Shanghai (ZXZC)- On July 21, ZF Group and the Management Committee of Wuhan Economic and Technological Development Zone signed an investment agreement under which ZF will establish an automotive airbag production base and an R&D center in Wuhan city, and set up ZF Automotive Safety Systems (Wuhan) Co., Ltd. Once operational, the project is expected to reach a peak annual output value of 3 billion yuan.

Photo credit: ZF Group

According to the group, the project is set to cover an area of roughly 67,000 square meters and involve a total investment of 150 million euros (about 1.2 billion yuan), with a total workforce of 1,200 people. It will introduce new production lines as well as R&D and testing equipment, focusing on the R&D, production, and sales of safety airbag products. Its products will primarily meet domestic market demands of China, while also being exported to Southeast Asia, Japan, South Korea, Europe, etc.

Notably, an additional investment of 30 million euros (about 240 million yuan) will be allocated to establishing an R&D center in Wuhan. This center will become ZF's largest R&D facility for passive safety systems in the Asia-Pacific region outside of Shanghai and the largest testing center for new product sample of airbag in the Asia-Pacific region. While enhancing local development capabilities, it is expected to gradually share the R&D and testing capabilities with other global R&D centers, and provide comprehensive services to major domestic and international automakers.

This is not ZF Group's first investment in Wuhan Economic and Technological Development Zone. As early as 2011, it established a Wuhan branch and, in 2021, set up there a wholly-owned subsidiary of ZF Asia-Pacific Group, expanding its business scope to include R&D, production, and sales of passenger car chassis systems, braking systems, and passengers' safety systems.