Dive Brief:
- Auto part supplier ZF Group is investing $500 million to expand its transmission facility in Gray Court, South Carolina, Gov. Henry McMaster announced Nov. 27.
- The investment will create 400 jobs and upgrade the site’s equipment and technologies as the automotive industry moves towards electrification.
- The facility will produce propulsion systems for passenger cars and commercial vehicles and begin manufacturing new products later this year.
Dive Insight:
As more automakers transition their production to EVs in North America, ZF Group has been expanding its portfolio and domestic manufacturing capacity to keep pace with its customers.
“Having the capability to produce the propulsion systems of today, and e-mobility products of tomorrow, under one U.S. roof and in South Carolina, is critical to serving our customers in the U.S. and globally,” Tobias Brugger, VP and plant manager at ZF Transmissions Gray Court, said in a statement.
In July, ZF announced it’s expanding its part offerings to over 73 million more vehicles in North America by adding 285 new products to its portfolio. Those products include brake pads, suspension and steering components for companies such as Hyundai, Ford, Tesla, Mercedez-Benz and BMW.
The company also services parts for commercial vehicles such as Volta Trucks and buses for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. ZF Group launched a $200 million production line earlier this year for its PowerLine 8-speed automatic transmissions, a part designed to be used in trucks, buses and other commercial vehicles.
The company’s major supplier win came from BMW in 2019. ZF Group received an order for its 8-speed automatic transmission, which the company began producing in 2022 at the Gray Court site, supplying BMW’s plant in Spartanburg a little over 30 miles away.
Elsewhere, ZF Group has been investing millions toward increasing production capacity at its Mexico facilities to service the North American market. The auto part maker is investing $194 million to build a new facility in Juárez, 39.6 million euros ($43 million) to expand its Toluca site, and an unknown amount to expand smart camera production at its Monterrey facility.
