Ballard and Ford Sign $69.1-Million Agreement for Fuel
Cell Engines and Related Support Services
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--DECEMBER 3, 2001 - 08:00 EST
Ballard Power Systems (TSE:BLD;
NASDAQ:BLDP), announced today that its Transportation Division has
signed a three-year agreement valued at $69.1-million (US
$43.9-million) with alliance partner Ford Motor Company of
Dearborn, Michigan. Under the terms of the agreement, Ballard
will supply Ford with fuel cell engines and related engineering
and support services.
"This $69.1-million order for the development of fuel cell engines
is in addition to Ford's September order of $34.5-million, and
brings Ford's total recent orders to over $100-million," said
Firoz Rasul, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "This new order
is further confirmation of Ford's commitment to Ballard and to the
commercialization of fuel cell vehicles."
"We are proud to be an integral part of Ford's fuel cell vehicle
program," said Dr. Andreas Truckenbrodt, Ballard's Vice-President,
Transportation. "This is the first order under our 20-year
exclusive purchase agreement with Ford for fuel cell engines."
Ballard Power Systems is recognised as the world leader in
developing, manufacturing and marketing zero-emission proton
exchange membrane ("PEM") fuel cells for use in transportation,
electricity generation and portable power products. Ballard's
Transportation Division is developing, manufacturing and marketing
complete fuel cell engines for the transportation market.
Ballard's Electric Drive and Power Conversion Division is
developing, manufacturing and marketing electric drive trains for
both fuel cell and battery powered electric vehicles, and power
conversion equipment for microturbines and other distributed
generation. Ballard's Power Generation Division is developing,
manufacturing and marketing fuel cell power generation equipment
for markets ranging from 1-kilowatt portable power products to
larger stationary power generation products. Ballard's Material
Products Division is a Tier 1 automotive supplier of friction
materials for power train components to General Motors and Borg
Warner, as well as a supplier of gas diffusion layer materials to
the fuel cell industry. Ballard Power Systems' proprietary fuel
cell technology is enabling automobile, electrical equipment and
portable power product manufacturers to develop environmentally
clean products for sale. Ballard is partnering with strong,
world-leading companies, including DaimlerChrysler, Ford, ALSTOM
and EBARA, to commercialise BALLARD(r) fuel cells. Ballard has
also supplied fuel cells to Honda, Nissan, Volkswagen, Yamaha,
Cinergy, Coleman Powermate and Matsushita Electric Works, among
others.
Ballard's common shares are listed on The Toronto Stock Exchange
under the trading symbol "BLD" and on the Nasdaq National Market
System under the symbol "BLDP." Ballard, the Ballard logo and
Power to Change the World are registered trademarks of Ballard
Power Systems Inc. |
