ZF Friedrichshafen AG has invested Rs 150 crore to set up a new multi-product facility in Chakan near Pune to help it enhance its portfolio of auto components.

Spread over 21 acres, the facility will house the car power train technology and commercial vehicle technology divisions as well as ZF Services under the same roof.

“This new plant is an important investment in the centennial year of ZF Group,” Wilhelm Rehm, Board Member of ZF Friedrichshafen AG and Global Head of material management said in a statement.

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,” he added.

Rudi von Meister, President, Asia-Pacific ZF said, “The synergies from this consolidation will enable us to improve efficiencies and help us provide a compelling value proposition to our customers.”

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, Windpower and Marine.

In Pune since 2010, ZF first introduced 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,” Piyush Munot, Managing Director India said.

With operations for over three decades in the Indian market, ZF has eight plants in India and roughly 3 000 employees. The new facility will have approximately 200 employees. It will also house the headquarters of the after-market sales and services, engineering and administration of ZF India Pvt. Ltd.

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