Dürr wins major contract from Ford in Spain

07/23/2001

• Capital investment to boost productivity
• Dürr earns Ford Q 1 Award

The Dürr Technology Group has won a contract worth about 21 million euros through its UK subsidiary Dürr Ltd., Warwick to update the paint shop at the Ford plant in Valencia. Dürr's innovative paint finishing systems will help to boost productivity at the Spanish location, where Ford intends to manufacture new vehicle models.

A major aspect of the contract is a new system for cavity wax preservation with a production capacity of 120 bodies per hour. The cavities of the body shells are coated additionally with wax after dip coating to significantly improve resistance against corrosion.

The scope of supply also includes a line for seam sealing and application of deadener material with 31 robots in total, and also includes new oven systems in the primer lines. The complete conveyor and control systems will also be supplied by Dürr. Start of production for all new systems is scheduled for early 2002.

Ford is the second largest car manufacturer in the world, and one of Dürr's most important customers. Recently the Dürr group companies Dürr Systems GmbH and Dürr Automotion GmbH earned the Q1 Award issued by Ford to suppliers for sustained levels of excellence in quality, after successfully undergoing the demanding certification procedure. "With this award we have created the basis for further successful cooperation with Ford" says Hans Dieter Pötsch, Chairman of the Board of Dürr AG.

The Dürr Technology Group is one of the world's leading suppliers of manufacturing systems and manufacturing support services for the automobile industry and its suppliers. The six business units - Paint Systems, Automotion, Environmental, Ecoclean, Services and INTX - operating under the strategic management of holding company Dürr AG together with the Carl Schenck Group are represented by operations located in over 25 countries around the world. In fiscal year 2000, Dürr AG increased sales by 67 % to 2,042 million euros. As a result Dürr is now included in the top 100 German companies in terms of sales volume and ranked 93rd (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung-ranking on 03.07.2001). EBITDA was up by 83.3 % to 119.8 million euros. For the current fiscal year Dürr is again expecting double-digit growth rates in sales and earnings, with more than proportionate growth in earnings.

Note:Photos for publication are available from the Corporate Communications department of Dürr AG.