GRAY COURT, S.C. and FRIEDRICHSHAFEN, Germany – ZF Friedrichshafen AG has opened its first plant for automatic passenger car transmissions in the U.S. Located in South Carolina, ZF Transmissions Gray Court LLC (ZFTG) will manufacture ZF’s eight-speed automatic transmission (8HP), which is already successful in the market, as well as the world’s first nine-speed automatic transmission (9HP).
"We are honored to present the U.S. home of the automatic transmission," said ZF CEO Dr. Stefan Sommer, at the official plant opening in Gray Court on July 26. "This is an important step toward bridging the distance to our customers and having an even better opportunity of accessing North America, the most important foreign market for us."
About 1.2 million transmissions are expected to be produced at this plant annually, including 400,000 8HPs and 800,000 9HPs. Previously, the 8HP was only manufactured in Saarbrucken, Germany. ZFTG will expand on the existing capacities of the German 8HP plant.
So far, ZF has invested around $385 million in building the new location; a total of approximately $600 million will have been invested in the facility, which is around 25 miles south of Greenville.
"It is the largest single investment in the almost century-long history of ZF," said Dr. Konstantin Sauer, ZF board member responsible for finance and the North American region. This reflects ZF’s vision of great potential for the region and the company’s desire to continue expanding its successful course with adequate production capacities.
The 950,000-square-foot facility will be expanded to nearly double in size. By 2016, a total of around 1.4 million square feet will be available so customers can be adequately served, ZF said. The number employees is expected to increase from 1,200 to 1,650.
"We are very confident," Sommer continued, "that in addition to our current customers, Land Rover and Chrysler, other automotive manufacturers will join in and benefit from the advantages of our 9HP."
The new transmission is specially designed for passenger cars with front-transverse engines. Compared to today’s standard six-speed automatic transmission, it cuts fuel consumption by up to 16 percent. "Since around three quarters of all passenger cars worldwide are fitted with this drive configuration," said Sommer, "I see great potential for our new product — especially in North America."
ZF said it chose South Carolina because numerous automobile manufacturers and suppliers are already located in the area, and the local government provided a number of great opportunities to build a new facility. In addition, Piedmont Technical College established a new facility, the Center for Advanced Manufacturing, near ZF to aid in the training of a skilled workforce. With Clemson University also in the area, it provides a great opportunity to recruit future engineers.
In addition, ZF’s new U.S. employees have been trained in the subtleties of transmission assembly by experienced, specialized ZF workers from Saarbrucken via the "Buddy Program." The employees, trained internally through this program, now work as multipliers in Gray Court and are passing on their knowledge to the subsequently recruited U.S. colleagues.
