FRIEDRICHSHAFEN, Germany, March 30 (Xinhua) -- ZF Friedrichshafen AG, the third largest German auto supplier, has recorded revenue of 35.2 billion euro (37.7 billion U.S. dollars) in 2016, with year-on-year increase of 20.6 percent.
The company's CEO Stefan Sommer said Thursday at the annual press conference that the revenue increase owed mainly to the inclusion of the new division of Active and Passive Safety Technology for the first time since ZF had acquired U.S.-based safety systems supplier TRW in 2015.
The annual report showed that ZF earned 924 million euros after tax in 2016, 95 million euro less than in the previous year which was characterized by special circumstances such as sale of ZF Lenksysteme and offsetting of tax loss carryforwards from the acquisition of TRW.
The result of 2016 provided ZF a solid foundation to help shape the challenging transformation in the automotive industry through digitalization, electromobility and autonomous driving, said Sommer.
In Sommer's view, the car of future will still rely on mechanical components, while the intelligent mechanical systems combining hardware and software bring advantage for his company.
Since entering China in 1981, ZF has made steady development with setting up two regional headquarters, and 31 manufacturing enterprises in China.
Sales of electric cars is expected to grow further and even aggressively in China, as China's economy continues to grow strongly, the head of ZF said, adding that in this regard his company is ready to provide more technology and services in China.
