ZF CEO Dr Stefan Sommer has said that he has received “only positive feedback after announcing this acquisition [of TRW] in the spirit of partnership”.
“After all, this is strengthening our future prospects as we are expanding our product portfolio in highly attractive segments,” added Dr Sommer. Customers, employees, and shareholders would benefit from this transaction, he said.
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ZF says that with total sales of about EUR30bn and 138,000 employees, the merged company will become one of the “global leaders in the automotive supplier industry, more than doubling its sales in China and the US, two of the most significant countries in the world for automotive sales”.
ZF also says that so far this year (January to August) it has increased its year-on-year sales by 10%.
For the overall business year 2014, ZF’s CEO is expecting a high single-digit growth in sales to a total of more than EUR18bn. “In the first two thirds of the year, we built up great momentum, particularly in China and the US, which we are now carrying into the last four months, where it will help us offset the sluggish development in Brazil and Russia,” said Sommer.
ZF said that sales revenues this year have shown particularly strong growth in the US (plus 30% to EUR2.1bn) and China (up 26% to EUR2bn) in the last eight months.
At the end of August, ZF’s workforce stood at around 74,000 people worldwide, including 42,600 employees in Germany.
See also: ANALYSIS: ZF/TRW: ‘Motion and Mobility’ meets ‘Cognitive Safety’
