The KION Group is a leading provider of industrial trucks with an outstanding position in the market. In 2010, the Group generated revenue of €3,534 million and an order intake of 121,500 units. In its home European market, the KION Group is the market leader with a market share of significantly more than 30 per cent. It is also one of the leading providers in the important growth markets of China and Brazil. Globally, the KION Group is the number two in terms of order intake (units) and revenue.
Having been spun off as an independent company in August 2006 from Linde AG, Munich, the KION Group was sold to investment funds, which are advised by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Goldman Sachs Capital Partners, in December 2006.
The KION Group's origins go back as far as 1904, when Carl von Linde, Hugo Güldner and other partners founded Güldner-Motoren-Werke in Aschaffenburg, Germany. Güldner-Motoren-Werke was acquired by Linde AG in 1929. STILL GmbH was founded in 1920 and was acquired by the former Linde AG in 1973. Since then the KION Group has extended its product range and further increased its market share through significant organic growth and through acquisitions. One of the most important acquisitions was of the French company Fenwick in 1984, which covers the French market as the local brand of the Linde Material Handling Group and is the French market leader. In 1992 the KION Group expanded its brand portfolio again by acquiring OM, which had originally been established in 1917. The Chinese company Baoli was added to the multi-brand Group as a fifth brand in 2009 in order to better exploit the potential growth in emerging markets. Complete management control of Baoli was assumed in 2010.
Across all its brands, the KION Group offers a complete product portfolio for handling companies' internal goods flow management. This portfolio ranges from warehouse equipment to counterbalance trucks fitted with either internal combustion (IC) engines or electric motors, and covers load capacities of up to 46 tonnes. In addition to new trucks, client solutions around finance, service and process management are playing an increasingly important role.
The KION Group includes twelve sites worldwide where industrial trucks are manufactured, plus component production sites and foundries. With 1,200 sales outlets worldwide, the KION Group runs one of the most extensive distribution and service networks in the industry, making it a global player with a presence in around 100 countries.
As at the end of 2010, the KION Group had 19,968 employees.
