ZF – a Saarbrücken success story

On 16 March 1971, the settlement contract between the gearbox manufacturer ZF and the city of Saarbrücken was signed at St. Johann town hall. At the end of the 1960s, after a good deal of toing and froing, Saarbrücken had finally gained some space for new economic development at the former 'big parade ground' at the Spicherer Höhen, which belonged to the federal government.

ZF's decision in favour of Saarbrücken can be explained by its location in the heart of Europe and the EEC market, which was growing at the time. Saarbrücken was considered first choice because of its proximity to France and the Peugeot factories in Sochaux, which were the most major customer at the time. But there were also a large number of other manufacturers whom it could reach within a radius of 500 kilometres.

Having said that, the launch in 1973 was modest and, at the beginning, had some headwind to face. Citizens protested against the settlement, and cooperation partner Borg-Warner backed out.

Today, with almost 10,000 workers, ZF is the largest employer in the city and the federal state.
ZF developed to become Europe's most major automatic gearbox manufacturer and played a pioneering role worldwide in the deployment of electronic control systems for automatic gearboxes. With the rise of BMW in the 1970s and Audi in the 1990s to become premium makes with a large production volume, ZF grew to become a producer and technology leader in the field of automatic gearboxes, expanding worldwide.