ZF Friedrichshafen AG, also known as ZF Group, originally Zahnradfabrik Friedrichshafen, and commonly abbreviated to ZF, is a German car parts maker headquartered in Friedrichshafen, in the south-west German state of Baden-Württemberg.
ZF’s Supervisory Board has decided to establish 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.
The Board also appointed Stephan von Schuckmann as new member to the company’s Board of Management. Von Schuckmann, who currently heads the Car Powertrain Technology Division, will succeed Michael Hankel as of 1 January 2021. Hankel will then retire.
Stephan 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.
Von Schuckmann’s appointment to ZF’s Board of Management from January 1, 2021, 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.
