Automotive parts supplier ZF Friedrichshafen has opened a new automatic passenger car transmissions manufacturing plant in the US, built at an investment of about EUR300m.
Located in South Carolina, ZF Transmissions Gray Court, will produce eight-speed automatic transmission as well as nine-speed automatic transmissions at the new facility.
The new facility is expected to manufacture about 1.2 million transmissions annually, including 400 000 units of eight -speed and 800 000 units of nine-speed automatic transmissions.
The new 90 000sqm facility further expands the company's current capacity at the Saarbrucken location to produce eight-speed automatic transmissions and is expected to support it in addressing strong demand for its automatic transmissions.
ZF chief executive officer Stefan Sommer said that the plant is an important step toward bridging the distance to the company's customers and having an even better opportunity of accessing North America.
"We are very confident that in addition to our current customers, Land Rover and Chrysler, other automotive manufacturers will join in and benefit from the advantages of our 9-speed automatic transmission," Sommer added.
The new transmissions are designed for passenger cars with front-transverse engines and are claimed to reduce the fuel consumption by about 16%, compared to the current six-speed automatic transmissions.
