Major expansion for ZF in Russia

A major expansion of the joint ZF and Kamaz assembly plant in Naberezhnye Chelny, Tartastan (Russian Federation) is planned for completion by 2010. Kamaz, the market leader for heavy-duty trucks in the Russian Federation, has announced plans to completely change over all vehicle models to ZF transmissions. The workforce at the ZF Kama plant in Russia will be increased over the next three years from the current 60 to around 700 employees.

According to Wolfgang Vogel, Executive Vice President of the ZF Friedrichshafen AG Commercial Vehicle and Special Driveline Technology Division: "With this internationalization strategy ZF is taking a decisive step toward market penetration in Russia and in cooperation with the market leader, has gained an optimal starting position in another growth market." The world growth markets for commercial vehicle production are in the so-called BRIC countries, i.e. Brazil, Russia, India, and China.

Founded in 2005, ZF Kama launched production operations in January 2006. The company's plant currently produces 9,000 Ecosplit manual truck transmissions annually. ZF production for Kamaz includes transmissions for heavy- and medium-duty commercial vehicles. Kamaz plans to produce 54,000 vehicles this year. The ZF Kama plant currently focuses on assembly operations. Following further expansion, it will also handle manufacturing for the company starting in mid-2008. Some €160 million will be invested in the joint venture by 2010 when the targeted sales volume is expected to reach €250 million.

The expansion of manufacturing operations and subsequent series production operations will require parts supplied from ZF plants in Friedrichshafen, Bouthéon (France) and Eger (Hungary). These plants will provide around 25 percent of the parts required by the joint venture in Tartastan. The additional volume produced for Kamaz will increase long-term sales as well as the number of jobs at ZF plants in Western Europe. ZF also supplies transfer cases and clutches to Kamaz. Additional projects for truck steering systems, and driveline and chassis technology for buses, have already been launched.