cars

Supplier ZF wins $6 billion axle contract, will hire 250 in Michigan


German auto supplier ZF Friedrichshafen is hiring for 250 jobs at its plant in Marysville after landing a nearly $6 billion contract to make axles for an automaker.

The supplier, which houses its North American headquarters near Detroit in Livonia, Mich., on Thursday said it will produce solid beam axles for pickups, SUVs and performance sedans until 2027.

The contract will secure the jobs of 800 employees until 2027, ZF spokeswoman Ashley Van Horn said in an email. Around 550 of the positions are filled.

ZF declined to name its customer. Van Horn said the contract was signed two weeks ago. It wasn’t immediately clear if the contract will replace another supplier.

No additional investments are planned for the plant, where 10 million axle drive units and rear beam axles have been produced since it launched in 2009, according to the company.

“This contract signifies a bright future for our plant, employees and community,” Wolfgang Moenig, vice president of product line axle drives for ZF Group North America, said in a news release. “We are committed to growing and developing business and products over time to meet our OE customers’ needs and support them in delivering high-quality systems to the driving public.”

The company said it is hiring for 250 positions including electrical and mechanical skilled trades, product assembly workers and engineers. Pay ranges from $16 to $35 per hour, and the company is offering $1,500 bonuses to electricians and $500 bonuses for hourly workers, according to its website. A hiring fair is scheduled at the 2900 Busha Highway plant on July 31 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

ZF announced in February it is investing $200 million to add a production line at its commercial vehicle transmission plant in South Carolina, Automotive News reported.

ZF saw overall 2020 global sales slip by 11 percent to $38.3 billion, according to its annual earnings report. It has 153,500 employees worldwide. Around 3,600 of them were based in southeast Michigan as of July 2019, according to Crain’s Data Center.

The company ranks No. 3 on the Automotive News list of the top 100 global suppliers with worldwide sales to automakers of $33.4 billion in 2020.



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