ZF Friedrichshafen has to restructure its board again. Stephan von Schuckmann (50) is stepping down from his position on July 31 for family reasons, as the automotive supplier announced on Thursday.
The 50-year-old is responsible for the electrified drive business at ZF, and he also heads the Asia region. Both key roles for the automotive supplier, as ZF wants to grow with electromobility technologies and increase sales China screw up. In 2022, 18 percent of ZF sales came from there, and in 2030 it should be 30 percent – that would be around 15 billion euros.
There have been rumors of farewell to the automotive supplier in recent months around von Schuckmann, who has been working for ZF since 2003 and was promoted to the board in January 2021. Some insiders had wondered why the manager had not moved to Asia, contrary to what he had announced, Manager Magazine reported in the spring
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Business in Division E, the electromobility unit at ZF, is also not running smoothly. We hear again and again from corporate circles that the supplier is burning money on many of the projects. ZF boss Holger Klein (54) recently confirmed that the technology for electric drives is “mostly not yet profitable.” Interview with manager magazine
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Nevertheless, the division is of crucial importance for ZF, with sales of 11.5 billion euros last year. Converting this potential into profits is one of the biggest challenges for the company from Lake Constance. Such a task requires “one hundred percent attention and commitment,” said Stephan von Schuckmann himself on Thursday. “A family event caused me to reset my priorities. My family needs my full support now.”
ZF supervisory board chairman Heinrich Hiesinger (64) and Andreas Brand (60), outgoing chairman of the Zeppelin Foundation, which holds 93.8 percent of ZF shares, declared their regret in a statement. With the electrical orders won, von Schuckmann has “laid the foundation for the successful transformation from conventional to electric drive technology at ZF,” said Hiesinger.
Board renewed once
Von Schuckmann’s responsibilities at Division E and in Asia will be taken over by CEO Klein on an interim basis. The materials management department, also previously under von Schuckmann’s responsibility, will be headed by commercial vehicle board member Peter Laier (56) until further notice. The supervisory board will regulate the permanent replacement “promptly,” it said.
Commercial vehicle boss Laier and CFO Michael Frick (58) joined at the beginning of 2023, when Holger Klein also replaced Wolf-Henning Scheider (62) at the top of the board. The completely revamped management team is pursuing a tough austerity course at ZF: CEO Klein has already sold in order to pay off more than 10 billion euros in debt first divisions, lock first works and also announced cost-cutting measures for staff.