The journey towards zero-emission, connected vehicles has dramatically changed the demands placed on suppliers and automakers. As the pace of innovation across the mobility industry rockets, so have the risk factors. With companies pouring huge sums of money into R&D, backing the wrong technology could prove fatal. For some, diversification has become central to future-proofing success.
Technology specialist ZF was keen to show off its diverse portfolio as well as its technology leadership at the Global Technology Day 2023 in Friedrichshafen, Germany, where the focus was on e-mobility and chassis. “For us, those two segments are defining the future of mobility,” Chief Executive Holger Klein told media. ZF plays an active role in other megatrends, notably autonomous driving, safety and the software-defined vehicle, but those segments were previously given the spotlight at CES in January 2023. For all areas of technology, though, there has been a step change in the speed of development.
“Typically, we would talk of development cycles of two years or more. Now we can have an eight-month timeframe,” he observed. Eight months was how long it recently took the development team to bring a new steering concept into production. With that sort of pace no longer unusual, modular concepts are becoming increasingly important, as is an agile corporate structure. “We want to take the hierarchy out of our organisation,” Klein added. “This is what tech players do. It makes them more agile and prevents them from thinking in siloes.”
