ZF plans to manufacture two more electric axle drives in Germany

Automotive supplier ZF wants to manufacture two more purely electric passenger car axle drives for European car manufacturers at its plant in Saarbrücken, Germany. Series production is set to start next year.

ZF announced in 2022 that it intended to convert its transmission plant in Saarbrücken into the lead location for all-electric drives and would invest a three-digit million sum for this purpose. As planned, production of the first electric axle drive started this year. Customers for this are European car manufacturers.

The company has now announced that it plans to produce two additional axle drives for electric cars as early as 2025. “With the addition of two more electric mobility products, we have reached a milestone in transforming the Saarbrücken site. Now, we need to consistently implement the measures we have decided on to remain internationally competitive in the long term,” emphasises site manager Andreas Hubbuch.

According to the company, the investment in this new, ultra-modern and flexible production line will secure 300 jobs in production in Saarbrücken. “The measures that have now been decided upon give us the flexibility we need to manufacture such products in Germany,” says Markus Schwabe, Head of Business in the Electrified Drive Technologies division. “We are making exemplary investments in transforming the Group and its German sites towards greater competitiveness. Nevertheless, the need for structural adjustments to the site remains. Because it is clear that the site will not be able to maintain the current level of employment due to the significantly lower added value in electric mobility.”

In other words, the plant in Saarbrücken, one of ZF’s largest locations with around 10,000 employees, is also affected by the massive job cuts ZF announced in July. Specifically, the company said that various measures have been agreed on to increase the competitiveness of the Saarbrücken location. “These include, for example, flexibilisation measures to optimise machine usage times and partial retirement programmes to gradually adapt employment to the foreseeable lower value creation in electric mobility in a socially responsible manner,” the current press release states.

In Saarbrücken, ZF currently manufactures the 8-speed automatic transmission in all variants – for use in conventionally motorised passenger cars, mild hybrids and plug-in hybrid vehicles.

zf.com (in German)