ZF says two figures represent the worldwide success of ZF-Ecomid, the manual commercial vehicle transmission: ZF has produced around 750 000 transmission systems of this type worldwide. The ZF plant in Bouthéon has mainly contributed to this success – at the beginning of December 2013, the 500 000th unit of the 9-speed transmission came off the French line. About 500 employees have been working in Bouthéon, at ZF’s biggest location in France, to ensure consistent and reliable delivery to the customers. In addition, ZF produces the Ecomid transmission at locations in India, Brazil, and Russia.
“750 000 Ecomid units worldwide are the result of stable production processes and high quality requirements at ZF. At the same time, the anniversary represents the continued success of the fully synchronized manual transmission. “We are proud of the fact that already 500 000 ZF-Ecomid units have started their way onto the roads from Bouthéon alone,” explains Winfried Gründler, responsible for Truck and Van Driveline Technology at ZF’s Commercial Vehicle Technology division. ZF delivers the Ecomid transmissions produced in Bouthéon to customers throughout Europe and some export countries. Besides the French location, three additional ZF locations ensure the transmission’s global success: Sorocaba (Brazil), Pune (India), and Naberezhnye Chelny (Russia). At these locations, Ecomid is adapted to individual market requirements according to the design-to-market principle and produced for the respective local market.
ZF launched the first ZF-Ecomid manual commercial vehicle transmission in 1985 and has technically revised it several times since then. The current version with nine gears has been designed for medium-duty and heavy trucks with a torque range of between 1 100 and 1 300 newton meters. The transmission features a very powerful starting gear, the crawler, which makes fuel-efficient and cost-effective driving possible. Thanks to optimal power transmission, short shift travels, quiet operation, and low dead weight, ZF-Ecomid convinces fleet operators and drivers worldwide. Additional, optional features such as the pneumatic Servoshift shift assistance and the Intarder transmission brake increase safety and operating comfort. In combination with a wide range of PTOs, the ZF-Ecomid is able to fulfill all requirements.This diversity of functions and the fact that Ecomid is reliable, economical, and requires basically no maintenance constitute the basis of its worldwide track record.
