ZF Friedrichshafen — known as ZF Group — has appointed Mathias Miedreich as chief executive officer (CEO), effective Oct. 1, as part of a leadership reshuffle that sees current CEO Holger Klein and board member Peter Laier step down.

The company’s supervisory board approved the changes at a special meeting Sept. 11. Klein, who became CEO in January 2023 after nearly a decade in various management roles at ZF, will leave by mutual agreement at the end of the month, ZF announced in a news release. Meanwhile, Laier, who joined the board in January 2023 and oversaw commercial vehicle solutions, industrial technology, materials management, production, and the India region, will also step down Sept. 30.

ZF said it will announce successors for the electrified powertrain technology, commercial vehicle solutions, and industrial technology divisions in due course.

Supervisory board chairman Rolf Breidenbach credited Klein with stabilizing the company and laying the groundwork for a turnaround. “With his strategy, he laid the foundations for ZF’s turnaround and has already achieved significant success with the entire team. We must now build on what’s been achieved and continue with the strategy we’ve embarked upon,” he said.

Breidenbach also described Miedreich, who has been a member of the board of management since January 2025 and currently leads the electrified powertrain technology division, as an internal successor with CEO experience and a record of restructuring.

Prior to joining ZF Group, Miedreich spent nearly three years as CEO of Umicore. His earlier career experience includes a tenure at Faurecia, an automotive tech company, where he was executive vice president of e-mobility and vice president of e-mobility, Asia, Europe. Miedreich also worked at manufacturing companies like Siemens and Continental.