ZF Group sets up new division to consolidate all electromobility activities

Starting in 2016, technology company ZF will combine all electromobility-related activities in a new E-Mobility division, based at the company’s Schweinfurt, Germany location.

“By combining all activities associated with the electrification of cars and commercial vehicles under one roof, we are acknowledging the enormous importance of these advanced technologies, which are already shaping the future,” explains ZF CEO Dr. Stefan Sommer. “Electromobility is coming – and in view of current controversies over car emissions, perhaps even sooner than we first thought.” Just how seriously ZF is taking the step-by-step migration from conventional driveline technology to electromobility is clearly reflected, adds Sommer, by the addition of a new E-Mobility division to the corporate structure.

Previously, all activities associated with the growth business of electromobility were distributed across multiple organizational units. Now all of them have been consolidated in the corporate E-Mobility division. The new division complements the four existing divisions – Car Powertrain Technology, Car Chassis Technology, Commercial Vehicle Technology and Industrial Technology – as well as the newly created Active & Passive Safety Technology division, which incorporates all the business activities of TRW, the US automotive supplier acquired by ZF in mid-May.

The company’s existing Electronic Systems and Electric Drive Technology business units will form the core of the new E-Mobility division. They will be joined by the E-Mobility Project House, which will bring together electromobility projects from across the entire company.

Global trends towwards electrified drivetrains
Schweinfurt now hosts both the E-Mobility division and ZF’s lightweight design activities, further strengthening its position as one of the company’s leading high-tech locations. “With our new division, we’ll be able to participate in the global trend toward electrified drivelines and offer our customers the products and systems they need to comply with increasingly stringent international regulations,” says ZF CEO Dr. Sommer. “At the same time, we are transforming our Schweinfurt plant from a production facility specialising in the manufacture of chassis components into one that builds more technically sophisticated driveline components. This will help secure the location’s long-term future.”

To date, shock-absorber production has been located at the company’s Schweinfurt, Eitorf and Ahrweiler sites in Germany. Now ZF has developed a master plan for shock-absorber production, to counter the enormous cost pressures impacting conventional shock absorbers in particular. Because it is no longer possible to manufacture them at competitive prices in Germany – a high-wage country – production is being moved abroad, away from Schweinfurt, Eitorf and Ahrweiler. Most of it will be handled by ZF’s existing production facilities in Levice (Slovakia) and Gebze (Turkey).

The latest generation of electronically controlled shock absorbers is based on more sophisticated technology. Some of the production of these and other products will now be relocated from Schweinfurt to Eitorf, Ahrweiler and other facilities in Eastern Europe. This will enable ZF to safeguard jobs in Eitorf and Ahrweiler until at least the end of 2022. The Schweinfurt facility, which is gradually relinquishing all shock-absorber production, will instead house the new E-Mobility division and benefit from the company’s investment in this key technology for zero-emission driving.

“Investing in the future requires strict discipline elsewhere,” says ZF Board Member Michael Hankel, who is responsible for production. “This is why we continue to systematically pursue a policy of relocating products which have reached the end of their product lifecycle – that is, ceased to be innovative, high-tech products and become standard products – from Germany to locations with lower production costs abroad.” Hankel emphasises that “if we want to remain competitive across all product segments, we must obey the rules of the open market even more rigorously.”