ZF celebrates 100-year anniversary

This year, ZF Friedrichshafen celebrates a century of providing quality parts and driving automotive progress right around the globe. Founded by Ferdinand von Zeppelin in 1915, the company has gone from a small factory producing gears for airships to a production empire manufacturing a huge range of parts. Notably amongst their range are transmissions, gearboxes and Driveline technology.

Engineering specialists, ZF group have earned a reputation for quality in the automotive industry. Most famous for its driveline technology for cars, commercial vehicles and other heavy plant equipment, ZF are well known for excellence in design, research and development and manufacturing.

After 100 years, their parts are still keeping the world in motion. Many vehicles, produced right around the world, attribute at least part of their success to ZF. Having cultivated relationships with the likes of BMW, Aston Martin and MAN, ZF has most certainly had a hand in shaping the way we travel.

Quality guaranteed

ZF’s longevity is almost certainly attributable to their uncompromising commitment to quality; the ZF logo has become synonymous with technological excellence in manufacturing. The company ethos, which travels right down the chain from ZF management to their employees and partners, means pride in expertise, quality and service in all operations.

Notoriously eager to carry out research and development, experts at ZF are committed to pushing the boundaries of possibility. Much of their research is dedicated to making products more resilient, or better performing. Some of their most notable technological advancements have come in the transmission sector where they developed the world’s first six and nine-speed automatic transmissions.

As well as helping to produce countless much-loved production vehicles, ZF have also sought to push the limits of competitive motoring. ZF parts have helped win many competitive races: a ZF transmission helped drive Jim Clark to Formula 1 success in 1963 and 1965. Others may remember the Ford GT-40’s legendary triple victory in Le Mans, which was also powered by a ZF transmission.

Ecodrive: a ZF specialist

At Ecodrive, we are immensely proud of our relationship with ZF Friedrichshafen. As a ZF DriveCentre, we are committed to offering the same service and technical expertise clients have come to expect from ZF to all of our customers and trading partners.

As an official trading partner, we also stock and source genuine Sachs, Lemfoerder and Boge parts and service exchange components.

To find out more about ZF’s compelling history, visit their interactive 100-year timeline.