ZF raises U.S. outlook, pauses hybrid plan for U.S. trucks

U.S. demand runs ahead of plan

ZF’s North American business grew 23.7% last year to $1.32 billion in revenue, said Wohltmann, who is based in Auburn Hills, Mich., and also leads R&D for the Americas.

“Good trend upward,” he said of the U.S. market. “Freight is demanding. Fleets starting to update equipment. Uncertainty is the word of the year. Not a tremendous exploding market — a healthy, forward-looking one.”

Asked about tariffs and diesel prices, Wohltmann said, “Challenging, but the market held for a while and now it’s at the point of invest. High diesel even fuels the drive for efficient solutions.”

Wohltmann pointed to ZF’s PowerLine eight-speed automatic, built at its plant in Gray Court, S.C., which is available with Paccar and coming soon to Daimler Truck North America. The company is also pitching an electric trailer built around its AxTrax driven axle, which uses regenerative braking to charge batteries, run a reefer unit, and help push the combination. Fuel savings depend on the use case, he said, and go “way above 10%,” with the best case getting close to 20%.

New business and cash flow

ZF CVS has booked more than €5 billion ($5.7 billion) in lifetime business so far in 2026, according to ZF’s Sept. 15 IAA press release. Schlegel put the division’s win rate in customer acquisitions at more than 90% and described the strategy as profitability over scale.

“We don’t take business at a bad margin,” he said.

Across the group, adjusted free cash flow more than doubled to €989 million ($1.13 billion) in the first half, from €465 million ($530 million) a year earlier, according to ZF’s July 30 half-year results. Schlegel said stronger cash generation let ZF pay back a first tranche of debt in the first half, ahead of its second-half plan.

Hybrid focus shifts to Europe and Japan

TraXon Hybrid was ZF’s lead pitch at IAA. It is built on the TraXon 2 automated manual transmission and reuses parts from ZF’s electrified drivetrain platform. ZF has sold more than 1.5 million TraXon transmissions, all in the heavy class, Schlegel said.

“Leaving politics aside: we had a lead customer in the U.S. very interested,” Schlegel said. “Given the current frame, the U.S. hybridization project is for the moment paused.”

Europe and Japan are the current focus, he said, and ZF is “on the way to sign first customer contracts” for the hybrid. Five days after the briefing, TraXon Hybrid won the Truck Innovation Award 2027 from the International Truck of the Year jury at IAA Transportation, Automotive World reported.

For the U.S., Wohltmann said an electric trailer pulled by a diesel tractor “is already an entry to a hybrid setup.”

“If we can show TCO improvement and ROI around year two, it will get interest in the U.S.,” he said.