Schaeffler receives the "World Excellence Award" from Ford Motor Co.

Ford honors Schaeffler's environmentally friendly innovations with its "World Excellence Award" in the "Smart Pillar" category

HERZOGENAURACH, Germany and DETROIT -- June 11, 2015: As part of its Top Supplier Meeting on May 21 in Detroit, Ford Motor Co. presented its "World Excellence Awards" for the 17th time. For its environmentally friendly innovations in the field of fuel economy, Schaeffler picked up one of these sought-after awards in the "Smart Pillar" category. This puts the Schaeffler Group among a number of suppliers worldwide that have made a particularly large contribution to one of the four Ford brand pillars – Quality, Green, Safe and Smart. The criteria according to which the award recipients are chosen include the value that the technical solutions have for the end user.

Klaus Rosenfeld, CEO of Schaeffler AG, was in Detroit to accept the award personally. He said: "We are proud to receive this award from Ford. It represents their appreciation of both our technological expertise and the excellent performance of our employees in development, manufacturing, and sales." He also emphasized the special significance that receiving the award in the "Smart Pillar" category, which was introduced for the first time this year, has for Schaeffler. "Our aim is to help shape mobility for tomorrow with intelligent solutions, and this award confirms the value of our technologies for the end customer," Rosenfeld explained.

At the award ceremony, he also took the opportunity to thank the company's employees, without whose constant commitment and valuable expertise the company could not have won the award in the first place. Pratik Shah, Schaeffler's global key account manager for Ford, had this to say: "We are immensely pleased about this award, which gives us motivation to do our utmost every single day and continue to show Ford that Schaeffler is the expert partner when it comes to efficient mobility – all over the world."

Schaeffler produces engine, transmission, and chassis components for Ford worldwide. The product portfolio ranges from clutch systems, dual mass flywheels, finger followers with hydraulic pivot elements, and camshaft phasing units through to a wide range of bearing solutions for the drive train.