ZF
The specialists for drive and chassis technology
ZF Friedrichshafen AG is the third largest automotive supplier in the world in terms of sales. The long-established company specialises in driveline and chassis technology and produces high-quality transmissions, axles, shock absorbers, clutches, steering systems and other chassis systems, chassis components and parts for cars, trucks, agricultural machinery, construction machinery, buses, trains, helicopters, ships, two-wheelers as well as for wind turbines and machines. Zahnradfabrik Friedrichshafen was founded more than a hundred years ago in August 1915 in Friedrichshafen on Lake Constance, where the company’s headquarters are still located. Today, the company ZF Friedrichshafen AG has more than 250 locations in over 40 countries worldwide in Europe, Asia, North and South America, Africa and Australia.
ZF Aktiengesellschaft was founded in 1915 by Alfred Colsman as a representative of Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmbH and the Swiss Max Maag Zahnräderfabik under the name Zahnradfabrik GmbH. From the beginning, the business purpose was the development and construction of vehicle transmissions. Soon the company was given its own stop on the Friedrichshafen – Oberteuring railway line. Today’s owners are the Zeppelin Foundation from Friedrichshafen (almost 94 percent) and the Dr. Jürgen and Irmgard Ulderup Foundation from Lemförde (just over six percent). In Germany, in addition to the production and development site in Ludwigshafen and Schwäbisch Gmünd in Baden-Württemberg, there are others in Saarbrücken in Saarland, in Passau, Auerbach in the Upper Palatinate and Schweinfurt in Bavaria, in Lemförde in Lower Saxony and in Aachen in North Rhine-Westphalia.
ZF Friedrichshafen AG has more than 150,000 employees and annual sales of over 30 billion euros. In addition to the more than 250 locations worldwide, the company has over 70 of its own service companies and around 650 service partners. The business units are clearly divided and include, in addition to passenger car and commercial vehicle driveline and chassis technology, industrial technology for marine and aviation, an in-house electronics component, ZF Aftermarket, ZF Race Engineering, steering technology as well as fka GmbH as a research company in Aachen. ZF Friedrichshafen AG invests well over €1,000 million annually in the research and development of its products. ZF AG is also involved in many social areas, such as environmental protection, social projects and education, as well as culture and sports.