Dürr is taking over the RoDip painting process from ABB

01/02/2001

With effect from 1st January 2001, Dürr has acquired from ABB, as announced, a worldwide license for the RoDip painting process developed and patented by ABB, and Dürr has also taken over the development center for RoDip in Butzbach near Frankfurt from ABB at the same time. The approval of the German Federal Cartel Office has been granted.

RoDip is a process used for the dip painting of vehicle bodies in mass production and yields benefits in terms of production quality and efficiency. Dürr takes over the existing RoDip business, among other areas, and will push ahead with its further development and marketing. The granting of licenses to further systems suppliers is planned. Dürr received an exclusive RoDip license for Japan. As a result, Dürr's largest business unit, Paint Systems, which has been represented in Japan by its own company since the beginning of 2001, is given a far stronger position for the planned expansion of its activities in Japan, which is the largest automobile market in Asia.

The corporate unit in Butzbach will trade under the company name of Dürr AIS GmbH and will be managed within the Paint Systems business unit both as a competence center for RoDip and its further development and also for the commercial vehicles, automobile component suppliers and general industry sectors for the German market.

The Dürr technological 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 under the aegis of the strategic management holding company Dürr AG, with operations in over 20 countries around the globe. For the fiscal year 2000, Dürr AG expects to exceed its sales target of euro 1.7 bn and to achieve a double-digit percentage growth rate in earnings.