Schaeffler Group Press Conference at the Hanover Fair

Schaeffler Group Press Conference at the Hanover Fair The Schaeffler Group and its strong brands INA, FAG, and LuK is taking a self-assured and optimistic approach to coming challenges. Dr. Juergen M. Geissinger, President and CEO, took positive stock of the situation during a press conference at the Hanover Fair. As one of the leading rolling bearing manufacturers, which offers its customers the widest range of products in the sector, Dr. Geissinger views the company as being optimally equipped for the future. ¡°We will increase our sales volume in 2007 again by around seven percent, and increase the number of employees in the company by around 3,000 to 66,000 worldwide¡±, announced Dr. Geissinger. Sales reached 8.3 billion euros last year. This optimism is not only based on the continuing favorable economic prospects. It is much more important for the company to set the course for the future early enough. ¡°We are investing in the development of our infrastructure and in our innovations. We are present at those locations where growth is being generated on an international level and still have the German and European markets in our sights¡±, summarized Dr. Geissinger. In this coming year, new plants are being opened in India and China and capacity in Romania, Hungary and Slovakia is being considerably increased. With this high level of commitment on an international scale, it is all the more pleasing that the number of employees in Germany rose last year by 600 to almost 26,000, despite unfavorable conditions that almost certainly won¡¯t improve due to current pay scale demands. He urged for moderation here. The Hanover Fair continues to be an important location for communication with customers for the Schaeffler Group as well as a market place for innovation, whose importance reaches far beyond the boundaries of one sector. ¡°We happily make this comparison¡±, emphasized Dr. Geissinger, the more so as the Schaeffler Group has a lot to say and to show as far as issues such as ¡°Total Cost of Ownership¡± (TOC) and energy efficiency are concerned. For Robert Schullan, President of Schaeffler Group Industrial, TOC means nothing else other than considering the costs of the entire lifecycle of a machine or plant. As a provider of solutions and services all around rolling bearings, Schaeffler definitely focuses on customer benefit. This begins with consultations from sales and application engineers, leads via research and development to the continuous improvement of products and secures the highest level of machine and plant availability by means of suitable service tools. ¡°The true cost factors and cost drivers occur in the operation of the machine. This is where we help our customers to cut these costs dramatically¡±, Mr. Schullan emphasized. ¡°Rolling bearings are the most effective means of saving energy¡±, highlighted Dr. Arbogast Grunau, President of Development for Schaeffler Group Industrial, thereby addressing the second general theme of the Hanover Fair - energy efficiency. Rolling bearings fulfill one