Following a strong fourth quarter, Tognum Group revenues for 2006 rise to € 2.55 billion

• Continuation of good unit sales and expansion of profitable divisions lead to growth of 20% and record Tognum sales revenues
• Tognum CEO Volker Heuer: "Our growth strategy is paying off even faster than we had hoped"
• Tognum CFO Joachim Coers: "Revenue growth also brings employment effects - 370 new employees worldwide in 2006 alone"

Friedrichshafen - The strong revenue growth of the Tognum GmbH continued unabated in the fourth quarter of 2006, with sales revenues for the full year increasing to €2.55 billion. This represents an increase of more than 20% compared with 2005 (€2.06 billion). "Our growth strategy is paying off even faster than we had hoped," stated Tognum CEO Volker Heuer on the unexpected strong growth in revenues.

Heuer: "EQT has given us the financial scope required for growth in our existing divisions and enabling us to enter new, profitable market segments." Since spring 2006, EQT has been sole owner of the companies now known as the Tognum Group, the main company being MTU Friedrichshafen. Heuer, CEO of the Tognum Group, is particularly pleased that the Group's growth - at about double the rate of the industry average - is a result of the performance of all of its companies.

Successful market entry in the USA: the world's biggest rail market

"In the fourth quarter, above-average growth stimulus came mainly from sales of engines for ships and for the oil and gas industry, which was boosted by the high energy prices," commented mtu's Head of Sales Rainer Breidenbach on the course of business for MTU Friedrichshafen, a leading manufacturer of large diesel engines. "In addition, we succeeded in entering the world's biggest rail market in the rail segment - the United States - with the sale of Series 4000 engines for 30 shunting locomotives."

mtu's 4000 engines are used not only in marine and rail applications and for stationary power generation, but also in dump trucks in mines from Australia to South Africa to Latin America. In order to maintain its leading position in this business, also in a situation of stricter emission limits, mtu has already developed the successor generation to the Series 4000. These new engines for all applications, which are currently being presented at trade fairs around the world, are even more environment friendly and more powerful than their predecessors.

But mtu's Series 2000 is also selling well: "We have impressively underscored our market leadership for large yacht engines with more than 1,000 of the Series 2000 engines sold in the yacht segment in 2006," pointed out Breidenbach. And Series 2000 and 4000 engines are in demand also for stationary power generation: In the fourth quarter of 2006, MTU Asia received a major order from India for 150 engines with options on another 50.

mtu will meet the rapid increase in demand for Series 2000 and 4000 engines by increasing annual capacity from the present 6,500 to 9,500 engines over the next two years. And in order to avoid bottlenecks, mtu will introduce Sunday working in three shifts from spring 2007 until the end of the year, when new production equipment will come into operation.

mtu also opened a plant for the assembly of Series 2000 engines for stationary power generation in Suzhou, China, in June 2006. In the plant's first half-year, approximately 100 engines were assembled; in the next two years output will be increased to 500 engines per annum. Heuer: "Our entry into China is a success. And we also have the chance of expanding beyond our initial target of 500 engines per annum."

Large diesel engines for the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008

"Following the extremely successful developments in 2006, the order backlog for 2007 remains strong," emphasized Tognum's CEO Volker Heuer. Large and medium-sized orders are also projected beyond 2007 - in connection with the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008 for example. mtu will supply engines for stationary power generation for this major event, both for the main "Bird's Nest" stadium, in which the Olympic opening and closing ceremonies will take place, but also for the "Shenyang" stadium, the communication center, and various new hotels being built for the Olympics.

Significant progress was also made in 2006 with expanding the system business, which involves far more than the sale of engines: mtu launched "maritune" for yachts and speed boats - a propulsion package with surface propellers and electronic controls. A major advantage of this system is that it automatically sets the optimal submersion depth of the propeller, making the boat easier to handle. In the Rail division, mtu is developing a diesel-particulate filter for its under-floor PowerPack - the first of its kind worldwide for diesel railcars. The filter is integrated in the silencer of the compact drive system. "Not least with these two systems, we once again demonstrated our claim to be the industry's technology and innovation leader in 2006," stated Dr. Gerd-Michael Wolters, Head of Engineering at mtu.

All companies of the Group responsible for record revenues

Tognum subsidiary L'Orange also contributed to the sharp rise in the Group's total revenues. This specialist for injection systems for large, high-performance diesel engines recently celebrated another production milestone with its 250,000th common-rail injector. L'Orange supplied the first injection system for large common-rail diesel engines for the mtu Series 4000 ten years ago, and the system has been continuously refined since then. In 2006, L'Orange achieved a 30% increase in sales revenues, due to orders not only from mtu and MTU Detroit Diesel, but also from engine manufacturers Wärtsilä and Rolls-Royce.

MDE Dezentrale Energiesysteme delivered strong growth impetus in the Gas Engine division in 2006. This company, which has been a 100% Tognum subsidiary since the beginning of the year, produces and supplies gas-powered systems for power-heat coupling (block-type thermal power stations). "Growing our business activities in the segment of decentralized, environment-friendly power generation has already proven to be the right strategy this year," claimed Tognum CEO Volker Heuer. One clear sign of this market success is that MDE is expanding its operations in Augsburg with the construction of a second factory for gas-engine systems and a building for additional engine test benches.

Tognum's fuel-cell subsidiary, mtu CFC Solutions, once again justified its reputation as an innovation leader. For example, it delivered the world's first large-scale biogas fuel-cell plant to the municipality of Leonberg (in the district of Böblingen in southern Germany). The plant generates CO2-neutral electricity - up to 1.4 million kWh per annum - using biogas created from fermented organic waste. In October, CFC Solutions was awarded a prize for this plant for the practical application of fuel-cell technology.

The Drive Shafts division also stayed in the fast lane in 2006. Throughout the year it recorded a series of orders received from various manufacturers of automobiles and commercial vehicles, including General Motors, Ford and Chrysler, as well as BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Maybach. Recently, the division received a new order from DaimlerChrysler to supply drive shafts for the new Mercedes-Benz E-Class.

Tognum CFO Joachim Coers: "Revenue growth also has employment effects - 370 new employees in 2006 alone"

"Tognum's strong revenue growth also has employment effects - in the year 2006 alone, we took on 370 new employees, 180 of them in Friedrichshafen," explained Tognum CFO Joachim Coers. "And the growth projected for 2007 will lead to larger staff numbers in all the companies of the Tognum Group."

Note: Since Tognum GmbH was only founded in July 2006 as a holding company for the companies previously comprising the DaimlerChrysler Off-Highway business unit, the stated figure for total revenues in 2006 differs from Tognum's consolidated revenues.