Von Schuckman joined ZF in 2003 and held various management positions at the supplier before moving to Car Powertrain as senior vice president for finance, controlling, IT and process management before taking over as head of the division in October 2018.
Hankel, 63, the board member responsible for the Car Powertrain Technology and E-Mobility Divisions, Corporate Production, and key account management for passenger car customers in Europe and North America, will retire December 31 after 17 years with ZF, the supplier said. He joined the management board in 2003.
ZF did not give further details about eliminating new investments in pure internal combustion powertrains, but the supplier has been focusing on developing transmissions for hybrid and electric drives, as well as electric axles and a fuller range of in-vehicle electronics and software.
"In the long term, we expect purely electric drivelines to prevail in passenger cars and many commercial vehicles in markets with suitable infrastructure and favorable geography," ZF said in its 2019 annual report.
At the end of 2018, ZF said it would invest 800 million euros ($948 million) in its transmission factory in Saarbruecken, Germany, to make the transition from conventional to electric drives.
The company will report first-half earnings on Friday. ZF ranks No. 5 on the Automotive News list of the top 100 global suppliers with worldwide sales to automakers of $34.23 billion in 2019.
ZF is said to be considering cutting 15,000 jobs in response to slumping demand, with half of those in Germany, and CEO Wolf-Henning Scheider could announce significant losses this week.
Other major suppliers are restructuring their operations as the industry shifts to electrification. Rival Continental announced at the end of 2019 that it would lay off thousands of workers, largely in factories that make components for internal combustion engines.
At the same time, Continental said it would halt or review investment in internal combustion engine technology.
