Site Selection

Facility Planning

Workforce Development

Business+Place

AD Editorial Board

Bill Luttrell

Senior Locations Strategist, Werner Global Logistics, Werner Enterprises
Bradley Migdal

Senior Managing Director, Business Incentives Practice, Cushman & Wakefield, Inc.
Brian Corde

Managing Partner, Atlas Insight
Christine Bustamante

National Co-Leader, Global Location and Expansion Services, State and Local Tax, KPMG LLP
Dan Levine

Practice Leader, Location Strategies and Economic Development, Oxford Economics, Inc.
Dan White

Senior Economist, Moody's Analytics
Dean J. Uminski, CEcD

Principal, Crowe Horwath
Dennis Cuneo

Managing Partner , Fisher & Phillips
Eric Stavriotis

Senior Vice President, CBRE, Inc.
Gregory Burkart

Managing Director and Practice Leader, Site Selection & Business Incentive Advisory Services, Duff & Phelps, LLC
Jamie Lominack

Corporate Real Estate Manager, Michelin North America
John Morris

SIOR, Industrial Services Lead for the Americas, Cushman & Wakefield, Inc.
Josh Bays

Principal, Site Selection Group, LLC
Les Cranmer

Senior Managing Director, Savills Studley
Marc Beauchamp

Vice President & Partner, The CAI Global Group
Michael McDermott

Consulting Manager, Global Business Consulting, Cushman & Wakefield
Minah Hall

Managing Director, True Partners Consulting LLC
Scott Kupperman

Founder, Kupperman Location Solutions
Scott Redabaugh

Managing Director, JLL
Stephen Gray

CEO, Gray Construction
Thomas J. Stringer, Esq.

Managing Director & Practice Leader, Site Selection and Business Incentives Group, BDO USA
Tim Feemster

Managing Principal, Foremost Quality Logistics

German-Based ZF Transmission Invests $175 Million To Expand Laurens County, South Carolina, Manufacturing Plant

Area Development News Desk

07/26/2013

ZF Transmissions, a global supplier of driveline and chassis technology based in Germany, will invest more than $175 million to expand its operations in Laurens County, South Carolina, opening the company’s first-ever passenger car transmission plant in the U.S and creating 450 jobs.

Part of the largest single venture in ZF’s history outside of Germany, the new plant will be the third expansion in four years for ZF, and brings the company’s total investment to more than $600 million in South Carolina. By 2016, the number of employees is expected to increase from 1,200 to 1,650, according to the company.

The 950,000-square-foot Gray Court plant is expected to produce 1.2 million transmissions annually. Previously, the 8-speed automatic transmission was only manufactured in Saarbrücken, Germany.

“We are honored to present the U.S. home of the automatic transmission,” said ZF CEO, Dr. Stefan Sommer, at the official plant opening in Gray Court on Friday, July 26. “This is an important step toward bridging the distance to our customers and having an even better opportunity of accessing North America, the most important foreign market for us.”

ZF Transmissions Gray Court, located in Laurens County, is the manufacturing site of the 8-speed automatic transmission, as well as the world’s first 9-speed automatic transmission. In addition, ZF’s new transmission is specially designed for passenger cars with front-transverse engines; compared to today’s standard 6-speed automatic transmission, it cuts fuel consumption by up to 16 percent.

“ZF continues to show its commitment to growth in South Carolina, and to professional training for its employees. Today’s announcement indicates that ZF sees South Carolina as the right place for its business. We celebrate ZF’s additional $175 million investment and the creation of 450 new jobs in Laurens County,” said Gov. Nikki Haley. The Coordinating Council for Economic Development approved a RIF grant of $2 million for land acquisition.

"International companies such as ZF have made the Upstate a globally-oriented manufacturing center," said Upstate SC Alliance president and CEO Hal Johnson. "Regional investments such as the Center for Advanced Manufacturing at Piedmont Technical College and Clemson's International Center for Automotive Research (ICAR) have helped us solidify the Upstate's position as a place that works with business to make them and us more productive."

Article Discussion