ZF Friedrichshafen AG has achieved increased sales during the 2018 financial year. The Group’s sales increased – adjusted for exchange rate effects and M&A activities – by approximately 6 percent to EUR 36.9 billion (prior year: EUR 36.4 billion). The adjusted EBIT amounted to EUR 2.1 billion (prior year: EUR 2.3 billion). The adjusted EBIT margin was 5.6 percent (prior year: 6.4 percent). At the end of December, ZF employed 148,969 staff worldwide (prior year: 146,148). With its Next Generation Mobility strategy, ZF is pursuing the vision of providing people with safe, clean, and affordable mobility.
ZF Increases Sales for the Year under Review and Invests in Next Generation Mobility Solutions
“We are shaping the rapidly advancing transformation of the mobility industry to provide our customers with convincing system solutions for next generation mobility. Our results show that we are well positioned for the challenges of the future,” said Wolf-Henning Scheider, CEO of ZF Friedrichshafen AG, at the presentation of the annual results in Friedrichshafen this week. To continue its technology leadership, ZF increased its expenditure in research & development (R&D) in 2018 by an additional 11 percent. Adjusted for accounting changes, ZF spent a total of EUR 2.5 billion (prior year: EUR 2.2 billion) on R&D; this corresponds to an R&D cost ratio of 6.7 percent.
Focus on Mobility and Transport Services
In the booming sector of “Mobility/Transport as a Service,” ZF is creating new mobility products such as the e.GO People Mover. This electrically powered minibus, which will be fitted with autonomous-driving features in the future, will be on the road in the first test fleets in Aachen and Friedrichshafen in the fall. A few weeks ago, ZF also announced the majority stake in 2getthere, a Dutch supplier of autonomous electric passenger transport systems. “The investment was an important step for us as 2getthere has more than 30 years of experience in the autonomous passenger transport market as well as unique engineering and software skills,” added Scheider. The automated guided vehicles from 2getthere have already transported more than 14 million passengers in several major cities, harbors, and airports around the world – wholly electrically, reliably, and profitably. The long-standing experience means the availability of the 2getthere mobility systems is over 99.7 percent.
Long-Term Success Thanks to Hybrid Transmissions
As well as new mobility solutions, ZF is also further developing its successfully established products such as the 8-speed automatic transmission for passenger cars – primarily through electrification. This week, ZF signed a supply contract with BMW AG for its enhanced 8-speed automatic transmission including a hybrid variant.. The long-term contract represents the largest order of automatic transmissions in the history of the company, confirming the importance of hybrid technology for future individual mobility.
In terms of electrification, ZF’s electrical central drive for passenger cars will also start production with a vehicle manufacturer this year. Furthermore, there is strong demand for its electrical portal axle for city buses which is already successfully established in the market. ZF has won several new orders from bus manufacturers. “ZF has made e-buses marketable in Europe,” said Scheider.
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SOURCE: ZF
