers. Five business units: Paint Systems, Automotion, Environmental, Protecs and Services operate on the world market under the aegis of the strategic management holding company Dürr AG, with operations in over 20 countries around the globe.

Dürr will be publishing its nine-months figures on October 25. For the fiscal year 2000, Dürr AG is expecting sales of euro 1.7 bn and a double-digit growth rate.