VANCOUVER,
British Columbia-- Ballard Power Systems Inc. (CA:BLD)(BLDP) announced
today the previously announced sale of its German subsidiary, Ballard Power
Systems AG (BPSAG), to DaimlerChrysler AG (DaimlerChrysler) and Ford Motor
Company (Ford) has closed as planned.
"At Ballard, we have one vision,
one goal - to develop fuel cell power as a practical alternative to internal
combustion automotive engines. We will succeed through our relentless commitment
to technology leadership. Today, we are better positioned than ever to
achieve that goal," said Dennis Campbell, Ballard's President and Chief
Executive Officer. "We are stronger financially, with the recovery of approximately
$20 million in expenses and an annual reduction in cash consumption of
$25 million. We are stronger strategically, with a sharpened focus on our
core competency - fuel cell design, development and manufacture. And we
will continue to benefit from the strength of our Fuel Cell Alliance with
DaimlerChrysler and Ford."
About Ballard Power Systems
Ballard Power Systems is recognized
as the world leader in the design, development, and manufacture of zero-emission
proton exchange membrane fuel cells. Ballard's mission is to develop fuel
cell power as a practical alternative to internal combustion engines through
technology leadership. To learn more about what Ballard is doing with Power
to Change the World(R), visit www.ballard.com.
This release contains forward-looking
statements that are based on the beliefs of Ballard's management and reflect
Ballard's current expectations as contemplated under section 27A of the
Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities and
Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. When used in this release, the words
"estimate", "project", "believe", "anticipate", "intend", "expect", "plan",
"predict", "may", "should", "will", the negative of these words or such
other variations thereon or comparable terminology are intended to identify
forward-looking statements. Such statements reflect the current views of
Ballard with respect to future events based on currently available information
and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results
to differ materially from those contemplated in those forward-looking statements.
All figures are reported in U.S.
dollars. Ballard, the Ballard logo and Power to Change the World are registered
trademarks of Ballard Power Systems Inc.

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