ZF Friedrichshafen AG (meaning Zahnradfabrik Friedrichshafen Aktiengesellschaft which was until 1992 the name of the company) is a leading supplier of automobile transmissions. The company was founded in 1915 in Friedrichshafen, Germany to produce gears for zeppelins and other airships but moved into the automobile market by 1918. The company helped produce the airship Hindenburg as well as truck parts for Hitler's war effort including the transmission for the Panzer tank. After the war, the company was allowed to resume business producing automobile transmissions and other parts. A small variety of cars, the most popular kind of automobile. ... In mechanics, a transmission or gearbox is the gear and/or hydraulic system that transmits mechanical power from a prime mover (which can be an engine or electric motor), to some form of useful output device. ... 1915 (MCMXV) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... Friedrichshafen is a town on the northern side of Lake Constance (Bodensee) in southern Germany, near the borders with Switzerland and Austria. ... Spur gears found on a piece of farm equipment. ... LZ127 Graf Zeppelin, the most travelled airship in history A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship (or dirigible) pioneered by Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin in the early 20th century based on an earlier design by David Schwarz. ... USS Akron (ZRS-4) in flight, 2 November 1931 An airship is a buoyant aircraft that can be steered and propelled through the air. ... A small variety of cars, the most popular kind of automobile. ... 1918 (MCMXVIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. ... Hindenburg may refer to: Paul von Hindenburg, president of Germany Carl Friedrich Hindenburg, mathematician Hindenburg in Oberschlesien the former name of the city of Zabrze the zeppelin, see Hindenburg disaster This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (April 20, 1889 – April 30, 1945, standard German pronunciation in the IPA) was the Führer (leader) of the National Socialist German Workers Party (Nazi Party) and of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945. ... PzKpfw V-D, a Panther tank   Panzer? is German for armour. ...

In the 1960s, the company began supplying transmissions to the major German automakers, including DKW and BMW, as well as Peugeot and Alfa Romeo. A popular automatic transmission (the 3 HP 20) was introduced in 1969 which was designed to be an easy swap with the company's manual transmissions. In 1972, the company acquired Borg-Warner, a major competitor. Worldwide subsidiaries and factories are opened in the 1970s, and the company moves into India, South Korea, and becomes a major supplier to Ford in the 1980s. The company expands into China in the 1990s. The 1960s in its most obvious sense refers to the decade between 1960 and 1969, but the expression has taken on a wider meaning over the past twenty years. ... DKW is an historic car and motorcycle brand that originates in 1916 when the Dane Jørgen Skafte Rasmussen founded a factory in Saxony in Germany to produce steam fittings. ... BMW AG (an abbreviation for Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, or in English, Bavarian Motor Works), is a German company and manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles. ... Peugeot is a major French car brand which is today part of PSA Peugeot Citroën. ... Alfa Romeo is an Italian automobile manufacturing company, founded as Darracq Italiana by Cavaliere Ugo Stella, an aristocrat from Milan in partnership with the French automobile firm of Alexandre Darracq. ... An automatic transmission is an automobile gearbox that can change gear ratios automatically as the car or truck moves, thus freeing the driver from having to shift gears manually. ... 1969 (MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday For other uses, see Number 1969. ... This is an article about manual transmission in general; for guidance on how to drive with a manual transmission, see Manual transmission driving technique. ... 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year that started on a Saturday. ... BorgWarner is a U.S. automotive parts supplier, known for its automatic transmissions and turbo chargers. ... The 1970s in its most obvious sense refers to the decade between 1970 and 1979. ... The Ford Motor Company (often referred to simply as Ford; sometimes nicknamed FoMoCo), NYSE: F is an automobile maker founded by Henry Ford in Dearborn, Michigan, United States (where the company is currently headquartered), and incorporated on June 16, 1903. ... The 1980s in its most obvious sense refers to the decade between 1980 and 1989. ... The 1990s refers to the years 1990 to 1999; the last decade of the 20th Century, but in an economical sense The Nineties is often considered to span from the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989 to the September 11 attacks in 2001. ...

The company is also known for its truck and bus automatic transmissions. ZF gearboxes are the among the most commonly used in buses. Among the most popular products for buses is the Ecomat series automatic transmission, introduced in 1980. An automatic transmission is an automobile gearbox that can change gear ratios automatically as the car moves, thus freeing the driver from having to shift gears United States since the 1950s have had automatic transmissions. ...

External links

• Official website