ZF Friedrichshafen

What they do

ZF makes drivelines and chassis technology for cars, commercial vehicles and industry: automatic transmissions, axles, steering, braking and safety systems, electric drives and industrial gearboxes. It reported revenue of 38.8 billion euros in 2025 with about 153,000 employees.

Why it matters

ZF's 8HP automatic, launched at Saarbrücken in 2009, became one of the defining components of the premium car industry. It is used across BMW's rear-wheel-drive range and in models from Audi, Jaguar and Alfa Romeo, among others. In 2019 ZF announced a BMW order for the next generation worth a double-digit billion-euro sum. Through acquisitions of TRW Automotive in 2015 (agreed in 2014) and WABCO in 2020, ZF also became a major supplier of active and passive safety systems and truck braking.

The 8HP shows ZF's method. Instead of building a gearbox for one model, ZF engineered a family that could be adapted to many engines and brands, then kept improving it: the fourth generation, designed in Friedrichshafen, entered production at Saarbrücken in 2022 and includes plug-in hybrid versions with the electric motor inside the transmission housing. ZF said in 2024 it would invest a further 500 million dollars at Gray Court, South Carolina, to build the hybrid 8HP for North America. CarExpert described ZF as the fifth-largest automotive supplier in the world by sales to carmakers.

Products to know

• 8HP eight-speed automatic, including plug-in hybrid versions (see ZF 8HP).
• Electric drive units and power electronics.
• Steering, braking and airbag systems from the former TRW.
• Commercial vehicle control systems from the former WABCO.

The German angle

ZF was founded on 20 August 1915 by Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin and engineer Alfred von Soden-Fraunhofen as a subsidiary of Luftschiffbau Zeppelin, to make gears for airships. It moved into car transmissions between the wars. Its ownership is unusual among global suppliers: the Zeppelin Foundation, administered by the town of Friedrichshafen on Lake Constance, holds 93.8 per cent.

Sources

• Wikipedia: ZF Friedrichshafen
• CarExpert: Inside the suppliers, ZF
• ZF via PR Newswire: Major business for new 8-speed automatic