GERMANY 2021
BUSINESS
ZF SERBIA
HOW THE VISION BECAME REALITY The story of ZF Serbia began in 2018, when the foundations of this important greenfield site of ZF’s youngest and innovation-driving E mobility division were laid in the city of Pančevo, in Vojvodina, Serbia
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F was then already leading the transformation to new mobility and taking major steps to advance new technologies and products, with the strong conviction that electromobility is the future of the automotive industry, and all strategic decisions were made with the aim of developing, expanding and accelerating this change. With ambitious future plans, ZF decided to come to Serbia and invest in a new production site, and by the time this modern production facility was officially opened, in June 2019, the investment had already increased and the extension of the plant and research & development centre were already under construction. A significant investment of 160 million euros was agreed for the construction of phases I and II of the Pančevo plant, as an expansion of ZF’s global production
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FROM LEFT: MILAN GRUJIĆ, MICHAEL STAUCH
network, and additional funds amounting to 35.6 million euros were allocated in the second phase of the investment for the construction and equipping of the ZF Serbia engineering centre Pančevo. This marked the biggest German investment in Serbia, initiated the new industrial zone in Pančevo and was a signal for other investors to come to Serbia. ZF understood and recognised the positive change in the investment climate, local efforts that will secure long-term political and economic stability, and also adequate infrastructure and workforce potential, but also the most important factor: the existence of credible and consistent local and national government support and understanding that will enable the desired progress of this project. Today, just three years on, we can have a realistic view of the impressive
results that ZF Serbia has achieved here and state that this location is an evident example of strategic thinking, correct decision making, great visons, promises kept and the joint effort of ZF team members and successful cooperation, but also great friendship between Serbia and Germany, company ZF and the City of Pančevo, which will continue through new plans and future challenges. ZF Serbia’s Pančevo location is today the biggest E-mobility location outside Germany, covering the entire design and production process from the first customer product to serial production, bringing the advantages of all those processes being instigated at the same time and in the same location. The growing team of highly skilled, trained and educated employees at this 58,000m2 production facility is currently working mainly on the production of starter generators for Volvo vehicles, electric motors for the third generation of hybrid transmissions for BMW and electric axle drives for Mercedes-Benz. Furthermore, microswitches and gear shift systems are also produced at the Pančevo plant. The state-of-the-art engineering centre, comprising 3,000m2 of office space and 3,600m2 of its high-tech testing area, currently employees 100 engineers. A cross-functional engineering team deals with the development of new products of the Division Electrified Powertrain Technology, the design of electric motors, the development of electric axle drives, as well as software calibration, testing and validation. Within the scope of the testing centre, in which approximately €20 million has been invested for modern testing equip-
