GEARING THE WORLD ZF MARINE

摘要

Through a series of acquisitions, the company has grown and expanded into new sectors of the marine market so that today its business encompasses nearly every marine application of the whole propulsion driveline except for the engine itself. The marine leisure sector was expanded by the acquisition of the MPM gearbox company of Italy in 1984, which went on to become ZF Padova and produce gearboxes in the range of 200 to 1000hp. Hurth Marine was acquired in 1995 to cover the gearbox range between 10 and 400hp. Larger gearboxes for the leisure sector were produced at the Friedrichshafen facility and today ZF caters for all the requirements of the leisure sector, working with all the major engine manufacturers. Currently it claims to have a 75% share of the marine leisure craft market worldwide and, as reported last month, has just acquired HRP Nederland BV, the designer and producer of a wide range of steerable thrusters.