Stefan Sommer

Stefan Sommer (born January 7, 1963 in Münster, Westphalia, Germany) is the Chief Executive Officer of ZF Friedrichshafen AG, also known as ZF Group.

Training and Education

Stefan Sommer studied mechanical engineering at Ruhr University Bochum, specialising in automation. There he earned an engineering doctorate while holding a professorship in automatic control engineering.

Sommer began his professional career in 1994 as a development engineer at ITT Automotive Group Europe GmbH in Frankfurt am Main. In 1997, he moved to Continental Automotive Systems in Hanover, beginning as Director of Electronics & Sensor Development. After occupying several positions at Continental, the last of which being Senior Vice-President EBS Customer Center, Sommer moved to what was then named ZF Sachs AG in Schweinfurt in 2008, whereupon he joined its Board of Directors in charge of chassis operations. In the summer of 2010, the Supervisory Board of ZF Sach’s parent company, ZF Friedrichshafen AG, appointed him to its Executive Board in Friedrichshafen, where he assumed responsibility for materials management. From 1 January 2012, he also served as Deputy Chief Executive Officer of ZF Group, before becoming Hans-Georg Härter’s successor as Chief Executive Officer of ZF Friedrichshafen AG.