ZF Sets New Sales Record in 2011

In 2011, ZF’s global business maintained a good momentum of growth, achieved sustained growth, and successfully completed the annual sales target set by the Group: approximately 15.5 billion Euros. At the same time, this also achieved a 20% year-on-year increase in sales. "The total investment exceeds 1 billion euros, a record high at present. ZF Group has 72,000 employees worldwide. As of early 2011, the number of employees has increased by about 12%, including the previously acquired Hansen Industrial Drive Limited. Hansen Industrial Transmissions and parts of Honsel.

"ZF is making great strides and in 2011 we again created an unprecedented sales record - 15.5 billion euros in total sales." ZF CEO Hans-Georg H?rter said, "In 2010, our Sales increased by 38%, and ZF Group will create another 20% sales growth in 2011, which is far ahead of the industry average."

Consolidating the growth momentum of various regions, the North American region performed particularly well. The region’s 2011 sales increased by more than 40%. At the same time, the growth rate in Eastern Europe also exceeds 30%, and ZF sales growth throughout Europe is approximately 20%. South America increased its sales by 15%. After rapid growth momentum in the past few years, growth in the Asia Pacific region has eased to about 10% in 2011.

In terms of products, ZF Group has benefited from the growing demand for passenger car market. Among them, the performance of the high-end passenger vehicle market is particularly prominent, and it has remained stable under the background of the global economic slowdown. On the contrary, the recent development of the small passenger vehicle market is slightly under pressure. "We believe that the car's development trend comes from the needs of consumers, namely, high-efficiency economy and energy conservation and environmental protection. The durability and low fuel consumption of ZF products have created tremendous market opportunities for us." ZF Chief Executive Hans-Georg Härter added, "These are reflected in the core technology of our products: whether it is used in cars, buses, trucks, engineering or agricultural machinery and other fields."

In 2011, not only did ZF Group's sales record hit a record high, ZF also increased its investment. At present, it has invested more than 1 billion euros in expanding production or establishing new factories. In September 2011, ZF established its factory in Gainesville, Georgia, USA. Before spring 2012, the plant will provide Vestas with gearboxes for wind turbines, and Vestas is currently one of its main customers. In addition, ZF is building a new transmission plant in Greenville, South Carolina, which costs 300 million euros. By 2013, the plant will be operational and provide 8- and 9-speed transmissions for customers such as Chrysler Automotive.

Recently, ZF successfully acquired Hansen Industrial Transmission Co., Ltd. for EUR 500 million. Hansen is a Belgian wind turbine gearbox manufacturer. "This acquisition will help ZF become one of the world's leading manufacturers of large gearboxes, especially in the booming wind power market," explains Hörter. Today, ZF has manufacturing facilities in the United States, Belgium, India and China. By assisting the wind power market, ZF is actively welcoming the arrival of the renewable energy era.

At the same time, ZF is also actively involved in developing the future market for electric vehicles, including the design and manufacture of multiple hybrid drive equipment. At the same time, ZF has also successfully developed a purely electric drive. At present, the product is undergoing field testing, and the test vehicle is also equipped with power equipment from ZF. "Our compact drive has a 90 kilowatt output and 100 kilometers of acceleration time of less than 9 seconds. It is definitely comparable to a fuel engine," said Hörter.

ZF also continues to invest in the research and development of sustainable development and emerging technologies. ZF currently invests about 750 million Euros in R&D, which has also led to a significant increase in the number of employees in 2011. By the end of 2011, ZF Group will have approximately 72,100 employees worldwide, adding approximately 7,500 positions. Among them, about 2,200 employees came from the previously acquired Hansen Industrial Drive and Honsel Nuremberg factory. "By creating 4,500 additional job opportunities in Germany, ZF again demonstrated its social responsibility as a leading manufacturer," said Hans-Georg Hörter, CEO of ZF.

However, the immediate 2012 will not be easy. "First, global economic indicators are unclear. However, we expect ZF will still be able to gain considerable market share and achieve sales growth of about 1 billion euros," Hörter predicts. ZF plans to invest 1.4 billion euros in the next year. As of 2016, the planned investment will reach 5 billion euros. ZF aims to consolidate its leading position in technology through continuous high investment. This is also providing good opportunities for talents - In 2012, ZF plans to create 4,500 more jobs worldwide.