in 1915, photograph by
Theodor Hilsdorf The company was founded by Count
Ferdinand von Zeppelin, the inventor of the zeppelin airship and engineer Alfred von Soden-Fraunhofen in 1915 in
Friedrichshafen, Germany as a
subsidiary of
Luftschiffbau Zeppelin, to manufacture gears for
zeppelins and other
airships. 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, 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 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. To clear the 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 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
Zahnradfabrik was bombed by the 304th BW/
Fifteenth Air Force. As early as 20 September 1942,
Albert Speer had warned Hitler of how important the Friedrichshafen
tank engine production and the
Schweinfurt 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 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 transmissions. The 1960s sees ZF supplying transmissions to major German automakers (including
DKW,
Mercedes-Benz,
Porsche and
BMW) as well as
Peugeot and
Alfa Romeo. • 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 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, 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 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 transmissions (CVT) for passenger cars developed by ZF. • 2005: The 10-millionth
airbag 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 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 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. • 2014: American auto parts manufacturer
TRW Automotive 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 announced a joint R&D center in
Germany 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”) 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. • 2025: It was announced ZF would sell its passenger-car ADAS business to
Harman International—the auto-component and audio subsidiary of
Samsung—for €1.5 billion as part of a strategic realignment. The divestment covered driver assistance hardware and software activities, while ZF retained chassis electronics, passive safety technologies, and ADAS development for commercial vehicles. 2025,
BIEC • 2026: ZF acquired a 6% stake in Stradvision, a South Korean developer of perception software for autonomous driving systems. The investment was intended to support ZF’s development of advanced driver assistance and higher-level automated driving technologies, with financial terms of the transaction not disclosed. ==Products==