New industry-leading elevators from KONE

KONE Corporation, press release, June 7, 2012

KONE, an innovative leader in the elevator and escalator industry, introduces its new volume elevator offering. KONE's industry-leading elevators are setting a benchmark for the whole industry with leading eco-efficient performance, premium ride comfort, award-winning design, and improved space efficiency. The new range is expected to cover approximately 60% of KONE's elevator offering, and will gradually replace KONE's current volume elevator offering globally.

"The new volume elevators are the core of our product offering and will thus have a significant impact on our business. These products will come to represent a substantial part of KONE's elevator supply over the coming years," says Matti Alahuhta, President and CEO of KONE Corporation. The new elevator range further strengthens KONE's competitiveness in the new equipment markets. "Today, we are the second biggest elevator and escalator provider in our industry."

The new products will be available in Europe and Asia Pacific during the second half of 2012, and in the Americas in 2013. The portfolio includes the machine room-less KONE MonoSpace® for the global markets, and KONE N MiniSpace(TM) with a small machine room for the Asian market.

The industry's most energy-efficient elevators
KONE is a pioneer in eco-efficiency within its industry. The new KONE MonoSpace elevators are up to 35 percent more energy efficient than KONE's previous industry-leading elevator platform. The improvements are made possible by the completely renewed KONE EcoDisc® hoisting machine, a highly efficient drive, and enhanced standby solutions.

"The construction and real estate customers are demanding when it comes to energy-efficiency and green building certification schemes like LEED and BREEAM. With our solutions, the carbon footprint of buildings can be cut to an even greater extent," says Heikki Leppänen, EVP of New Equipment at KONE.

As the first company in the elevator industry, KONE's volume products received an A-class energy rating according to the VDI 4707 guideline - the benchmark for elevator energy efficiency.

Superior ride comfort
The renewed KONE EcoDisc hoisting machine is complemented by a wide range of upgrades that are designed to deliver industry-leading ride comfort: a new motor control system, a renewed braking system, a redesigned hoisting system, and an improved car structure.

"This means that the noise levels, both inside and outside the elevator cars, are as low as possible, the ride is smooth with no vibration, and that the floor leveling is perfectly accurate. Ride comfort is an important part of user experience, and our vision is to deliver the best user experience", adds Leppänen.

One significant improvement is also a comprehensive test for ride comfort, now conducted on every KONE elevator before handover - this is a unique service in the elevator industry.

Award-winning design
The user experience and appearance of KONE elevator interiors are enhanced with trendy colors, materials and unique patterns, creating a sophisticated ambiance. The new KONE Design Collection offers regionally over 50 car interiors, by design professionals for both new construction and modernization projects. The wide range of ceilings, wall materials, floors, handrails, mirrors and other accessories offers the richest visual variety on the market to create customized designs. KONE has been granted four world-class red dot design awards for its new designs solutions.

For further information, please contact:
Anne Korkiakoski, EVP, Marketing & Communications, KONE Corporation, tel. +358 204 75 4775

Images: www.kone.com/images-new-elevators

Read more about KONE's award-winning design from the press release KONE wins four prestigious red dot design prizes: www.kone.com/pressreleases

What is new with KONE's elevator solutions?

Best-in-class eco-efficiency
-Fully renewed EcoDisc® hoisting machinery and enhanced standby solutions
-Up to 35% more energy-efficient
-VDI 4707 A-class energy efficiency

Industry-leading ride comfort
-Centralized low-friction hoisting, robust car, silent brakes
-Ride comfort testing as a built-in service
-Smooth, quiet operation, minimal disturbance to tenants

Award-winning design
-KONE Design Collection car interiors, with innovative materials and accessories
-New signalization solutions and designs for different building types
-Easy selection of interiors, the most flexible and versatile offering in the market

Enhanced space-efficiency
-Compact central hoisting takes up less height and width in the shaft -Especially beneficial when replacing elevators in existing buildings
-More floor space, roomier car, greater comfort

About KONE
KONE is one of the global leaders in the elevator and escalator industry. The company has been committed to understanding the needs of its customers for the past century, providing industry-leading elevators, escalators and automatic building doors as well as innovative solutions for modernization and maintenance. The company's objective is to offer the best People Flow® experience by developing and delivering solutions that enable people to move smoothly, safely, comfortably and without waiting in buildings in an increasingly urbanizing environment. In 2011, KONE had annual net sales of EUR 5.2 billion and on average 35,000 employees. KONE class B shares are listed on the NASDAQ OMX Helsinki Ltd in Finland.