Karl-Heinz Birkner (52) has been appointed to the Management Board of STILL GmbH, where he will be responsible for the commercial functions, with effect from February 1, 2009.

Karl-Heinz Birkner takes over from Harald Pinger, who was in charge of STILL GmbH's finances on a temporary basis in addition to his responsibilities as CFO of KION Group.

Karl-Heinz Birkner is a business economics graduate and has held a number of executive and board-level positions in various companies within the KION Group over the past 25 years. Most recently, he was in charge of the internal audit department of KION Group while also heading the finance department of the Group's hydraulics and components section.

Dr. Rolf Karg, CEO of STILL and COO of KION Group, said: "Karl-Heinz Birkner has known KION Group and the industry for more than two decades and will make a vital contribution to the future success of STILL through his wealth of experience. We look forward to working with him.

Karl-Heinz Birkner commented: "I am greatly looking forward to my new role. Working with Dr. Rolf Karg and Bert-Jan Knoef, I will work to achieve STILL's ambitious targets, thereby discharging my responsibilities toward the Company's staff, customers, business partners and shareholders."