Germany’s ZF holds groundbreaking ceremony for EUR 160 million project to produce EV parts in Serbia

German car parts maker ZF Friedrichshafen AG broke ground today for a plant to produce drives for hybrid and electric vehicles (EV) in the Serbian city of Pančevo, in a EUR 160 million project Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić described as an investment in “a factory of the future.”

ZF is investing more than EUR 100 million in the EV parts production project some 14 kilometers northeast of the Serbian capital Belgrade.

Starting in 2019, the plant, covering more than 20,000 square meters, will focus on the production of electric motors and generators for hybrid and electric drives, as well as other components. In the long term, the ZF Pančevo location will have a workforce of 1,000, the company has said in a press release.

The City of Pančevo has provided ZF with land for the project free of charge. In the first investment phase, through 2021, the plant will span 25,000 square meters on 10.8 hectares of land and create 540 jobs, according to local media.

In the second phase, which would start in 2022, another 25,000-square meter facility would be added to the production site.

Vučić said at the groundbreaking ceremony that he hopes ZF will open production facilities at two or three more locations in Serbia and hire 100 people in a research and development center.

The ceremony was also attended by German Ambassador to Serbia Axel Dittmann and other officials.

"Лидер у производњи ауто-компоненти, немачка комапнија ЗФ, почиње изградњу фабрике у Панчеву. То је прва инвестиција у овом граду после неколико деценија." pic.twitter.com/5foyo1L5ue

— Александар Вучић (@predsednikrs) June 21, 2018