Vaillant Group starts heat pump manufacture in Gelsenkirchen

• First own heat pump production 
• Strong sales growth based on renewable energy sources

Gelsenkirchen/Remscheid, 22 August 2006 – Vaillant Group today began production of heat pumps at its Gelsenkirchen plant. The company is thereby strengthening its position in the "regenerative energies" business field, which is recording above-average growth. As one of the world's leading suppliers of energy-efficient and resource-saving heating technology and air-conditioning products, Vaillant Group is participating in the growing demand for appliances based on renewable energy sources. "In this segment in 2005, we increased our sales compared with the previous year by 200 per cent to about €70 million. Our goal is to achieve sales of about €200 million with these technologies by 2009 and further expand our market position," said Vaillant Group Managing Director Dr Michel Brosset at today's opening ceremony, where together with city Mayor Frank Baranowski he presented the first Vaillant heat pump made in Gelsenkirchen. With the new product series the company is for the first time manufacturing its own heat pumps. The pumps offered previously were produced by supplier companies. The heat pumps manufactured in Gelsenkirchen will be sold under the Vaillant brand name initially in Germany and Austria and later also in France, the Netherlands, Italy, Switzerland and other European countries.
With its production of heat pumps the Gelsenkirchen plant, which is to manufacture an initial 4,000 pumps per year, will be a central Vaillant Group site for products based on renewable energy sources. To date, the plant has produced state-of-the-art ventilation units with integrated heat recovery and a high degree of efficiency for use in low-energy houses and manufactured energy-efficient gas-fired condensing boilers. In the next few years the annual capacity of the heat pump production can be increased to up to 10,000 appliances, depending on how demand develops.

Vaillant Group is full-range supplier of environment-friendly heating technologies
The new heat pump series stands out for its extremely economical energy consumption and works without emissions. Depending on the type, the heat of the groundwater, the earth or the ambient air is converted by physical processes to heat – and cool – buildings. Besides heat pumps, Vaillant Group offers other innovative technologies which work on the basis of renewable energy sources. These include solar thermal and photovoltaic installations that use solar energy to heat buildings and provide hot water or generate electricity. The offer also encompasses ventilation units for low-energy houses, as well as intelligent systems that link the various components, such as solar installations, hot water storage units and controls.

Headquartered in Remscheid, Germany, Vaillant Group is an internationally successful group that focuses on heating and air-conditioning technology. As one of the world's market and technology leaders, the company develops and produces tailor-made products, systems and services for domestic comfort. In 2005, Vaillant Group, which has been family-owned since its founding in 1874, achieved sales totaling €1.8 billion with about 8,600 employees.

Contact
Dr Jens Wichtermann
Head of Corporate Communications
Vaillant Group
D-42850 Remscheid
Phone: +49 2191 18-2754
Fax: +49 2191 18-2895
Mobile: +49 175 2951810
jens.wichtermann@vaillant.de
www.vaillant-group.com