Alex Gelbcke (ZF): “Investing in collections and R&D is the best defence against new competition”

Alex Gelbcke: Our 2025 results are good. Quite logically, when the OE world is struggling, we know that the aftermarket business will thrive. But at ZF, we are in both worlds, with aftermarket sales accounting for 15% of total turnover. While this does not compensate for the pressure on OE sales, the business is profitable and therefore helps to establish a certain balance. And for 2026, the European market is expected to remain flat, but we have the ambition, and I am convinced we have the means to achieve growth in both IAM and OES, if only because we still have niches that have not yet been addressed.

A.G.: Of the eight European markets where we operate, we are leaders in Germany and Poland, where our distribution partner Inter Cars is very strong and promotes all our product lines. In other markets, we do not have the position we believe we should have. We therefore still have strong potential for market share growth. ZF is a very powerful company, incredible in terms of engineering, with an impressive portfolio of products and solutions to deploy, which allows us to build a solid business plan. As ZF is a foundation, without any pressure from the financial world, we are fortunate to be able to take a long-term view and stick to it.

A.G.: This will indeed continue to fuel the number of parts to be replaced. On the other hand, an ageing fl eet requires more affordable solutions, and this is a challenge for Tier 1 equipment manufacturers like us, who will have to be able to address these challenges without compromising on quality. At ZF, we have different levels of product ranges, but this is only part of the answer. Today, repair shops are facing increasing technical complexities and they need solutions. That’s why we are investing in digital technology and diagnostics, with solutions featuring rapidly evolving digital architectures.

A.G.: The ecosystem we are developing integrates digital solutions, parts, part quality and training. This is the basis of the partnership we off er to distributors. However, a partnership requires a two-way approach and therefore relies on the right partner. Of course, we need to work with the major European consolidators, but we mustn’t neglect the vast network of entrepreneurs and distributors who are more specialised, more regional and closer to their customers, whom we will endeavour to target more strongly.

A.G.: For ZF, it is a ‘big’ market with real added value and a substantial budget to share with the distributor. It is a highly professional and technical sector that requires support and training, with huge and complex fleets due to the wide technological gap: engines, but also huge fleets of trailers to maintain. And there is the absolute imperative for transport customers to limit truck downtime with the challenge of preventive maintenance. This is where ZF stands out and will continue to stand out in the future, as we have been developing our digital, workshop, service and training solutions for decades. 

A.G.: Indirectly, it is indeed destabilising for business. Because in addition to the tariffs strategy, US politics are also fuelling tensions with China, which controls the rare earths elements needed for vehicle manufacturing. We have therefore mobilised teams to work on these issues and monitor them closely. But in concrete terms, it is the instability of our legislative environment that poses the biggest problem. This comes at a time when Chinese players are producing more and more high-quality products and have targeted the large European market to sell output that is no longer admitted to the US. And for manufacturers with a global approach, with production sites and customers on every continent, barriers to trade and technology are problematic.

A.G.: It is patently clear that the world is in the process of fi nding a new balance. But the advantage for an industrial firm like ZF is that we have always invested in our know-how and technology. And these investments in R&D are maintained even in turbulent times. ZF does not rely on a portfolio of ageing products, but on a constantly updated catalogue, with the equivalent of 50 new parts numbers released every day! Added to this is the advantage of being a player in the original equipment market, which enables the aftermarket division to anticipate the repairability of future vehicles. This is a real asset, as knowing which technologies will be available tomorrow is a concern for distributors.