Malaysia – The driveline and chassis specialist opened the production facility in Kulim, where 74 employees will initially produce axle sets for supply to the nearby BMW plant. Production will begin with completely knocked down (CKD) axles. The front and rear axles will be installed in several BMW and Mini models.
Stefan Sommer, CEO of ZF, remarked that Malaysia is a market “with potential”. It is considered to be among the so-called ‘next-15 states’, like Thailand, where ZF started axle assembly for passenger cars 11 years ago. As noted by ZF, demand in these nations is expected to increase dramatically by 2020.
Peter Holdmann, from ZF’s Car Chassis Technology division, said the new plant in Kulim would benefit from “the production capacities that are already available in the region and from our experience in Asia-Pacific”.
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