ZF has announced the expansion of its Engineering Center in Shanghai. The new facilities, based in the Songjiang district, will enable the company to more quickly develop advanced technologies for the Asia-Pacific markets. Further expansion is planned over the course of the next five years. The Engineering Center focuses on driveline and chassis technologies for all applications, with e-mobility being the primary focus – an area of significant growth in China. The facility works closely with ZF’s other Technology Center situated in Anting, a research and development location which focuses on active and passive safety technology for the Asian market.
ZF’s Engineering Center in Songjiang was officially opened at Auto Shanghai 2017. The company has expanded its existing facilities to 54,000m2 and by 2022, expects to more than double its workforce to around 1000 employees. Total investment is approximately €50m (US$54m).
“The investment in our new Engineering Center highlights our commitment to further localize engineering activities so that we can more effectively support our Chinese customer base. As well as tailoring many innovations for our customers, we also want to more quickly seize the momentum from this dynamic market,” explained ZF board member Peter Lake during the official launch. “The investment also demonstrates the continued importance of China – one of the largest and most significant markets to ZF.”
The investment is being used to comprehensively update and expand the current test facilities in Songjiang. Engineers can now utilize state- of-the- art equipment in several laboratories for the application development of driveline and chassis systems technologies. This covers a wide range of applications from passenger cars and commercial vehicles to rail and special vehicles. The development of electrified or all-electric drives is the main focus of development.