ZF Friedrichshafen AG, also known as ZF Group, originally ''Zahnradfabrik Friedrichshafen'' (), and commonly abbreviated to ZF, is a German technology manufacturing company that supplies systems for passenger cars, commercial vehicles and industrial technology. It is headquartered in

Friedrichshafen Friedrichshafen ( or ; Low Alemannic: ''Hafe'' or ''Fridrichshafe'') is a city on the northern shoreline of Lake Constance (the ''Bodensee'') in Southern Germany, near the borders of both Switzerland and Austria. It is the district capital (''K ...

, in the south-west German state of

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg ( ; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a states of Germany, German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million i ...

. Specializing in engineering, it is primarily known for its design, research and development, and manufacturing activities in the

automotive industry The automotive industry comprises a wide range of company, companies and organizations involved in the design, Business development, development, manufacturing, marketing, selling, Maintenance, repairing, and Custom car, modification of motor ve ...

and is one of the largest automotive suppliers in the world. Its products include driveline and

chassis A chassis (, ; plural ''chassis'' from French châssis ) is the load-bearing framework of a manufactured object, which structurally supports the object in its construction and function. An example of a chassis is a vehicle frame, the underpart ...

technology for cars and commercial vehicles, along with specialized plant equipment such as construction equipment. It is also involved in the rail, marine, defense and aviation industries, as well as general industrial applications. ZF has 162 production locations in 31 countries with approximately 168,700 (2023) employees.

History

The company was founded by Count

Ferdinand von Zeppelin Graf, Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin (; 8 July 1838 – 8 March 1917) was a General (Germany), German general and later inventor of the Zeppelin rigid airships. His name became synonymous with airships and dominated long-distance flight until the ...

, the inventor of the zeppelin airship and engineer Alfred von Soden-Fraunhofen in 1915 in

, Germany as a

subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company, or daughter company is a company (law), company completely or partially owned or controlled by another company, called the parent company or holding company, which has legal and financial control over the subsidia ...

Luftschiffbau Zeppelin Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmbH is a German aircraft manufacturing company. It is perhaps best known for its leading role in the design and manufacture of rigid airships, commonly referred to as ''Zeppelin, Zeppelins'' due to the company's prominence ...

, to manufacture gears for

zeppelin A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship named after the German inventor Ferdinand von Zeppelin () who pioneered rigid airship development at the beginning of the 20th century. Zeppelin's notions were first formulated in 1874Eckener 1938, pp. 155� ...

s and other

airship An airship, dirigible balloon or dirigible is a type of aerostat (lighter-than-air) aircraft that can navigate through the air flying powered aircraft, under its own power. Aerostats use buoyancy from a lifting gas that is less dense than the ...

s. The German ''Zahnradfabrik'' translates to 'gear factory' or ''cogwheel factory'' in English. In 1999, the steering systems division was made separate and became the new ZF Lenksysteme GmbH, a joint venture between ZF Friedrichshafen and Robert Bosch GmbH. Due to the

2008 financial crisis The 2008 financial crisis, also known as the global financial crisis (GFC), was a major worldwide financial crisis centered in the United States. The causes of the 2008 crisis included excessive speculation on housing values by both homeowners ...

, ZF took a €250 million loan from the state-owned KfW Bank and embarked on a company-wide restructure that shut down unprofitable locations, particularly outside Germany, the total number of employees was reduced from 63,000 to 59,000 worldwide. CEO Hans-Georg Härter stated that the combined effects of the loan and restructuring will eliminate the need for further employee reduction. On 16 September 2014, the ''

Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

'' reported that ZF agreed to acquire TRW Automotive Holdings for $13.5 billion. The acquisition would create the world's second largest automotive parts concern, ranked just behind Robert Bosch GmbH. For clearing way to acquire TRW Automotive Holdings, ZF Friedrichshafen AG sold its stake in ZF Lenksysteme GmbH to Robert Bosch GmbH. ZF Lenksysteme GmbH has now been renamed as Robert Bosch Automotive Steering GmbH. In September 2020, ZF Friedrichshafen AG entered a partnership with Aeva Inc. to put

LIDAR Lidar (, also LIDAR, an acronym of "light detection and ranging" or "laser imaging, detection, and ranging") is a method for determining ranging, ranges by targeting an object or a surface with a laser and measuring the time for the reflected li ...

sensors for self-driving vehicles, into production.

Highlights

Some of the most important milestones: *1919: ZF entered the automobile market, a move prompted by heavy restrictions on aircraft manufacturing imposed by the

Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles was a peace treaty signed on 28 June 1919. As the most important treaty of World War I, it ended the state of war between Germany and most of the Allies of World War I, Allied Powers. It was signed in the Palace ...

. *1920: Patent application submitted for the Soden six speed transmission. *1921: Under a rampant inflation and investor fears, the company went public as the Zepernicker Zahnradfabrik, with the Zeppelin Luftschiffbau GmbH holding 80% of the stock options, valued at 4 million

marks Marks may refer to: Business * Mark's, a Canadian retail chain * Marks & Spencer, a British retail chain * Collective trade marks A collective trademark, collective trade mark, or collective mark is a trademark owned by an organization (such ...

. *1927: Moved to

and changed the name to ZF Friedrichshafen. *1929: A thriving auto industry warrants the series production of the innovative helical ZF Aphon transmission for cars and commercial vehicles. *1932: Launch of steering systems production under license by ZF Lenksysteme GmbH. *1944: On 3 August, the ''Zahnradfabrik'' was bombed by the 304th BW/

Fifteenth Air Force The Fifteenth Air Force (15 AF) is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force's Air Combat Command (ACC). It is headquartered at Shaw Air Force Base. It was reactivated on 20 August 2020, merging the previous units of the Ninth Air Forc ...

. As early as 20 September 1942,

Albert Speer Berthold Konrad Hermann Albert Speer (; ; 19 March 1905 – 1 September 1981) was a German architect who served as Reich Ministry of Armaments and War Production, Minister of Armaments and War Production in Nazi Germany during most of W ...

had warned Hitler of how important the Friedrichshafen

tank A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engine; ...

engine production and the

Schweinfurt Schweinfurt ( , ; ) is a town#Germany, city in the district of Lower Franconia in Bavaria, Germany. It is the administrative centre of the surrounding Schweinfurt (district), district (''Landkreis'') of Schweinfurt and a major industrial, cultur ...

ball-bearing facilities were. After the bombing, the company was relocated to former location, Zepernick until the 1970s. *1944: Zahnradfabrik Friedrichshafen created the Panzer IV hydrostatischer, the only tank that they modified with their hydraulic drive. *1953: Market launch of the first fully synchronised transmission for commercial vehicles worldwide. *1961: Development of a fully

automatic transmission An automatic transmission (AT) or automatic gearbox is a multi-speed transmission (mechanics), transmission used in motor vehicles that does not require any input from the driver to change forward gears under normal driving conditions. The 1904 ...

for passenger cars. With series production beginning in 1969, and later proving highly popular, the 3HP20 is built to be swappable with the company's

manual transmission A manual transmission (MT), also known as manual gearbox, standard transmission (in Canadian English, Canada, British English, the United Kingdom and American English, the United States), or stick shift (in the United States), is a multi-speed ...

s. The 1960s sees ZF supplying transmissions to major German automakers (including DKW,

Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to simply as Mercedes and occasionally as Benz, is a German automotive brand that was founded in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a subsidiary of the Mercedes-Benz Group, established in 2019) is based in Stuttgart, ...

Porsche Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, usually shortened to Porsche (; see below), is a German automobile manufacturer specializing in luxury, high-performance sports cars, SUVs and sedans, headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Th ...

and

BMW Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, trading as BMW Group (commonly abbreviated to BMW (), sometimes anglicised as Bavarian Motor Works), is a German multinational manufacturer of vehicles and motorcycles headquartered in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Th ...

) as well as

Peugeot Peugeot (, , ) is a French automobile brand owned by Stellantis. The family business that preceded the current Peugeot companies was established in 1810, making it the oldest car company in the world. On 20 November 1858, Émile Peugeot applie ...

and

Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo Automobiles S.p.A. () is an Italian carmaker known for its sports-oriented vehicles, strong auto racing heritage, and iconic design. Headquartered in Turin, Italy, it is a subsidiary of Stellantis Europe and one of 14 brands of mu ...

. *1977: Start of volume production for automatic transmissions for commercial vehicles. Worldwide subsidiaries and factories were opened in the 1970s, and the company moved into

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and South Korea. *1980s: ZF started operating in Asia in the mid 80s *1984: Majority shareholding gained in Lemförder Metallwaren AG, rebranded as ZF Lemförder GmbH. *1986: Start of U.S. transmission production in

Gainesville, Georgia Gainesville is a city and the county seat of Hall County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 42,296. Because of its large number of poultry processing plants, it has been calle ...

, for pickup trucks. ZF became a major supplier to Ford in the 1980s. *1991: The 5HP18 was the first 5-speed automatic transmission for passenger cars. Introduced in 1991 on the BMW E36 320i/325i and E34 5 Series *1994: Development of an automatic transmission system for heavy commercial vehicles. The company expanded into China in the 1990s. *1999: World premiere for the first automatic 6-speed transmission. Series production begins in 2001, with the

BMW 7 Series The BMW 7 Series is a full-size luxury car, luxury sedan manufactured and marketed by the German automaker BMW since 1977. It is the successor to the BMW E3 "New Six" sedan and is now in its seventh generation. The 7 Series is BMW's flagship car ...

as the first client. Today, ZF produces around one million six-speed automatic transmissions annually. *2001: Acquisition of Mannesmann Sachs AG, renamed ZF Sachs AG. *2001: Active Roll Stabilization (ARS) premiere on BMW 7 Series (E65) *2002: Presentation of the world's first 4-point link – a newly developed chassis module for trucks and buses. *2003: First deliveries of the Active Steering systems for passenger cars. *2004: Ford starts volume production of the

continuously variable transmission A continuously variable transmission (CVT) is an automated Transmission (mechanical device), transmission that can change through a continuous range of gear ratios, typically resulting in better fuel economy in gasoline applications. This contr ...

s (CVT) for passenger cars developed by ZF. *2005: The 10-millionth

airbag An airbag is a vehicle occupant-restraint system using a bag designed to inflate in milliseconds during a collision and then deflate afterwards. It consists of an airbag cushion, a flexible fabric bag, an inflation module, and an impact sensor. ...

casing, the 5-millionth passenger car axle system and the 2-millionth 'Servolectric' electric power steering system are delivered. *2006: ZF produces the 10-millionth passenger car automatic transmission. *2007: One of the world's first 8-speed automatic transmissions, the 8HP boasted to achieve an 11% improvement in fuel economy in comparison with standard 6-speed automatic transmissions. Production began in 2009. *2008: Acquisition of keyboard manufacturers Cherry Corporation. Incorporated into the ZF Electronics GmbH Corporate Division. *2011: World premiere for the first automatic 9-speed transmission..

Land Rover Land Rover is a brand of predominantly four-wheel drive, off-road capable vehicles, owned by British multinational car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), since 2008 a subsidiary of India's Tata Motors. JLR builds Land Rovers in Brazil ...

demonstrated the world's first nine-speed automatic transmission for a passenger car at the 2013 Geneva Motor Show. The ZF 9HP transmission is designed for transverse applications, and is one of the most efficient and technically advanced transmissions ever used in a production vehicle. Land Rover is the lead partner with ZF on this project. *2013:

Jeep Jeep is an American automobile brand, now owned by multi-national corporation Stellantis. Jeep has been part of Chrysler since 1987, when Chrysler acquired the Jeep brand, along with other assets, from its previous owner, American Motors Co ...

announces that ZF has developed a nine-speed automatic transmission for use in its all-new 2014 Jeep Cherokee (KL) midsized crossover utility vehicle. *2013: ZF Opens automatic passenger car transmission plant in Gray Court, South Carolina,

U.S. The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

*2014: American auto parts manufacturer

TRW Automotive TRW Automotive Holdings Corp. was an American multinational corporation, global manufacturing, supplier of List of auto parts, automotive systems, modules, and components to automotive original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and related Aftermar ...

acquired for $13.5 billion. *2015: Acquired the Bosch Rexroth industrial gears and wind turbine gearbox unit (formerly Lohmann & Stolterfoht). *2019: ZF acquires occupant recognition software maker Simi Reality Motion Systems. *2019: ZF acquires auto part manufacturer WABCO. *2019: ZF to provide the entire electric powertrain of Mercedes-Benz EQC. *2020: ZF completes acquisition of WABCO, which will be integrated into ZF as its Commercial Vehicle Control Systems Division. *2022: ZF and

Wolfspeed Wolfspeed, Inc. is an American developer and manufacturer of wide-bandgap semiconductors, focused on silicon carbide and gallium nitride materials and devices for power and radio frequency applications such as transportation, power supplies, p ...

announced a joint R&D center in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

to accelerate global Silicon Carbide system and device top innovation. ZF intends to invest in Wolfspeed, in order to support construction of the world's most advanced and largest Silicon Carbide device fab. The partnership also includes a significant investment by ZF to support the planned construction of the world's most advanced and largest 200 mm Silicon Carbide device fab in Ensdorf. *2023: ZF and Hon Hai Technology Group (“

Foxconn Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd. (), Trade name, doing business as Hon Hai Technology Group () in Taiwan, Foxconn Technology Group () in China, and Foxconn () internationally, is a Taiwanese multinational corporation, multinational electron ...

”) announced a 50-50 partnership in passenger car chassis systems, a key move aimed at accelerating and expanding automotive and supply chain opportunities with top-tier customers. Foxconn will acquire a 50-percent stake in ZF Chassis Modules GmbH.

Products

ZF Friedrichshafen manufactures automatic and manual transmissions for cars, trucks, buses and construction equipment;

components (ball joints, tie rods, cross-axis joints, stabiliser bars, control arms); shock absorbers and suspension struts; electronic damping systems including

Continuous Damping Control An active suspension is a type of Suspension (vehicle), automotive suspension that uses an onboard control system to control the vertical movement of the vehicle's wheels and axles relative to the chassis or vehicle frame, rather than the conventi ...

(CDC), Active Roll Stabilization (ARS); clutches;

torque converter A torque converter is a device, usually implemented as a type of fluid coupling, that transfers rotating power from a prime mover, like an internal combustion engine, to a rotating driven load. In a vehicle with an automatic transmission, the ...

s; differentials;

axle An axle or axletree is a central shaft for a rotation, rotating wheel and axle, wheel or gear. On wheeled vehicles, the axle may be fixed to the wheels, rotating with them, or fixed to the vehicle, with the wheels rotating around the axle. In ...

drives; and industrial drives. ZF products include * driveline technology (automatic, manual, servo, automated manual, special transmission, driveline components, rubber-metal technology, transfer case, hybrid system) *

technology (chassis components and modules, steering technology, suspension systems) * additional technologies (electronic/software, diagnostic systems, precision plastic technology, lubricants) * Axle systems and drops

Applications

ZF components are utilized across a diverse range of vehicles and machinery, including cars, trucks, buses,

light commercial vehicle A light commercial vehicle (LCV) in the European Union, Australia and New Zealand is a commercial carrier vehicle with a gross vehicle weight of no more than 3.5 metric tons (tonnes). The LCV designation is also occasionally used in both Cana ...

off-road Off-roading is the act of driving or riding in a vehicle on unpaved surfaces such as sand, dirt, gravel, riverbeds, mud, snow, rocks, or other natural terrain. Off-roading ranges from casual drives with regular vehicles to competitive events w ...

equipment,

rail vehicles Rail or rails may refer to: Rail transport *Rail transport and related matters *Railway track or railway lines, the running surface of a railway Arts and media Film * ''Rails'' (film), a 1929 Italian film by Mario Camerini * ''Rail'' (1967 fil ...

, helicopters, motorcycles, lift trucks, machinery and system construction, test systems, cranes, as well as special marine, military and agricultural vehicles and equipment. The ''ZF'' Lenksysteme division, a joint venture between ZF and Bosch, specializes in the production of steering systems and components. This includes steering columns, gears, pumps, Electric Power Steering (EPS), and Active Steering systems. In response to the increasing adoption of automatic transmissions in buses, ZF developed the ZF AS Tronic transmission. The company also produces a range of manual and automatic transmissions for trucks and buses. Notably, ZF transmissions, such as the Ecomat introduced in 1980, are widely used in buses. ZF Lemförder and ZF Sachs AG are specialized divisions within ZF, focusing on the production of both original equipment and aftermarket auto parts.

Divisions

ZF Friedrichshafen is organized into nine divisions, each focusing on different aspects of automotive and industrial technology:

Active Safety Systems

Sales (2020): €4,987 million. Products: Electronic Stability Control, Integrated Brake Control, Electric Park Brakes, Electrically Powered Steering Systems, and Electrically Powered Hydraulic Steering Systems.

Car Chassis Technology

Sales (2020): €6,680 million. Products: Chassis components for wheel guidance, complete front and rear axles, passive and semi-active dampers, and electromechanical active chassis systems.

Electrified Powertrain Technology

Sales (2020): €8,459 million. Products: Automatic Transmissions, Automated Manual Transmissions, Manual Transmissions, Dual-Clutch Automatic Transmissions, Powertrain Modules, Electronic Systems, Electric Motors, Electric Vehicle Drives, and Electronic Interfaces.

Electronics & ADAS

Sales (2020): €1,561 million. Products: Advanced driver assistance systems, sensor technologies, integrated electronics, advanced safety domain control units, safety electronics such as airbag electronic control units, and crash sensors for the automotive industry.

Passive Safety Systems

Sales (2020): €3,503 million. Products: Airbags, airbag inflators, seat belt systems, and steering wheels.

Commercial Vehicle Control Systems

Sales (2020): €1,539 million. Products: Braking control systems and advanced technologies that enhance the safety, efficiency, and connectivity of commercial vehicles.

Commercial Vehicle Technology

Sales (2020): €3,307 million. Products: Automated, manual, and powershift transmissions, drive components such as clutches and electric drives, ADAS technology including automated, camera and radar-based comfort and safety functions for trucks and buses, chassis systems, chassis components, and steering systems for vehicles.

Industrial Technology

Sales (2020): €2,687 million. Products: Transmissions and axles for agricultural and construction machinery, driveline technology for material handling systems, rail and special vehicles, marine propulsion systems, aviation technology, gearboxes for wind turbines and industrial applications, and test systems for driveline and chassis technology.

Aftermarket

Sales (2020): €2,522 million. Brands: ZF, LEMFÖRDER, SACHS, TRW, and BOGE.

ZF TRW

TRW Automotive, based in

Livonia, Michigan Livonia ( ) is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. A western suburb of Detroit, Livonia is located roughly northwest of downtown Detroit. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 95,535. Originally organized as ...

, was originally the automotive division of

TRW Inc. TRW Inc. was an American corporation involved in a variety of businesses, mainly aerospace, electronics, Automotive industry, automotive, and Credit bureau, credit reporting.http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/TRW-Inc-Company-Hist ...

, established in 2002. It specializes in designing, manufacturing, and selling automotive safety systems. With approximately 200 facilities and 66,100 employees across 26 countries, TRW Automotive was acquired by ZF Friedrichshafen in 2015 and now forms the Active & Passive Safety Technology division. In October 2022, ZF spun off the Passive Safety Systems division into a standalone entity, ZF Lifetec, focusing on vehicle safety tests and equipment.

Overseas facilities

ZF Group operates globally, with Europe as its primary market, followed by the Asia-Pacific region, North and South

America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and Middle East & Africa. The company maintains six research and development (R&D) centers worldwide to tailor product development to local markets, investing approximately 5% of its sales revenue annually in R&D. In

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

, ZF has been active since 1973. The manufacturing base in Darlaston supplies chassis components to the British automotive industry, including Jaguar, BMW, and Land Rover. ZF Great Britain Ltd. in Nottingham also has a remanufacturing facility and customer support operations. In the NAFTA region, ZF operates 16 locations, including an R&D center near

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

and a manufacturing plant in Laurens County, South Carolina, which began production in 2013. official website, 2010 ZF has a significant presence in Asia, focusing on

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, Korea, Japan, and Australia.

Liuzhou Liuzhou (; , Standard Mandarin: , Liuzhou Yue dialect: International Phonetic Alphabet, iəu53 ʦəu44 is a prefecture-level city in north-central Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, People's Republic of China. The prefecture's population was 4 ...

ZF Machinery Co., Ltd. in China, a joint venture with Guangxi LiuGong Machinery Co., manufactures driveline components for construction machinery. ZF's presence in India includes joint ventures and license partnerships spanning over three decades. ZF India Private Ltd., operational since 2007 in Pune, focuses on axles, off-road driveline technology, and commercial vehicle technology. The facility includes factory buildings, a warehouse, and an aftermarket service facility.

References

External links

Official website
* {{Automotive industry in Germany Defence companies of Germany Auto parts suppliers of Germany Automotive transmission makers German brands Companies based in Friedrichshafen Manufacturing companies established in 1915 Automotive motorsports and performance companies