ZF Friedrichshafen AG’s CEO, Dr. Stefan Sommer announced his expectations for the company at the recent IAA Commercial Vehicles show in Hanover. Speaking at the event, Sommer affirmed the Group’s projected sales growth of 10 percent to 17 billion Euros this year.
“The demand in the passenger car premium segment is still strong, especially in the USA and in China,” he said. From January to August this year, sales in these two regions had increased by a “very pleasing” 44% (USA) and 32% (China); for the overall Group the figure increased by 16 percent. “With our 8-speed and soon to come 9-speed automatic transmission for the volume segment, we have the right products in our portfolio in order to ensure such stable growth figures for the upcoming years as well.”
Other developments highlighted by Sommer included the creation of 3,500 new positions over the course of 2012, of which 1,200 are based in Germany. “This is how we continue to expand our permanent staff,” he explained. “Because, generally, we expect a positive development of ZF.” By the end of 2012, the company will employ more than 75,000 permanent employees.
Sommer expects long-term success from the new automatic transmission system, called TraXon, that ZF presented at the commercial vehicle trade show. “As a result of TraXon’s modular design, the customer can select tailor-made drive solutions from a modular transmission kit,” he said. He added that a hybrid drive module was also available.
