ZF Friedrichshafen has posted full-year 2012 sales of EUR17.4bn (US$22.6bn), although operating profit fell 19% to EUR687m.
“We will continue to grow in 2013 – less dynamically than in previous years, though,” said ZF Friedrichshafen CEO, Stefan Sommer. “We will focus more on the quality of the result.”
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“We achieved particularly dynamic growth in the Region of North America – just like in 2011, this figure also rose by more than 40% in 2012. In contrast to 2011, the year in which we recorded growth in all market regions, there were regions hit by sales losses alongside other regions that achieved significant gains in 2012.”
The ZF Group workforce grew by more than 3,000 or around 5% to almost 75,000 employees at the end of 2012. More than half of the additional workforce has been employed at German ZF locations – a distribution that will be reversed within the next few years.
“Sales and the number of employees will increase in Germany – but to an even greater extent abroad,” said Sommer.
ZF is expecting around 3 500 new employees worldwide in 2013, with more than 1 000 in Germany.
For the current year, ZF expects stabilisation and, especially in the first half, only moderate growth rates. “In a rather weak economic environment, we will develop more strongly than the market and expect a plus in sales of approximately 10% or around EUR1.5bn,” said Sommer.
“Our overseas markets will be unable to fully offset the weak market development in Europe and in the wind energy sector.”
