Friedrichshafen, Germany - Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin (USA) — ZF Friedrichshafen AG is further expanding its position as a worldwide automotive supplier for driveline and chassis technology through the acquisition of the Cherry Corporation, headquartered in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin, with production locations in Germany, the Czech Republic, Mexico, Hong Kong, China, and India (India is a joint venture with TVS Group). Pending government approval, Cherry will continue as an independent business unit of ZF Electronics in the ZF Group.

"With ZF Electronics, we are reinforcing our competence profile in the fields of mechatronics and electronics," underlined Hans-Georg Härter, ZF's CEO and President.

Cherry was founded in 1953 and develops as well as produces switches, sensors, control units, and electronics modules for the automotive industry, components for industrial and household applications, and computer input devices. Cherry’s comprehensive know-how for electronics, software, mechatronics, and plastics technology is, for example, currently incorporated in mechatronics modules, sensor systems, operating switches, selector lever modules, and keyless entry electronics.

The company employs approximately 3,100 employees worldwide, half of the workforce is located in Germany, with headquarters in Auerbach, between Nuremberg and Bayreuth. For the rest of world, Cherry has approximately 900 employees in North America, 250 in Asia, and 400 in Eastern Europe. In 2007, total sales accounted for US $ 400 million(€ 250 million) with 65 percent generated in Europe.

Peter Cherry, Chairman and President of Cherry commented, "This transaction has great strategic value, as it will allow Cherry to expand its current customer base and ZF will bring substantial additional resources for future growth in all of Cherry’s product segments. There are many opportunities for incorporating Cherry’s technologies into the broad range of ZF applications."

Cherry boasts several prestigious awards including "Best Factory of the Year 2005", and, at the end of 2006, the "Automotive Lean Award", as well as in 2008 the "Bavarian Quality Award". Among the customers of the Cherry Corporation are, in addition to ZF, various system suppliers, such as Autoliv, Valeo, Lear, Kiekert, and Continental.