ZF strengthens e-mobility as one of its core businesses
German car parts maker ZF Friedrichshafen AG is establishing a new division out of the previous Car Powertrain Technology and E-Mobility Divisions in order to offer customers electrified driveline solutions under one roof. In the future, ZF will no longer develop components for internal combustion engine drives but will instead focus on long-range plug-in hybrids and purely electric vehicles.
ZF also announced the appointment of Stephan Von Schuckmann, 46, as a new member to the company’s Board of Management, succeeding Michael Hankel, 63, as of January 1, 2021. Hankel will then retire after 17 successful years with the company. Von Schuckmann’s appointment to ZF’s Board of Management coincides with a significant change in the Group structure. At this time, a new division will be created from the two current Car Powertrain Technology and E-Mobility divisions. With this step, ZF will combine its competencies in order to better address the increasing electrification in passenger cars, improve customer proximity and further accelerate the transformation to plug-in hybrids and electric drives. In the future, ZF will no longer develop driveline components for pure combustion engine vehicles.
“With Stephan von Schuckmann as head of the new division and member of the Board of Management, we have gained a leader from our own ranks who knows the car driveline sector extremely well. He will strengthen ZF’s position in the field of e-mobility,” said Dr.-Ing. Franz-Josef Paefgen, chairman of ZF’s Supervisory Board.
Von Schuckmann has been in charge of the Car Powertrain Technology Division based in Saarbrücken, Germany since Autumn 2018. The business administration graduate joined the ZF Group in 2003 and has held various management positions including Commercial Director of ZF Lenksysteme Hungária Kft. in Eger, Hungary, and Head of the Global Aftermarket and Small-Series Business Unit at ZF Lenksysteme GmbH in Schwäbisch Gmünd, Germany. In 2015, von Schuckmann moved to the Car Powertrain Technology Division as senior vice president for Finance, Controlling, IT, and Process Management before taking over as head of the division.
Hankel joined the Board of Management of the former ZF Sachs AG in Schweinfurt in 2003, where he was responsible for the Chassis Division. In 2007, he became chairman of the Board of Management of ZF Lenksysteme GmbH in Schwäbisch Gmünd, Germany. Since 2013, Hankel has been a member of the ZF Board of Management where he is responsible for the Car Powertrain Technology and E-Mobility Divisions, Corporate Production, and key account management for passenger car customers in Europe and North America.
