Wieselburg, 2/5/2019. Sales in 2018 marked another record year for the ZKW Group. The globally active specialist for innovative premium lighting and electronic systems increased its consolidated group sales to 1.34 billion euros. At the same time, the corporate staffing level grew to around 9,700 employees at the end of 2018.

The company is one of the world’s leading strategic partners of the automotive industry and celebrated its 80th anniversary in 2018. The ZKW Group operates internationally at a total of eight locations – two of them in Austria plus sites in Slovakia, the Czech Republic, China, India, Mexico and the USA.

Merger with LG

2018 marked the end of an eventful year for ZKW. On 3 August the sale to LG was legally concluded with the “Closing” and ZKW secured a new owner in the form of the South Korean high-tech group. “Due to ZKW’s rapid development, we had to look for a suitable solution for the future and found LG to be the ideal partner to sustain our growth and continue to be successful. We can use common synergies in many areas and are delighted that the cooperation with LG is very positive”, says Oliver Schubert, CEO of ZKW Group GmbH.

Expansions in several locations

The ZKW Group expanded its electronics competence center in Vienna Neustadt as early as January 2018 and heralded the largest site expansion in ZKW’s history with the ground-breaking ceremony at the Slovakian site in Krušovce in September. The production area of the plant has been almost doubled from 42,000 to around 80,000 square meters. In addition, the Chinese site in Dalian is currently being expanded in 2019.

Record number of employees

ZKW not only achieved record sales figures, but also, for the first time ever, a staffing level of 9,700. Around 3,400 of these employees are located at the Austrian locations Wieselburg and Wiener Neustadt. Almost two thirds of the workforce work in an international environment. To ensure it stays on its planned growth track, ZKW continues to be on the lookout for employees worldwide and offers a modern working environment with interesting development opportunities. “Our highly qualified employees are the key success factor for our profitable growth. Over the past eight years, the staffing level has more than quadrupled from 2,400 in 2010 to 9,700 in 2018. This remarkable increase calls for an innovative corporate culture paired with professional human resources management to be competitive as an employer and attract the best talent,” says Oliver Schubert.

Looking to the future

ZKW also has a lot in the works for 2019. In addition to plant expansion, the focus will be on innovation in order to remain at the forefront of technological development. The product portfolio will be expanded beyond the main headlamp to include solutions for all outdoor lighting applications. ZKW is already working on solutions to cover strategic cornerstones of vehicles, particularly with regard to autonomous driving. Sensor technologies integrated into the lighting systems will enable a 360-degree panoramic view in the future.