ZF: from Zeppelin airship gears to one of the world's largest auto suppliers

History

Zahnradfabrik GmbH, the predecessor of today's ZF, was founded on 20 August 1915 in Friedrichshafen on Lake Constance. Its creation was directly tied to Luftschiffbau Zeppelin, the airship-building company, which was a shareholder in the new firm. The founding agreement explicitly mentioned fitting gear transmissions into motor vehicles and motorboats, and in its earliest years the company mainly built aircraft transmissions. After 1919, under Alfred Graf von Soden-Fraunhofen, the focus shifted toward the automotive and commercial-vehicle industry.

A defining moment in the company's more recent history was its acquisition of American supplier TRW Automotive: ZF announced the deal on 16 September 2014 for $13.5 billion, and completed it on 15 May 2015. That acquisition made ZF one of the world's three largest automotive suppliers, with 134,000 employees across 230 locations in 40 countries. The group's headquarters remain in Friedrichshafen.

What ZF makes

ZF's aftermarket portfolio spans transmissions (manual and automatic), steering and suspension systems, brakes, and driveline components. The company runs these product lines under several brands absorbed through acquisitions: Sachs (shock absorbers and clutches), Lemförder (suspension and steering components), TRW (steering, suspension and braking systems, following the 2015 acquisition), and WABCO (braking systems for commercial vehicles). ZF stocks more than 100,000 spare-parts line items for truck and bus transmissions alone.

Buying ZF parts

ZF builds complete axles, suspensions and drivetrains for vehicle manufacturers, so its aftermarket parts — sold under its own name or under brands such as Sachs, Lemförder and TRW — come off the same production lines and go through the same testing as the components fitted at the factory. For shock absorbers, suspension parts, steering components or clutches, this is a brand with direct engineering lineage rather than just a licensed trademark.