June 2024 News: Automotive News (Automotive News) ranked parts suppliers based on the operating revenue/sales in the automotive industry supporting market in the previous year, and released the 2024 Global Top 100 Auto Parts Suppliers list.
With revenues of US$55.89 billion, the Bosch Group remains the world's largest auto parts supplier. Denso, which ranks second all year round, fell to fifth this time, with revenue falling 15% year-on-year to $40.723 billion. ZF Friedrichshafen has become the "eye" of the new global auto parts supplier, and its automotive business sales increased by 18% year-on-year to US$49.709 billion (about 361.25 billion yuan) last year.
Founded in 1915 and headquartered in Friedrichshafen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, ZF operates 162 production sites in 31 countries with around 168,700 employees. The products cover automotive chassis systems, chassis parts, safety technology, electronic devices, sensor technology and other fields, and customers include BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Honda, Volvo, Geely, BYD, GAC, FAW, Ideal, Horizon, CATL, etc.
ZF and Japan's Aisin Seiki, Germany GETRAG and known as the world's three largest transmission suppliers, since the 40s of the last century began to develop automatic transmission technology, due to advanced technology, expensive, its products have the reputation of "luxury car special gearbox". The 8AT launched in 08, with its extremely fast shift speed, up to 98% transmission efficiency, smooth shift process, economical and fuel-saving characteristics, has been favored by BMW, Audi, Rolls-Royce, Land Rover, Bentley and other brands, and was once recognized as the best gearbox in the world.
In addition to passenger cars and commercial vehicles, ZF also offers comprehensive services and systematic solutions for industrial technology in the market segments of construction and agricultural drivetrains, wind power systems, marine propulsion and drive and test systems for rail vehicles.
In 1981, ZF entered the Chinese market, and in the course of more than 40 years of development, it has experienced "China sales", "Made in China" and "China R&D", and is now striving towards the goal of "China leading".
The Asia-Pacific headquarters of the group is located in Shanghai, and has 4 R&D centers, more than 50 production enterprises, nearly 240 after-sales service outlets and more than 20,000 employees in more than 20 cities including Shanghai, Beijing, Tianjin, Chongqing, Hangzhou, Suzhou, Nanjing, Changchun, Shenyang, Chengdu, Xi'an and Wuhan.
In the past year, ZF has built several new factories and technical centers in Shanghai, Zhangjiagang, Guangzhou, Shenyang, Wuhan, Weihai, Rizhao and Shiyan, covering electronic power steering, steering wheels, airbags, electric drives, intelligent integrated brake control systems, new X-Link chassis modules, axles and other fields. On April 24, the Group's largest airbag production base in the Asia-Pacific region, the automotive passive safety parts production base project, was put into operation in Wuhan Economic and Technological Development Zone.
In 2023, ZF's sales in the Chinese market increased by 5.2% year-on-year to 8.1 billion euros (about 63 billion yuan). China's Asia-Pacific region accounts for about one-quarter of the Group's global sales, and this proportion will increase to 30% by 2030.
Hundreds of passenger cars and commercial vehicles are already equipped with ZF products and technologies, such as the Dongfeng Mengshi M18, which was launched last year and is equipped with its integrated brake control system, semi-active shock absorbers, rear-wheel active steering system and vehicle control software. Lotus ELETRE and EMEYA, equipped with a new 800V system architecture electric drive system and SiC silicon carbide inverter; The Ideal MEGA, released in March this year, has a steering system from ZF; Xiaomi SU7, with ZF CDC shock absorbers.
Write at the end
Despite its impressive performance, ZF is not resting on its laurels, with revenues coming mainly from combustion engine vehicles and related businesses, which are not stable in the context of the electrification transition. In recent years, the Group has accelerated its transformation, focusing on four technology areas: electric drives, autonomous driving, vehicle motion control and integrated safety systems.
Earlier this year, the group announced plans to lay off 12,000 employees in Germany over the next six years, equivalent to a quarter of all employees in Germany. In addition, the two plants in Gelsenkirchen and Aitov are also scheduled to be shut down within a few years.
In fact, due to the sharp rise in raw material costs, persistently high inflation, and the surge in costs brought about by the transformation process, many leading auto parts companies are facing huge operating pressure, and Bosch, Continental, and Valeo have announced their own layoff plans. What new changes will occur in the industry pattern in the future, we will wait and see.