Automotive Parts Sales Top 18 Companies List

As is known to all, German auto parts companies enjoy a high reputation worldwide and 3 of the top 10 automotive parts companies in the global auto parts company's 2018 list are from Germany. Therefore, the performance and development trend of German counterparts are of important reference significance for Chinese competitors.

This article introduced the list of the top 18 companies in automotive parts sales in Germany, and briefly analyzed the top 10 companies' EBIT margins and their operations, forming a document for the industry's reference.

German auto parts company 2017 sales rankings (in millions of euros)

Note: 11~18 Chinese name of the company: Eberchel, Dekkermeer, MANN+HUMMEL, Webster, Lenny, Infineon, Knorr and Rheinmetall.

14 of the 18 listed companies are headquartered in Germany's most economically developed Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria. There are three in North Rhine-Westphalia and one in Hanover, the capital of Lower Saxony. The 18 companies are distributed on the German map in the order of sales rankings as follows:

10 Brose Group

Germany’s famous family-owned companies, car seats, doors, and motor makers Brose’s global sales in 2017 were 6.269 billion euros, a year-on-year increase of 2.6%. Brose China's sales exceeded 9 billion yuan last year and tripled in 9 years! The Dongfeng Brose (Wuhan) joint venture company was opened in June last year and the new plant in Taicang is about to start production. The new president of Brose, Kurt Sauernheimer, attaches great importance to the Chinese market and said that he will invest 575 million Euros in China in the next five years.

Brose Group is a technology-oriented company. In order to further clarify the development direction of the group, the Germans changed the logo from the original "Technik für Automobile" to "Excellence in Mechatronics" and intended to be a leader in the field of mechatronics. Not only that, Brose has made achievements in the field of automotive light weight, and its intelligent organic composite sheet is favored by Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Volkswagen.

9 Benteler Group

Worldwide sales of the automotive business of the Benteler Group in 2017 in Paderborn, Germany, were 6.296 billion euros, an increase of 7.1% from 2016. The sales volume of the three business chassis and modules, body structure and exhaust system under the jurisdiction of the Automotive Division was respectively 3,527 million Euros, 1.895 billion Euros and 715 million Euros, representing a year-on-year increase.

After Benteler's new CEO, Ralf Göttel, took office, the company began to concentrate on the development of electric vehicle chassis and vehicle thermal management business. It is reported that Benteler has built a new thermal management system and electric vehicle chassis production line in the group, and produces power battery trays in Schwandorf, an eastern city in Bavaria. Bentel China's electric vehicle chassis business has a good momentum of development and has obtained a number of projects.

8 Hella Group

7 ThyssenKrupp Group

6 Schaeffler Group

The famous German family-owned company, the Schaeffler Group's automotive division, achieved revenues of 10.9 billion euros in 2017, an increase of 5.1% year-on-year. In 2017, Schaeffler Automotive Division's four business sales revenue grew across the board: sales of engine systems, transmission systems, chassis systems and after-sales services were 2.79 billion euros (+5.3%) and 4.62 billion euros (+6.3%), respectively. , 1.59 billion euros (+3.6%) and 1.87 billion euros (+3.4%).

The electric drive technology is positioned by Schaeffler as one of the three pillars of the Group's future. In early 2017, Schaeffler unveiled its latest "high-performance 48V" electric drive rear axle at the North American Auto Show. In November 2017, Schaeffler's world's first P2 hybrid module was put into operation at the Taicang plant. The module will be the first to be assembled on Chang'an E&C new energy vehicles. On December 3rd, the Audi ABT team with Schaeffler hub motors won the Hong Kong championship of the global electric formula contest.

In order to further highlight the importance of electric drive, the Schaeffler Electric Drive business unit was formally established on January 1, 2018. In synchronism with Germany, Schaeffler Greater China will also establish a new electric drive R&D center in Shanghai Anting in 2018, and continue to strengthen its domestic R&D capabilities. Schaeffler currently has a large number of electric and hybrid projects in the Chinese market.

5 BASF Group

4 Mahler

The international auto parts giant Mahler, which was founded by the Maler Brothers, had sales of 12.8 billion euros in 2017, an increase of 3.8% from the same period last year. In 2017, MAHLE successfully developed the 48V dual motor drive system and assembled it on a concept car named after MEET. In the field of electric drive, MAHLE already has a rich product line: power electronics, electronic air conditioning compressors and power battery cooling system modules.

On February 1st, 2018, Dr. Jörg Stratmann, the head of Mahler's third division, took the group's seal from Wolf-Henning Scheider, who had been at ZF inauguration, and opened the door for the next round of transformation of Mahler. The goal is to accelerate the peeling of existing internal combustion engine-related product lines such as pistons, connecting rods and filters, and to push forward high-value-added thermal management, electric drive, and power electronics.

3 ZF Group

ZF Group, the German manufacturer of automotive transmissions, active and passive safety and electric drive systems, had revenues of 36.4 billion Euros in 2017, an increase of 3.6% from the previous year.

Under the leadership of former CEO Dr. Stefan Sommer, 2017 sales of ZF passenger vehicle powertrain+chassis, commercial vehicle technology, electric drive, active and passive safety and other main business were 15.21 billion Euros (+5.3%) respectively. , 3.172 billion euros (+7%), 924 million euros (+7%) and 13.97 billion euros (+2.4%).

With the successful conclusion of the 2017 fiscal year, in order to encourage employees, ZF issued a bonus of 1480 Euros to each German local staff member (including the original TRW staff).

2 Continental Group

Germany’s second-largest auto parts supplier Continental Group’s 2017 revenue and profit margins were 44 billion euros and 10.9%, respectively, closely followed by the top ranked Galaxy warship Germany Bosch. From the perspective of major divisions, the chassis and safety, powertrain and interior sales of automobiles were respectively 9.8 billion euros (+10.4%), 7.7 billion euros (+5.6%) and 9.3 billion euros (+9.2%). The tire business division was 11.3 billion euros (+5.3%) and Conti-tech was 6 billion euros (+8.1%).

Under the leadership of Group President Dr. Elmar Degenhart (pictured above), the rapid development of the Group has also brought huge returns to shareholders! As a listed company on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, Continental Group's shares soared by 22.5% during the past year. The shareholders of Continental Group can be said to have blossomed. At the same time, Continental's global employees benefited from the company’s growth in performance. Among them, Germany’s local employees each had a year-end bonus of 1,141 euros, which was a year-on-year increase of 85 euros.

1 Bosch Group

The largest auto parts manufacturer in the world and a master of all kinds of technology - German Bosch Group's total sales in 2017 reached 78 billion euros, an increase of about 5 billion euros. Sales volume in the automotive-related business reached a record high of 47.4 billion euros (+7.8%), far higher than the average increase in the automotive industry.

Under the leadership of Dr. Denner, the profit level of the Bosch Group has increased significantly by 23.2% over the previous year to reach 3.3 billion Euros. At the same time, the Group’s research and development expenses as a percentage of sales also remained at a high of 10%. With years of accumulated financial strength and strong capabilities in systems integration, chip R&D, manufacturing and industrial 4.0, Bosch will focus on research and development of technologies such as automotive hydrogen fuel cell technology and autopilot and driver assistance.

In the foreseeable future, Bosch will continue to maintain its leading position in the global automotive industry.