ZF begins expansion of sites in India and Czech Republic
March 25, 2014
ZF Friedrichshafen AG has begun construction of a new €20 million facility in Pune, India, for its Car Powertrain and Commercial Vehicle Technology business units. The new development, also home to ZF Services and the administration of ZF India Pvt. Ltd., will employ around 350 people when completed towards the end of this year.
A nine-speed automatic transmission from ZF
“ZF has been operating in India for 30 years,” stated ZF’s CEO Dr Stefan Sommer. “We still see considerable potential in the Indian automotive industry for the coming years. We want to be geared up for that and therefore are investing in new plants.”
The company stated that in accordance with its local-for-local concept, ZF aims to provide customers with products from local production wherever possible. ZF engineers based in Pune will also be located in the new building in order to develop products specifically for the requirements of the Indian market.
ZF also announced expansion of its facility in Pilsen, Czech Republic, where around 200 new jobs will be created when completed in 2017. The plans include construction of a new €4 million seven-story office building to provide additional development resources for ZF’s corporate headquarters and divisions at the Pilsen site.
As one out of eight main development locations, ZF Pilsen has expertise in software development and software testing as well as the development and qualification of mechatronic components. From the design engineering perspective, product development is supported with 3D models, calculations, and fine-tuning tasks. The facility has test benches for climatic tests and service life testing of components.
