After Ford's car production ended, the crisis-ridden Saarland received a major investment in e-mobility.

This is intended to secure the Saarbrücken location of the ZF Group with around 9,000 employees.

This was announced by the auto supplier from Friedrichshafen on Monday in the run-up to a joint press conference with Saarland Prime Minister Anke Rehlinger (SPD).

Bernd Freytag

Business correspondent Rhein-Neckar-Saar based in Mainz.

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Gustave parts

Business correspondent in Stuttgart.

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However, the investment only came about thanks to strong public support and the willingness of the workforce.

According to ZF itself, it is investing an amount “in the hundreds of millions”.

As agreed in June, the workforce is waiving part of their remuneration and instead giving the money to a “future fund” that is to be used for investments in new technologies.

According to the ZF announcement, the state government has promised further funding.

Prime Minister Anke Rehlinger (SPD) is quoted as saying that “one of the largest industrial employers in Saarland is securing its location here today and with it thousands of jobs.

It is a "very important signal of confidence", the agreement is "a shining example of how structural change can be actively shaped".

3 billion for transformation

After Ford announced the end of the Saarlouis plant in September, the SPD's sole government announced a debt-financed "transformation fund" worth 3 billion euros to finance the structural change.

However, the project is controversial, after all, the government is bypassing the debt brake.

And that, in turn, is only permitted in the case of natural disasters and exceptional emergencies that are beyond the control of the state and have a significant impact on the financial situation.

The fund is larger than half of the budget and is to be paid back in ten years.

In December, Parliament still has to approve the plan, including the supplementary budget for 2022 and the budget for 2023.

The CDU opposition could sue before the constitutional court, but that is considered unlikely because of the high hopes that the cornucopia has awakened in the stricken Saarland economy.

The party has not yet officially commented on this.

Out at Ford

According to its own statements, the state government had promised the car manufacturer Ford almost one billion euros in aid if it were to keep production in Saarland with its 4,600 employees including suppliers.

Nevertheless, the company decided to exit and invest in Valencia, Spain.

With 9,000 employees in Saarbrücken, a few kilometers from the French border, ZF is the largest remaining industrial employer.

In the plant, the series production of drive technology for purely electric cars is now scheduled to begin in 2024.

Until now, ZF has been manufacturing transmissions at the plant.

According to ZF, the location is "well utilized" due to an 8-speed automatic transmission for hybrid cars.

According to the group, the agreement strengthens the plant in its role as a lead location for electric drive systems.

In the future, it is to assume “responsibility for the worldwide industrialization” of drive systems for electric cars.

In mid-October, IG Metall Saarbrücken quickly demanded concrete commitments for the plant.

A representative complained that this was supposed to be available in the summer.

ZF gambles away valuable time.

In addition to the future fund, it was also agreed in June that redundancies for operational reasons are excluded until 2025.

"Foundation for the next generation of mobility"

Mario Kläs, the chairman of the works council at the site, says that the "foundation for the next generation of mobility" has now been laid in Saarbrücken.

The transformation is now becoming tangible for the colleagues.

At the same time, he warned: "Of course, further settlements of products of the future must take place in order to compensate for the future decline in 8-speed automatic transmissions and thus to secure jobs."

The ZF foundation group, which is controlled by the city of Friedrichshafen, was previously considered a transmission specialist and, with almost 160,000 employees and sales of almost 40 billion euros, is one of the largest automotive suppliers in the world.

The company is in the midst of a transformation to also offer products for electric cars and digital functions in the car.