Top management change

ABB Ltd
05 September 2002



New leadership at ABB

ABB Board of Directors appoints Jurgen Dormann president and CEO

Zurich, Switzerland, Sept. 5, 2002 - ABB's Board of Directors today announced
that Jurgen Dormann, Chairman of the Board, will assume operational leadership
of the ABB Group with immediate effect, aiming to speed up effective
implementation of the company strategy.

Jorgen Centerman has resigned as ABB president and CEO, and as a member of the
ABB Board of Directors.

Dormann said that under his leadership, ABB will continue to concentrate on its
core activities in the fields of power and automation technologies.

'ABB will take advantage of its excellent market positions, customer
relationships and sales organizations,' Dormann said. 'We will energize our
teams to better capitalize on these strengths, speed up implementation and
increase the effectiveness in executing our strategy.'

Dormann added: 'At the same time, we will work hard to rebuild investors'
confidence, with a strong emphasis on improving operational performance and
transparency.'

Dormann has been a member of the ABB Board of Directors since 1998 and its
chairman since November last year. He also chairs the Supervisory Board of
Aventis, the pharmaceutical group he formed and refocused as Chairman of the
Management Board. Aventis was formed in the cross-border merger of Rhone-Poulenc
and Hoechst, the German group which Dormann restructured in his years as its CEO
prior to the merger.

ABB will host a conference call for media at 1815 CET today, 5 September, 2002.

If you wish to listen, call: [phone] (Europe and rest of world).

ABB (www.abb.com) is a leader in power and automation technologies that enable
utility and industry customers to improve performance while lowering
environmental impacts. The ABB Group of companies operates in more than 100
countries and employs about 150,000 people.








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