Annual Report 2012 - Knorr-Bremse AG.

14
The State and Development
of Knorr-Bremse AG and the
Knorr-Bremse Group
An overview of
the Knorr-Bremse Group
General
economic developments
The Knorr-Bremse Group is the world’s leading manufacturer
of braking systems for rail and commercial vehicles.
For more than 100 years now the company has pioneered
the development, production, marketing and servicing of
state-of-the-art braking systems. Other lines of business
in the rail vehicle systems sector include automatic door
systems, HVAC systems, control components and windscreen
wiper systems, platform screen doors, friction material,
simulators and driver assistance systems. In the
commercial vehicle systems sector, the product range includes
complete braking systems with driver assistance
systems, as well as torsional vibration dampers and powertrain-related
solutions, and transmission control systems
for enhanced energy efficiency and fuel economy.
The structure of the Knorr-Bremse Group is based on the
regions Europe, North America and South America, and
Asia/Australia, and the development of the Group is
geared to meeting the specific requirements of the markets
and customers in these regions.
This regional organizational structure is designed to offer
globally active customers uniform technical platforms
worldwide, while at the same time taking specific local
needs into account. It also ensures that customers who
operate on a regional basis are supplied with globally
proven systems and components.
2012 witnessed a slowdown in the economic recovery of
the worldwide markets. Uncertainty about economic developments
going forward prevented many market players
from engaging in substantial investment activity. In
overall terms, however, worldwide growth can be said to
have continued at a modest pace, with marked differences
in developments from one region to the next.
While the pace of growth in emerging nations slowed
compared to the rapid expansion of recent years, these
markets continued to make the largest contribution to
growth. In 2012, the gross domestic product (GDP) of the
emerging economies increased by 5.1% (2011: 6.2%)
compared to average GDP growth of just 1.3% (2011:
1.6%) for the industrialized nations of the world. Global
figures showed overall economic growth of around 3.2%
(2011: 3.8%).
Following two years of growth, the economic performance
of the Eurozone showed a 0.4% downturn in 2012
(2011: +1.4%) owing to persistent economic difficulties
encountered by the southernmost members of the EU.
Countries that had previously been less affected, such as
Italy and France, proved no longer able to contribute to
overall stabilization, posting 2012 growth rates of -2.1%
(2011: 0.4%) and 0.2% (2011: 1.7%) respectively. In Germany,
the largest Eurozone member state in terms of GDP,
while economic output slowed year-on-year, growth remained
positive at 0.9% (2011: 3.1%).
In the USA, economic growth showed a modest improvement
from 1.8% in 2011 to 2.3% in 2012. The final months
of the year under review here were marked by tough negotiations
between the political parties as they strove to
avoid the “fiscal cliff” with its automatic dramatic tax in-