ZF opens a new factory of electric power plants in Serbia and announces the extension of the location
• Official opening of the location in Pancevo, a town near the Serbian capital, Belgrade, after just one year of construction
• Due to great interest in electric drives, the new location is already expanding
• The Technology Group will invest a total of EUR 160 million in the newly built factory by 2021, as well as its expansion
With exaggerated expectations in the era of electromobility: After just one year of construction, ZF’s E-Mobility department officially opened its new production site in Pančevo in the presence of Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, the Prime Minister of the Provincial Government Igor Mirović, Ambassador H.E. Thomas Schieb and the Mayor of Pančevo Sasha Pavlov. This factory will produce electric motors, electric machines and generators for hybrid and electric drives as well as switches for gearboxes and microswitches. The demand for these products is high, which is why the plant’s premises are now expanding from 25,000 to about 60,000 square meters.
“The fact that all involved here in just a year of building a factory is an extremely important and dignified award,” said Michael Hankel, a member of the board of directors of ZF Friedrichshafen AG, and a responsible person, among others, in the area of production and electromobility. “Their engagement has enabled us to start production here today and expand our global production network.” In addition to Pancevo, ZF produces electric motors and components for electro-engines in Schweinfurt In Germany – where the headquarters of E-Mobility and the leading location are located for this technology – and the next year is also planned to open a new location in the Chinese city of Hangzhou, south of Shanghai.
In June 2018, works began on the construction of a new ZF factory in Pancevo, 14 kilometres northeast of the Serbian capital, Belgrade. The first phase of construction, which is now in operation, covers an area of 25,000 square meters. “Demand for our products from the sphere of electromobility continues to grow rapidly – which is very satisfactory and shows that with our attractive products we can help our customers achieve their CO2 reduction targets,” said Jerg Grotendorst, head of the E-Mobility Division of ZF. “For this reason, in the next two years, we will need to expand our production site in Pancevo.”
“The innovative project implemented by the ZF in Pancevo shows in the best way an extremely positive trend in economic relations between Germany and Serbia. I am deeply convinced that we will, therefore, improve and intensify our business relations and contribute to further sustainable economic growth in Serbia. Germany will continue to support Serbia in its dedicated work on reforms aimed at speeding up economic harmonization and advancement on the road to the European Union,” said German ambassador to Serbia Thomas Schieb.
“Today is a great day for Serbia, southern Banat and Pancevo, and a lot of effort has been invested, and I am grateful to the people who worked on it, for these days we live.” These days, they show the results of the work Many people had to do and many things to be done that one ZF could employ people here. Less than a year ago, there was nothing here, and today it is a magnificent factory with cutting-edge technology. Today we can be proud of this magnificent factory, everything that is most up-to-date is found here in the ZF. We will be the first of the countries in the region that will have the production of the soul of the engine,” stressed on this occasion the President of the Republic of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic.
This second phase of construction, to be completed by 2021, will cover about 35,000 square meters, so in the end, we will have a total of 60,000 square meters of factory space available. ZF invests a total of EUR 160 million in the entire factory. The number of employees in the Pancevo factory currently stands at 300. In the next two years, the company plans to hire another 700 people who will be engaged in the production of primarily electric machines and generators for hybrid and electric drives as well as switches for gearboxes and microswitches.
Electromobility is the central pillar of ZF’s strategy called “Next Generation Mobility”. This technology group offers the most diverse solutions for hybrid and clean electric drives for almost every segment of the vehicle in the series – from electric bikes to up to 40 tonnes of vehicles. System integration of gearboxes, electromechanics and energy electronics is a key competence that ZF can offer from its same source to its customers. In addition to a purely electric drive for passenger cars, the company specifically focuses on the next generation of plug-in hybrid vehicles, where the electric motor covers most of the car’s power, while the combustion chamber remains within the range of “plus”.