Moving forward together towards sustainable mobility

Linde's CEO Wolfgang Reitzle to drive hydrogen-powered BMW Hydrogen 7 from now on

Munich, 13 July 2007 - For Professor Dr. Wolfgang Reitzle, the objective is clear:  "Hydrogen-powered cars should become an everyday sight on our streets." Today in Munich, the Chairman of the Executive Board of Linde AG is practising what he preaches by collecting a BMW Hydrogen 7 at the Linde Hydrogen Center. A brand new model of the first top-end saloon in the world with a bivalent hydrogen-powered combustion engine was handed over by Professor Dr. Joachim Milberg, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the BMW Group.

"BMW and Linde are working closely together to achieve sustainable mobility using hydrogen as a fuel", said Professor Dr. Reitzle. "With the BMW Hydrogen 7, BMW has taken a very important step towards mass production. For me, this vehicle is much more than just a new company car. The BMW Hydrogen 7 proves that hydrogen technology is suitable for everyday use." The new company car will be refuelled with climate-neutral hydrogen at the Linde Hydrogen Center in Unterschlei遠eim, which currently supplies BMW's own test vehicles.

Professor Dr. Milberg said:  "We need network partners from the fields of politics, the sciences and economics, so that we can continue to develop and expand appropriate infrastructures and technologies to support the use of hydrogen as a fuel. Linde and BMW are united by a common vision of achieving sustainable production and supply of hydrogen."

For years, Linde has been at the cutting edge of the development of environmentally-friendly hydrogen technology. The company offers the complete range of technologies required for the functioning of a hydrogen value chain - from production to refuelling. Linde is involved in a wide range of initiatives which aim to demonstrate the suitability of hydrogen as an everyday fuel and is BMW's exclusive gases partner in its CleanEnergy Project. Linde has also assumed a leading role as a supplier of mobile refuelling systems.

Linde and BMW see Germany's position as a centre of innovation being reinforced by the creation of an infrastructure of hydrogen filling stations. Earlier this year, the Linde Hydrogen Center in Unterschlei遠eim was voted as one of the "365 Landmarks" by the federal initiative "Germany - Land of Ideas".

BMW has already produced a series of 100 models of the BMW Hydrogen 7, the first top-end saloon in the world with a hydrogen-powered combustion engine with bivalent drive. In the Hydrogen 7, BMW has combined hydrogen technology with the handling, performance and luxurious comfort of a typical BMW. The vehicles will be presented in the course of 2007 to selected individuals in political and economic spheres and eminent members of society, for use as everyday road vehicles.

The Linde Group is a world-leading industrial gases, medical gases and engineering company with around 49,000 employees working in more than 70 countries worldwide. Following the acquisition of The BOC Group plc, the company has gases and engineering sales of around EUR 12 billion. The strategy of The Linde Group is geared towards earnings-based growth and focuses on the expansion of its international business with forward-looking products and services.