ZF Friedrichshafen AG opens its multi-product plant in Pune

February 5, 2015 9:57 am

 ZF Friedrichshafen AG opens its new plant in Chakan, Pune with an investment of around Rs. 150 crore. Spread over an area of 85,000 sq. metres, this facility marks an important milestone in the centennial year of ZF Group.
Wilhelm Rehm, Board Member of ZF Friedrichshafen AG and Global Head of material management said, “Over the years, ZF has been successful in localising high technology products in India. Now we will focus on the ‘Make-in-India’ theme and source quality products for its global portfolio.”
This multi-product facility will house our car powertrain technology and commercial vehicle technology divisions as well as ZF services under one roof.
Commenting on the development Rudi von Meister, ZF’s President of Asia-Pacific, said, “Today, Asia-Pacific is the most important market for ZF after Europe and North America. After China, India is the second-largest market in the region and caters to various industry segments like automotive, off-highway, wind power and marine.”
Speaking on the launch of the new facility, Piyush Munot, India Managing Director, responsible for ZF Group operations in India, said that “ZF established its presence in Pune in 2010 by introducing high performance transmissions, followed by chassis components both for commercial vehicles and passenger cars. Today we enhance this product portfolio by launching passenger car clutch systems. These are specially designed to meet the demanding driving conditions in India. Our strategy will focus on not only bringing advanced technology to India, but in the future to develop products in India for India.”
ZF has been operating for more than three decades in the Indian market. Currently, ZF’s presence in India consists of eight plants spread across Pune, Pantnagar, Gurgaon, Chennai, Coimbatore and Madurai, and roughly 3,000 employees. The new facility will have approximately 200 employees. It will also be home to the headquarters of the after-market sales and services, engineering and administration of ZF India Pvt. Ltd.