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Press Release

2018-Mar-22

ZF Supervisory Board Starts New Term of Office

  • Shareholders’ Meeting appoints new members to ZF’s regulatory body
  • Chairman and vice-chairman to be elected during ZF Supervisory Board constituent meeting on April 12
  • Ten new employee representative members elected in early March

Friedrichshafen, Germany. The Supervisory Board of ZF Friedrichshafen AG, which consists of 20 members on equal terms, has completed its five-year term in office and was officially relieved of its duties at the company’s most recent Shareholders' Meeting. Three new members representing the shareholders have been appointed to the board. Ten employee representatives were previously elected at the beginning of March. On April 12, the new Supervisory Board will hold its constituent meeting and elect its chairman and vice-chairman.

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ZF Supervisory Board Starts New Term of Office

The three new members appointed to ZF’s Supervisory Board are: Dr. Gisela Lanza, who holds a Professorship for Production System and Quality Management at the Karlsruhe Institute für Technology (KIT); Axel Strotbek, who was Chief Financial Officer at Audi AG until September 2017; Dr. Mohsen Sohi, Chief Executive Officer of Freudenberg SE, the Technology Group.

“With these new Supervisory Board members, we will be able to safeguard continuity which, in times of high dynamic change in the automotive industry, has become ever more important and will allow long-term strategic planning,” said Dr. Franz-Josef Paefgen, current chairman of the ZF Supervisory Board, who is applying for re-election.

“I would like to express my gratitude to the parting Supervisory Board members, representing both the shareholders as well as our employees – for their long-standing constructive and trusted cooperation. They have contributed significantly to the positive development of the company.”

Referring to the last meeting of the Supervisory Board, Chairman Paefgen said, “I am delighted to welcome the renowned experts Prof. Dr.-Ing. Gisela Lanza, Axel Strotbek and Dr. Mohsen Sohi to ZF’s Supervisory Board. By electing them, we were able to further reinforce the board’s industrial business expertise. This body is a powerful and independent platform which sets out to constructively accompany the ZF Board of Management, now with its new CEO in office, Mr. Wolf-Henning Scheider.”

Mr. Paefgen also said, “With Wolf-Henning Scheider, the Supervisory Board was very fortunate to quickly gain a true specialist for the position of the CEO of ZF Friedrichshafen AG. He knows the industry and the nature of a foundation company. Looking back upon his professional career, he is an expert in the automotive supplier business. Scheider is well familiar with the challenges of the industry which primarily arise from autonomous, electrified and connected vehicles. He fully supports our ZF 2025 strategy. Moreover, he will provide new impetus and further develop the company beyond the current strategic planning horizon.”

The ten employee representatives in the Supervisory Board were elected at the beginning of March by around 350 delegates. Seven out of ten employee representatives will remain on the board. Joachim Holzner is new on board for the ZF top level executives; he succeeds Jörg Ammon. Wolfgang Schuler, chairman of the Saarbrücken Works Council, is retiring and will be succeeded by his designated successor, Mr. Matthias Scherer, who was elected to the board. Erdal Tahta from Koblenz is the first employee representative from a former TRW location elected to ZF’s Supervisory Board. Mr. Tahta succeeds Matthias Beuerlein from the Schweinfurt location.

The Supervisory Board members at a glance

On behalf of the shareholders:

Ernst Baumann
Former member of the BMW Board of Management, responsible for Human Resources

Andreas Brand
First Mayor of the City of Friedrichshafen

Robert Friedmann
Chairman of the Central Managing Board of the Würth Group, Künzelsau

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Gisela Lanza
Holder of the Professorship for Production System and Quality Management at the Karlsruhe Institute for Technology (KIT)

Dr. Joachim Meinecke
Lawyer, Freiburg

Jürgen Otto
Former Chief Executive Officer of Brose Group, Coburg

Dr.-Ing. Franz-Josef Paefgen
Former Chief Executive Officer of Audi AG, Ingolstadt, Germany, and Bentley Motors Ltd., Crewe, Great Britain

Dr. Mohsen Sohi
Chief Executive Officer of Freudenberg SE, Weinheim

Dagmar Steinert
Member of the Executive Board and CFO of Fuchs Petrolub SE, Mannheim

Axel Strotbek
Former Chief Financial Officer of Audi AG, Ingolstadt

On behalf of the employees:

Jürgen Bunge
Chairman of the Works Council of ZF Friedrichshafen AG, Dielingen/Lemförde location

Achim Dietrich
Chairman of the Group Works Council of ZF Friedrichshafen AG

Joachim Holzner
Head of the CV Chassis Technology BU of ZF Friedrichshafen AG, Dielingen

Frank Iwer
Head of Staff Position Political and Strategic Planning of the Board of Management of IG Metall, Frankfurt

Peter Kippes
First Representative of IG Metall Administration Center Schweinfurt

Oliver Moll
Chairman of the Works Council of ZF Friedrichshafen AG, Schweinfurt location

Vincenzo Savarino
First Representative of IG Metall Administration Center Friedrichshafen-Upper Swabia

Matthias Scherer
Designated chairman of the Works Council of ZF Friedrichshafen AG, Saarbrücken location

Hermann Sicklinger
Chairman of the Works Council of ZF Friedrichshafen AG, Passau location

Erdal Tahta
Chairman of the Works Council of ZF Friedrichshafen AG, Koblenz location

The Supervisory Board members (period 2013 – 2018)

On behalf of the shareholders:

Dr.-Ing. Franz-Josef Paefgen
Former Chief Executive Officer of Audi AG, Ingolstadt, Germany, and Bentley Motors Ltd., Crewe, Great Britain
Chairman

Ernst Baumann
Former member of the BMW Board of Management, responsible for Human Resources

Andreas Brand
First Mayor of the City of Friedrichshafen

Prof. Dr. habil. Dr. rer.nat. Claudia Eckert
Professor at TU München and managing director of Fraunhofer Institute for Applied and Integrated Security

Robert Friedmann
Chairman of the Central Managing Board of the Würth Group, Künzelsau

Dr. Margarete Haase
Member of the Board of Management of Deutz AG, responsible for Finance, Human Resources and Investor Relations

Dr. Joachim Meinecke
Lawyer, Freiburg

Jürgen Otto
Former Chief Executive Officer of Brose Group, Coburg

Dagmar Steinert
Member of the Executive Board and CFO of Fuchs Petrolub SE, Mannheim

Weidong Xu
Managing Director of Kelvion Heat Exchangers (China) Co. Ltd.

On behalf of the employees:

Frank Iwer
Head of Staff Position Political and Strategic Planning of the Board of Management of IG Metall, Frankfurt
Deputy Chairman

Jörg Ammon
Head of ZF Friedrichshafen AG Projects, Friedrichshafen

Matthias Beuerlein
Team Leader of Non-Production Materials Purchasing, ZF Friedrichshafen AG, Schweinfurt

Jürgen Bunge
Chairman of the Works Council of ZF Friedrichshafen AG, Dielingen/Lemförde location

Achim Dietrich
Chairman of the Group Works Council of ZF Friedrichshafen AG

Peter Kippes
First Representative of IG Metall Administration Center Schweinfurt

Oliver Moll
Chairman of the Works Council of ZF Friedrichshafen AG, Schweinfurt location

Vincenzo Savarino
First Representative of IG Metall Administration Center Friedrichshafen-Upper Swabia

Wolfgang Schuler
Chairman of the Works Council of ZF Friedrichshafen AG, Saarbrücken location

Hermann Sicklinger
Chairman of the Works Council of ZF Friedrichshafen AG, Passau location

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CONTACT

Christoph Horn

Senior Vice President Global Corporate and Marketing Communications

+49 7541 77-2705

christoph.horn@zf.com

Andreas Veil

Head of External Communications

+49 7541 77-7925

andreas.veil@zf.com