“Siemens has again demonstrated its profitability impressively,” said Siemens CEO Peter Löscher. “In this regard we are profiting in particular from measures we initiated early on to strengthen our competitiveness. In times of crisis we very intentionally maintained our innovation power and are asserting our strength in the market. We expect Total Sectors profit above the prior-year level."
In about 48 hours, the first of a total of some 70 million visitors will descend on the World Expo in Shanghai, the largest world exposition of all time. This event will pose a severe test for the city’s infrastructure, which has therefore been upgraded in time for the expo’s opening on May 1, 2010. And Siemens has supplied much of the infrastructure, providing technology worth more than €1 billion. About 90 percent of this amount is related to sustainable, environmentally friendly products and solutions – for example, for efficient transportation and clean air and water in Shanghai. Siemens has also supplied technology used in more than 40 projects on the exhibition grounds. As Siemens CEO Peter Löscher said, “The entire Expo is our pavilion.”
At its meeting on Wednesday, the Supervisory Board of Siemens appointed Joe Kaeser (52) and Hermann Requardt (55) as Members of the Managing Board of Siemens AG for a further five years. The decision takes effect on April 1, 2011 when their current appointments expire. With its decision, the Supervisory Board acknowledged the successful work of the two members who have served on the Siemens Managing Board since May 1, 2006.
For the first time in the company’s 163-year history, a U.S. president has visited a Siemens factory. On Tuesday, during his tour of the Midwest, Barack Obama made a stop at the plant manufacturing components for wind power generation in Fort Madison in the U.S. state of Iowa. The plant, which was opened in mid-2007 and has recently been expanded, has a workforce of 600 employees and produces rotor blades for wind turbines.
Siemens AG is on track to make another two important personnel decisions. Current President and CEO of Siemens China, Richard Hausmann, 49, will assume management of the forward-looking Siemens project that deals with all aspects of Smart Grid applications. The project involves developing new products, solutions and services for intelligent power grids, including, for example, how they will interact in the future with electrically powered vehicles. “Richard Hausmann was very successful in expanding business in China and more than doubled our revenue there in just five years. His experience in this highly dynamic market makes him the ideal candidate to develop new business models for Siemens in one of the most important future markets in the new energy age,” said Siemens Energy CEO Wolfgang Dehen, to whom Richard Hausmann will directly report. His successor as President and CEO in China will be Mei Wei Cheng, 60, who was previously Chairman and CEO of Ford Motor in China. “We intend to further expand the added value in our most important growth markets and intensify our excellent contacts with Chinese customers. Mei Wei Cheng has decades of experience and a corresponding network of contacts to successfully move us forward in a highly competitive environment,” continued Dehen, who is also the Member of the Siemens Managing Board responsible for the Asia Region.
Denice Kronau (51) has been appointed Chief Diversity Officer at Siemens, effective June 1, 2010. A U.S. citizen, Ms. Kronau was most recently CFO of the Diagnostics Division of Siemens’ Healthcare Sector. “With Denice Kronau we have found a highly experienced personality who enjoys an excellent reputation both inside and outside Siemens. She will shape the second phase of our Diversity Initiative. Our aim now is to unleash our dynamic global networks in order to foster diversity in every corner of Siemens,” said Siemens President and CEO Peter Löscher.
Siemens has joined the Corporate Ethics Initiative, which aims to foster ethical and clean business activities in Russia. The company is one of the organization’s 46 founding members, the majority of whom are multinational companies headquartered in Germany.
Many thousands of people who arrive in Venice every day by car, bus or cruise ship have been looking forward to this day: A passenger transport system known as the Cable Liner which was custom-built for Venice has now gone into operation. With a capacity of 200 people per car, the cable-operated tram can very comfortably transport 3,000 passengers an hour in each direction. Constructed by Doppelmayr and Siemens, the people mover glides above Venice – energy-efficient, emission-free and fully automated, moving on noiseless rubber tires at a speed of about 30km/h. Supported by steel girders with an average height of five meters, the 870-meter Cable Liner link covers the 870 meters between the island of Tronchetto – with its port and parking garage – and Piazzale Roma – the point of departure for the historic center of Venice – in about three minutes.
Siemens AG will create about 100 jobs for highly-qualified personnel at its location in Bad Neustadt, Germany. The company made this announcement following high-level talks between the Minister President of Bavaria, Horst Seehofer, and Siemens’ President and CEO Peter Löscher regarding the further development of the Siemens location in Germany’s Rhön region (Bavaria). “We’re increasing our innovative strength in promising technology fields that are of major significance for Siemens. This is important for the Rhön. This is good for Bavaria and, thus, also for Germany as a high-tech location,” said Siemens’ President and CEO Peter Löscher after the meeting, which was also attended by Bavaria’s Minister of Economic Affairs Martin Zeil, the President of the Bavarian Parliament Barbara Stamm, Siemens’ Chief Human Resources Officer Siegfried Russwurm and the Chairman of Siemens’ Central Works Council Lothar Adler.
The United Nations and Siemens joined forces today to make cities more livable and promote sustainable urban development. A framework agreement to this effect was signed today at the World Urban Forum in Rio de Janeiro. Siemens and the Siemens Stiftung will be partners in the World Urban Campaign (WUC) of the UN-HABITAT program, the United Nation’s agency for housing and sustainable urban development. The program brings together representatives of cities, government agencies, the private sector and non-government organizations with the aim of working on solutions for the cities of the future. The agreement will initially be in effect for three years.