Progress-Werk Oberkirch AG: PWO underscores its combustion-engine-independent business model and looks to electric vehicles

- Fleet to be converted to electric vehicles
- Installation of charging network on the company's premises
- Further steps are being taken on the journey to carbon neutrality

Oberkirch, November 15, 2021 - PWO feels strongly committed to protect the living conditions of future generations and therefore strives for sustainable business processes. As part of the extensive plan to achieve carbon neutrality at the Oberkirch site in 2026 and in the Group in 2030, only electric vehicles will be ordered as new personal company vehicles and as well in principle as pool vehicles in Oberkirch from 2022. At the same time, a network of charging stations for employees and visitors will be installed on the company's premises.

The conversion of the fleet, with which we will actively reduce carbon emissions, is part of the overall plan to achieve carbon neutrality. Additionally, we will only use green electricity at our sites in Germany and Czechia from 2022 and will undertake to further increase energy efficiency and the use of self-generated power.

We are in an excellent position for the global transition to e-mobility, which has just picked up momentum again at the world climate change conference in Glasgow. The Group's product range is already independent of the combustion engine, and this makes us a viable partner for our customers and is reflected in our high level of new business.

Nevertheless, our solutions are present in all vehicles, regardless of drive type. This is thanks to our extensive product range with more than 1,000 components, our proven expertise in lightweight construction, and our ability to constantly extend the limits of technological feasibility in metal forming and joining technologies.

Carlo Lazzarini, CEO of PWO AG, says: "Rather than focusing on a single product, our offering showcases our ability to develop the best possible system solution for the respective customer's needs - while achieving a high degree of functionality and economic efficiency as well as an ever smaller carbon footprint. At the same time, we are consistently reducing the use of materials. We are able to make steel lightweight and thus develop alternatives to aluminum and plastic solutions that boast a significantly more favorable cost and environmental performance with the same or better functionality. As a result, we have already acquired extensive new orders for electric vehicles, which will ramp up in the next few years. We are thus playing a significant role in shaping the mobility of the future."

Progress-Werk Oberkirch AG
The Executive Board

PWO profile
With our innovative lightweight solutions, we are the preferred partner of the global mobility industry. As an engineering house, we are constantly driving forward the development and production of sophisticated metal components and complex subsystems.

Under the slogan "People, Planet, Progress," we use our technological leadership at the boundaries of what is technologically feasible in metal forming and joining to serve our customers and business partners. Responsibility is at the heart of everything we do. We see our business as a "force for good," as our contribution to a positive development in the future for the benefit of our customers, employees and shareholders as well as for our environment. To this end, we are focusing on digitalizing all of our processes using the tools of the fourth industrial revolution.

We address the 3 areas of the mobility of the future: electrification, safety and comfort. Our product range is already independent of the combustion engine. Around 3,000 employees at 5 production locations and 3 assembly sites on 3 continents ensure maximum delivery reliability and quality.