ZF Group (China) Business Report FY ended Dec. 2018
Share Transfer
-On December 18, 2018, Huayu Automotive Systems Co., Ltd. announced that the company and ZF (China) Investment Co., Ltd. have signed a share transfer agreement. Huayu is going to acquire a 50% stake in Shanghai Sachs Powertrain Components Systems Co., Ltd. at CNY 65.16 million. After the share transfer, Shanghai Sachs Powertrain Components Systems is going to be a wholly-owned subsidiary of Huayu Automotive Systems. In the eight months from January through August 2018, Shanghai Sachs Powertrain Components Systems generated operating income of CNY 323 million and net loss of CNY 3 million and its total asset was CNY 414 million. (From a press release on December 20, 2018)
Contract
-ZF announced that the company and volume manufacturer Chery has agreed on collaboration for level 3 autonomous driving in China. ZF is proactive in establishing collaboration with automotive OEMs in China such as Chery by providing the supercomputer ZF ProAI. ZF's artificial intelligence (AI) controller enables automated driving functions up to level 3 for this collaboration. ZF and its cooperation partners, the AI computing Company Nvidia, as well as the Chinese technology company Baidu, are working together on autonomous driving. For the first time, deep learning algorithms enabled by the supercomputing power of the ZF ProAI will be available in affordable cars. (From a press release on January 16, 2018)
New Company
-Anhui Heli Co., Ltd. announced on February 9, 2018, a plan to establish a new joint venture tentatively named ZF Heli Transmission Technology (Hefei) Co., Ltd. with ZF China. The registered capital of the joint company will be Chinese yuan (CNY) 200 million. ZF China is going to have a stake of 51% in the new company, investing CNY 102 million. Anhui Heli is to invest CNY 98 million to own a 49% stake in the company. The joint venture will work on research, development, and production of axles and transmissions for load-carrying facilities in the Chinese market. In the fourth quarter of 2018, the company plans to lease a plant and start trial production. In 2021, it will build a new plant and launch full-scale mass production. By 2022, the new company is expected to generate sales of CNY 780 million (excluding tax) and profit of CNY 50 million, while producing 113,000 axles. (From a corporate announcement on February 9, 2018)
Strategic Partnership
-On January 16, 2018, Zhejiang Shuanghuan Driveline Co., Ltd. announced that Shuanghuan Driveline (Jiaxing) Precision Manufacturing Co., Ltd., its wholly-owned subsidiary, has signed an agreement with ZF Transmissions Shanghai Co., Ltd., regarding a mass-supply of gears for 8HP50 8-speed automatic transmissions. The 8-speed automatic transmission is one of the main products of ZF Transmissions. The 8HP-series transmissions are used for high-end models such as the BMW X series, the Audi Q series, the Jaguar Land Rover Range Rover, the Maserati models, the Porsche Cayenne series. The 8HP transmission uses 13 types gears, or 23 in number per unit, and Shuanghuan Driveline (Jiaxing) Precision Manufacturing is going to supply 10 sorts, or 20 in number. Under the new contract, ZF Transmissions Shanghai is expected to make 210,000 transmissions per year. (From a corporate announcement on January 17, 2018)
Award
-In April 2018, ZF Friedrichshafen AG won a supplier quality improvement award from Geely Automobile for the excellent quality of its steering systems. (From some releases on April 20, 2018)
-At the 9th Guangzhou Automobile Supplier Meeting held recently in Hangzhou City, China, ZF Group won an excellent quality supplier award. (From some releases on January 15, 2018>
Investment
-On August 17, 2018, ZF Group (China) and ZF Drivetech (Hangzhou) Co. Ltd. signed an official investment agreement at ZF headquarters in Shanghai. ZF is going to invest USD 150 million in building a new electric drive parts factory that produces electric drive parts for new energy vehicles. Upon completion, the new plant can make electric drive parts and relating parts and components of over 400,000 sets a year. Then, ZF Drivetech (Hangzhou) can upgrade its business scope to include the production of advanced axles and electric drive parts for advanced passenger vehicles on top of the manufacture of drive systems for commercial vehicles. (From a release Tuesday, August 21, 2018)
-On March 27, 2018, ZF TRW Automotive Holdings Corp. laid the cornerstone of its electric power steering system plant to commemorate the start of the second-phase construction. The total investment is USD 90 million. The company has raised USD 30 million from foreign investors and acquired a new site of 66,667 square meters for the plant construction. The construction work began in May 2018, and the official production launch is scheduled in 2019. The new plant is expected to generate sales of USD 600 million a year when operating at full capacity. (From some releases on May 14, 2018)